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

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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 +

Sermon for Pentecost 10: "The Sign of the Covenant" (Genesis 9:8-17)

LISTEN

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:

“And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth’” (Genesis 9:12-13).

 

Not everyone today knows the significance of the rainbow. Today, the rainbow has all kinds of associations: where dreams come true (The Wizard of Oz), the rainbow connection (Kermit the Frog), leprechauns and pots of gold, and gay pride. Society today is very much confused on the significance of the rainbow. Today, on this Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, we will focus on what the Scriptures tell us of that colorful arch in the sky.

 

But before that rainbow would appear, this fallen world, fell deeper and deeper into sin. It all started with our first parents: Adam and Eve. Their disobedience to God bred original sin into the generation that followed. As each generation came, this fallen world devolved further and further down into a quagmire of cruelty, violence, and wickedness. This world that God created good, became so full of corruption and violence that the triune God could scarcely recognize His creation. God was grieved that He had created man.

 

Man’s sin worked the ruin of the whole world. In order to cleanse this world, God chose to start over. He chose to start over with the only family that still knew Him. So, if you think today is bad, in Noah’s time, it was only Noah and his family that knew God. It was down to one family. But still a sinful family.

 

Just as the rainbow is often misunderstood, Noah’s Ark is also often misunderstood. When you think of Noah’s Ark, what do you think of? Do you see a painting of an ark brimming with smiling animals? Do you see a colorful and cheerful children’s book where all the animals are led to the ark two-by-two?

 

In God’s grief over human sinfulness, and when God’s patience over sin had expired, God opened the floodgates of the heavens and the floodgates of the great deep burst forth. 

Torrents rained down 40 days and 40 nights until the entire world was deluged, flooded, drowned under millions of billions of gallons of churning, life-destroying water. These waters came upon communities suddenly. In a moment, those in the busy, laughing, self-sufficient world were swept away by God’s watery judgment. And not just man, but every living creature that had the breath of life had died. The dry land upon which God created every living creature, according to its kind, became a murky mass grave.

 

Inside the ark was safety and security. Outside the ark was death and destruction. Inside the ark was life and provision. Outside the ark was silence.

 

Yet, in His mercy, God had warned Noah. He instructed Noah to build an ark. God caused pairs of living creatures, according to their kind, to come to the ark. God remembered Noah and his family. God remembered the animals of the earth. He sealed them in the ark. And in that ark, God preserved man and beast through the raging flood of His own divine judgment upon sin. 

 

When the rains had ended and the dry land finally appeared, some 370 days later, God caused the ark to rest safely upon the earth. They all came out of the ark and into a changed world. I cannot begin to imagine the eerie silence all around Noah and his family. All that remained were eight souls and two of every creature, according to its kind. But as they all came out of that ark, into this changed world, the curse of sin remained. That curse upon creation was not removed. Human sin and the wickedness of man’s heart was still in place.

 

At this point, among all this eerie silence around them, and maybe some worry in their hearts, God initiates the covenant and its sign.

 

God speaks to Noah and His family with a word of promise for all creation: “The waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:15b). Over and over again in today’s Old Testament text, God repeats His promise: “I establish My covenant” (Genesis 9:9); “I establish My covenant” (Genesis 9:11); and “I will remember My covenant” (Genesis 9:15). God repeats His covenant promise three times! Maybe Noah and his family just needed to hear this promise over and over again. They were traumatized. Afterall, they had just survived a world-destroying flood.

 

So, what exactly is a covenant? Well, it’s an agreement between two parties. In this case, it’s between God and His creation. It is likely that we are most familiar with covenants like this: “You do this … and I will do that.” But this covenant between God and all creation is much different. Out of the death and destruction of the flood, God was bringing hope and peace. And this covenant was unilateral. It was one-sided. God would be the One to establish this covenant, and He is obligating Himself to the terms of this covenant. God would require nothing from anyone, and His promise to creation was unconditional. 

 

So, what are the terms of this unilateral covenant? “Never again” (Genesis 9:11, 15) would He bring waters from above and beneath to destroy life on the earth. However, rains will continue to fall, floods will still rage and foam, and life would still remain in peril, but “never again” will all life perish due to God calling upon the waters to wipe out all life.

 

Despite God’s covenant promise, humanity still struggles with fear and anxiety over the chaos and turmoil that abounds in this fallen world. Because of the fallen nature of this world, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, and straight-line winds persist. But “never again” will He flood the earth.

 

Just as we may worry about what tomorrow brings, most definitely, Noah and his family had some worry. They had heard the covenant promise from God three times. But could God still flood the earth? Could God really be faithful to His promise?

 

So, to make sure that Noah and His family knew that He is serious about His faithfulness, He provides them the sign of hope: the rainbow – bands of color rising up as an arch above a murky graveyard.

 

We have all seen a rainbow. How many times have you seen God’s rainbow? Just weeks ago, I saw a beautiful rainbow driving home along I-90. Just as I thought I was arriving to the site of the rainbow; I kept on driving. I never reached it, but it was a beautiful sight!

 

Rainbows are a marvel. The sight of a rainbow can take your breath away. Rainbows are a gift from God. But that rainbow is also a sign. Rainbows communicate. Like the Means of Grace, God gave the rainbow as a sign to embody and confirm His word of promise. 

 

So, what does a rainbow communicate? Well, we already know that that rainbow is the sign that God will never destroy the earth with a flood. But there is more. You see, that rainbow declares God’s mercy and His concern for the whole earth, which is why it overarches the world. But that’s not all. That beautiful rainbow also declares a warning. That rainbow warns us that just as He destroyed the earth through water, He will one day destroy this earth by fire. It has been said that the colors of the rainbow declare this: blue to red. Blue is the color of water, the color of God’s bygone wrath. Red is the color of fire. So, we can look at the rainbow and be warned of the coming Final Judgment and Last Day. Plus, that rainbow shines with hope and assurance for everyone in Christ as it points to Jesus! So, when God’s wrath is roused on that Last Day, God the Father will remember Jesus, who will intercede for us.

 

This rainbow is not the only sign that God has provided in order to bring us comfort and peace to our troubled hearts and minds. We may not always have devasting floodwaters, but we know that we have all fallen short of God’s commandments and all that it demands. Sin is a terminal disease that can only be cured by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

 

Like the rainbow covenant, God also gave us another covenant through the cross of Calvary. There upon the cross, Jesus poured His lifeblood for the sins of the whole world. As Noah, his family, and the animals were hidden in the ark to preserve creation, so you and I are now “hidden with Christ”(Colossians 3:3). As the cross stands as the sign of your salvation, so you have received this amazing gift through the washing floodwaters of Holy Baptism (1 Peter 3:20-22).

 

As the rainbow reminds you that God will never again destroy the world by water, the cross of Christ reminds us that yours and my sins have been paid in full.

 

As that ark was opened, Noah and those on board came out likely filled with fear and anxiety. And what did God do? He made a covenant with them and with us and with all of creation that He would never again flood the earth as He placed in the clouds that sign of the covenant: a rainbow. That rainbow was given to us, so that we would never forget God’s promise to us and to teach us of His precious love for us that He sent us His Son, who has fulfilled the Law, and suffered and died for you and me so that by grace through faith in Jesus, we would live forever. May we always remember the meanings of the rainbow and the cross. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for the Resurrection of Our Lord - Easter Day: "Salvation Comes in the Morning" (Mark 16:1-8)

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

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:

 

“When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint [Jesus]. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb” (Mark 16:1-2).

 

When Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome arose on that Easter morning, it was dark, it was very dark. It was not just the darkness of night, but the darkness of their hearts. They did not come to the tomb, because they believed Jesus was alive. They came to the tomb, because they believed Jesus was dead. They did not believe Jesus was going to rise from the dead.

 

One week ago, they saw Jesus enter Jerusalem to the shouts of “Hosanna.” Jesus was adored by the crowds as they laid palm branches before Him. Jesus had a king’s welcome. But now just mere days later, those shouts changed from “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him!” Jesus went from adoration to hate as He was arrested, mocked, spit upon, flogged, crucified, and killed. 

 

All was dim and dark for the Marys and Salome. They hoped that Jesus was the promised Messiah, but now His body lays dead, sealed in a tomb.

 

It was even darker for the Apostles. They are not just sad, but they are hiding and afraid inside a sealed upper room. They are full of fear thinking that they could have the same fate as Jesus.

 

But as the Marys and Salome were preparing the spices to anoint Jesus’ body and the Apostles were in hiding behind locked doors, God was working salvation amid all this suffering and fear. Even for you and me, when you think that all is lost and God isn’t working when you are suffering, believe me, He is.

 

Throughout the Old Testament times, there are numerous instances of God’s work of salvation being completed in the night and made visible in the morning.

 

In 1 Samuel 5, the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant, and they brought it to the people of Ashdod. The Ark was brought into the house of their false god Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early in the morning, they found that their false god Dagon had fallen down onto the ground before the Ark of the Covenant. So, naturally, they picked up Dagon and put him back in his place. That next morning, when they rose from sleep, Dagon was once again on the ground before the Ark, but this time the head of Dagon and both his hands were cut off.

 

In Isaiah 37, while at night, Hezekiah is rescued from the Assyrians after the Angel of the Lord strikes down 185,000 soldiers in their camp. The evidence of this is noticed when the people of God arose early in the morning to see those 185,000 dead soldiers (Isaiah 37:36).

 

In Daniel 6, for not giving up his faith in Yahweh, Daniel is sealed into the lions’ den overnight for certain death. “Then, at break of day, [King Darius] arose and went in haste to the den of lions” (Daniel 6:19). To his relief, Daniel is alive.

 

In Judges 6, at night and at God’s command, Gideon pulls down the altar of Baal and the altar of Asherah. The evidence is revealed “when the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down” (Judges 6:28).

 

God is working salvation even when we don’t notice it. In these cases, He was working salvation while everyone is sleeping. He does this so, “[we] will sing of Your strength; [so we] will sing aloud of Your steadfast love in the morning” (Psalm 59:16).

 

While at night, sealed in that tomb, Christ the Crucified rose from the dead and declared His victory over the power of sin, eternal death, and hell. He, in fact, put on a victory parade as He descended into hell as “He went and proclaimed [His victory] to the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19). Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

A lot was happening when nobody noticed. God has a way on giving us His steadfast love, even when we don’t even ask for it. We never asked to be saved, even though we needed to be saved. Our sinful nature believes that all is well without God. Our sinful nature believes that you have earned what you have. In fact, all that we have is God’s daily bread given to you – your food, clothing, shelter, good government, and the like.

But God doesn’t stop there, yes, He gives us all we need for our temporal life now, but He created us to live forever in His love.

 

Through deceit, Satan, in the form of a serpent, convinced Adam and Eve to question God’s love for them and instead follow Satan’s lies. Satan’s lies are still being listened to as they are the wisdom of the world: “Did God really say?” “If God really loved you, He would let you do whatever you want!”

 

Satan led humanity into loving vice – pride, envy, gluttony, lust, greed, wrath, laziness – and abhorring virtue – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:19-24). 

 

But God the Father loves us. He loves us so much that He sent His only-begotten Son to suffer the death we all deserve – death by crucifixion – in order to save us from His wrath and from the powers of sin, eternal death, and the devil.

 

So, while we were all unaware of all that was happening between the body of Jesus being laid in the tomb through that glorious Easter morning, our salvation was being procured. Then when those Marys and Salome came with their spices, even if they did not understand, their joy came in the morning. Salvation was visible that morning, even if they didn’t notice it – at first.

 

“And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid Him’” (Mark 16:5-6).

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Salvation is revealed with the morning! But there is something worth noting here with these words from the angel. The angel’s words are really conveying that Jesus remains the Crucified One – for it is only through the crucifixion that salvation comes. So, this should really be rendered as “Jesus who is – and remains – crucified.”

 

However, on this Resurrection of Our Lord Day, you may still have another question lingering. Mark’s Gospel suggests that Jesus did not arise at sunrise, but likely in the darkness of night, before the dawn. This should raise the question: What about Jesus saying He would rise on the third day?

 

Well, in those days, days were counted inclusively. So, according to the Jewish reckoning of time, the events before sundown on Good Friday were still on the day that had begun at sundown Thursday. So, sundown Friday through sundown Saturday was the Sabbath. Then the first day of the week began at sundown Saturday. These constituted the “three days.”

 

But our text from Mark 16, suggests that Jesus did arise at night, either on the Sabbath or after the start of the day after the Sabbath, but no matter what, the evidence of His victory over death is still the same: “very early on the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2). The evidence is still the same, and this is why we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord on Sundays, which is the first day of the week, the eighth day of creation, the day of our justification.

 

But there is still something rather odd about Mark’s resurrection account. Yes, we have Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. We have the empty tomb. We have the angel giving the women the duty of telling this good news to Peter and the other apostles. Who is missing? Jesus. There is no sighting of Jesus. But through the words of that angel, we have the gospel: “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified One. He has risen; He is not here” (Mark 16:6). This angel, this messenger of God, is the messenger of Good News. Our sinful minds try to reason things out and to see if Jesus is truly risen from the dead. But it is only faith in the crucified and risen Jesus that calms our doubts and fears. The Resurrection is a matter of faith. It’s a matter of trusting God and His Word. So, we must repent of our unbelief. 

 

Jesus knows that we need His physical presence as well. And He will make His resurrection appearance next week to the apostles in the locked upper room. But we want Him too! And He does come to us. His grace, mercy, and forgiveness come to us where He said He would be present: in His Word and Sacraments.

 

The very work of the crucifixion, the payment for sins, comes to us through His holy Supper. Here, He appears to you in this Easter celebration, in His Word, and in His very body and blood. Through faith, that is, trust in His Word, we receive Him into our presence and enjoy the forgiveness of sins. There, in lowly bread and wine, you see Jesus and you hold Jesus, just as He told you! Salvation comes in the morning! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed, alleluia! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for The Baptism of Our Lord: "Drowned and Buried with Life" (Romans 6:1-11)

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:

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul writes, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2)

 

Christmas is over, but the celebration of the Word made flesh continues throughout the Epiphany season. Today, we remember how Christ fulfilled all righteousness as He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. There in the water, Christ officially began His holy ministry. There in the water, Christ, who knew no sin, linked Himself to sinners, you and me, so that through His suffering and death, all who would trust in Him would become righteous.

 

For many people, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism has become a sort of “Get into heaven free card.” St. Mark promises, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16a). Likewise, St. Peter writes, “Baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21).

 

So, does the Sacrament of Holy Baptism guarantee a free trip to heaven? Well, yes and no. Jesus inseparably connects Baptism and teaching. For He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

 

So, it is the Christian practice ordained by Christ Jesus to baptize and teach. So, Baptism and Confirmation are inseparably linked. And our faith life isn’t complete when we are Confirmed. It has only just begun. 

 

As Christians, we ought not to remain at a surface level in our faith. And it is true that God’s promises in Holy Baptism stand even if we do not believe them. He is always faithful, even when we are faithless. However, all who reject God’s promises and die in unbelief have abandoned their Baptism and do not receive what God has promised. 

 

For the Christians in Rome, many of them acted as if Baptism was indeed a “get into heaven free card”, and many were perfectly satisfied in not growing in the faith. They were content knowing that Christ died for their sins, so they would receive grace upon grace. Enough grace that they could continue living in sin.

 

Now, Satan knows how to entice human beings. He’s rather good at it. He entices us with the “dangling carrot,” that the more we sin the more God will shower us with His grace. And the Roman Christians were falling for it. And we fall for it. That is the premise for our text. To the Romans and to us, Paul takes up this question: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1).

 

Satan whispers as he tickles our ears saying, “If it makes you feel good, then do it.”

 

Like the Romans, we, too, can fall into Satan’s trap by saying:

§  “I know marriage is supposed to be a one-flesh union between one man and one woman, but I guess God’s grace covers that. I don’t want to be insensitive to someone else’s feelings. God is merciful. He surely wouldn’t send someone to hell if he doesn’t repent, would He?”

§  “I know sex is supposed to be just in marriage, but what if I really love her? We’ll probably get married someday. God is gracious and merciful, isn’t He?”

§  “I know pornography is bad, but it makes me feel so good. Doesn’t God want me to be happy?”

§  “I know God created humans as male and female, but what if I don’t feel right in my own body. God wants me to be happy, right? And what makes me happy is not wearing pants, but a skirt.”

 

Now, what’s wrong with this picture? Well, this is Satan’s talking, not God. Satan doesn’t listen to Scripture, and he doesn’t like Scripture and he won’t honor the words of Scripture. He disdains it and tries to get us to question its authenticity and accuracy. When faced with the truth, Satan will try to use it against us. He will twist the Word of God into something unrecognizable to anyone but our old sinful nature – the “Old Adam” in us.

 

This broken logic is what the fallen, sinful world clings to. To the fallen world, it makes sense that we continue in sin, since grace abounds. Sin is so fun, so how could sinning be wrong? Afterall, is it still wrong if the government legalizes it? Now, I may be speaking to the choir, but I am sure that there are some among us who believe that it’s no longer sin, if the government declares it to be so. 

But what does Scripture say? What does God say? God hates sin. He hates sin, because it’s us separating ourselves from Him. We are all poor, miserable sinners, so does God hate us? That’s what some would say. But is that really the case? Is it in God’s nature to send people to hell? No. But there are many who choose to live in sin than to repent and be forgiven. So, for those people who continue in sin, they only receive what they chose: eternal suffering in hell.

 

St. Paul says that we can’t even think about continuing in sin. Since we have been baptized into Christ, we are dead to all of this nonsense! “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:1b-4).

 

In our sinful state, mankind is satisfied to live and function in perverse thinking and doing. But Paul reminds the Roman church that this kind of perverse thinking has no power over us. In Baptism, our sin has been drowned. In Baptism, we have been set free from sin, not because they don’t matter, but because Jesus suffered and died for them. In Baptism, we are forgiven because Jesus took all these sins to the cross. Our sins of sexual immorality, our sins of silence when we know others are sinning, our failures to keep our marriage vows, every sin we commit by thought, word, and deed, were nailed to Jesus’ cross. Christ died as the eternal sacrifice for our sin.

 

Therefore, when we repent, that is, when we turn away from sin and to Jesus, we no longer bear the punishment we have earned and deserved. Christ takes those sins to the cross and exchanges them with His forgiveness and righteousness. We are delivered from hell’s power and given heaven. 

 

So, what now? How do we as the Church continue to live in this fallen, sinful world? How do we live in this world so that we don’t let Satan’s usurped authority and power take over our lives? How do we live now since we have “died to sin.” How do we live now that we have been drowned and buried in Holy Baptism?

 

Holy Baptism gives us a new life! “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

 

As Baptized Christians, our new life is quite different, because the power of God’s Word and His Sacraments take over our lives. So, through the Holy Spirit, He leads us to conduct our lives different than that of unbelievers. But this doesn’t mean that we will never sin again. You and I will sin, but we don’t use God’s grace as an excuse to sin. Instead, we receive God’s grace each time we repent of our sins as we confess our sins to Him.

 

So, each time Satan throws his darts at you, each time Satan whispers into your ear, just say this: 

“Satan, hear this proclamation:

 I am baptized into Christ! 

Drop your ugly accusation, 

I am not so soon enticed. 

Now that to the font I’ve traveled, 

All your might has come unraveled, 

And, against your tyranny, 

God, my Lord, unites with me!”

(God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It, LSB 594, stanza 3).

 

For us, who, through Holy Baptism, are alive to Christ Jesus, we cannot go back to sin, since you were drowned and buried in Christ, who alone gives you life. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. 

 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +