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:
[Intro]
Just
minutes ago, we heard the sword of God’s Law as He pronounced the Ten Commandments.
These commandments are not God’s suggestions, but His commands. God is not Someone
to be messed with. God means exactly what He says and He cannot be in the
presence of any sin. The prophet Isaiah proclaims just that: “[Our]
iniquities have made a separation between [us] and God” (Isaiah 59:2).
God
tells us, “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children
for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate
Me, but showing steadfast love to a thousand generations who love Me and keep
my commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6; Luther’s Small Catechism: Close of the
Commandments).
Martin
Luther tells us this means: God threatens to punish all who break these
commandments. Therefore, we should fear His wrath and not do anything against
them. But He promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these
commandments. Therefore, we should also love and trust in Him and gladly do
what He commands.
God
tells us that we are to be holy. He tells us that we are to be with Him while
set apart from the unbelieving world around us (2 Corinthians 6:17). But how could
we do this? How could anyone obey every single commandment of God? I have never
met a sinless person. I bet you haven’t either.
On
our own, we cannot stand in the presence of God. We always fall short of
obeying God’s commandments. Thus, we are all doomed to face God’s wrath and face
eternal punishment. Is this our future? Well, this is the future for all
unbelievers. This is not a bright and positive future. This is eternal death
and damnation. But the triune God is a loving God. He knew His commandments
were impossible in a sinful world. So, He sent His only begotten Son to suffer
and die on our behalf.
[Life
in Corinth]
The
city of Corinth was a melting pot. And, ever since the Romans conquered Greece,
Corinth became the most important city in the region. Corinth was the leading
cultural center and commercial center between Rome and the East. Under Roman
rule, Corinth was a city of wealth, luxury, but also immorality. By the second
century A.D., Corinth’s growing population reached more than 300,000 free
citizens with more than 460,000 slaves.
This
was a city with a theater that seated thousands. This was a city with a stadium
that seated thousands. This was a city of wealth. This was a city of distractions.
Corinth was a city much like today’s cities.
On
top of this, the city of Corinth was filled with worldly wisdom. Both Jewish
scribes and Greek philosophers sought worldly wisdom. The Jews and the Gentile
Greeks may have been much different culturally, but they were much alike when
it came to worldly wisdom since they each sought it.
[Worldly
Wisdom]
They
each believed that salvation through a crucified man was foolish. For this, the
Apostle Paul writes: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1
Corinthians 1:18).
The
problem is that worldly wisdom itself does not lead to salvation. Worldly wisdom
would only lead people to eternal suffering in hell. So, these Jews and Gentile
Greeks were “perishing” in their own wisdom. They were so sure
and confident that they had all the answers to the problems of sin and guilt
that they rejected God’s truth, His divine and eternal answers to man’s sin and
guilt. Although they loved to debate, all of their worldly wisdom combined
could not save a single soul.
For
them, salvation through the cross of Christ was pure “foolishness.”
It was the silliest thing that they have ever heard. And they were perishing
because they thought the cross of Christ was foolishness. These Gentile Greeks
wanted a religion that challenged their intelligence. They wanted philosophy,
not a crucified Jew who made great claims about saving the world. They wanted
something that made sense. They wanted something that appealed to their logic
and reason.
As
for the Jews, they sought wisdom through “miraculous signs.” Over
and over again, they said to Jesus, “Show us a sign,” and Jesus
gave them signs. Jesus healed the sick; He opened the eyes of the blind; He
raised the dead; He preached the gospel to the poor. All of which fulfilled
what the Lord inspired the Prophets to foretell that the long-awaited Messiah
would do. But the Jews sought a different kind of sign because they wanted Jesus
to be a different kind of Messiah. The Jews wanted a worldly Messiah, rather
than the Savior from sin.
Even
with Isaiah 53 before their eyes, which says, “He was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought
us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5), they could
only look to Deuteronomy 21:23, which says, “For a hanged man is cursed
by God.”
To
the Jew, the fact of the crucifixion was proof that Jesus was not the Son of
God.
For
the Jew and Gentile Greek, the preaching of Christ crucified, which Paul says
is both “a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1
Corinthians 1:23) is the truth. This was a barrier. This was revolting. This
was laughable. This was ridiculous.
For
these nonbelievers, they have set themselves up as the arbiters of truth. They
believe in following worldly standards. But with the sinful mind, we can make
some very inappropriate judgments.
[Equality
Act]
Sadly,
mankind has not changed all that much from the First Century way of thinking
and living. Immorality is rampant as people seek worldly wisdom; often
preferring it over God’s unchanging truth. Since 2015, the Equality Act has
been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives each year and it has never
been approved by the U.S. Senate.
What
few may realize, is this proposed legislation is simply more worldly wisdom. I’ve
heard it said that “Anyone who opposes this bill is just mean. We need it,
because we have hate out there that gets in the way of the great American dream
of equality.”
Now,
every American should be in favor of equality. We should all stand against
discrimination. Like Corinth then, Christianity is viewed by worldly
unbelievers as serving no benefit to society. So, instead of looking to God’s
wisdom, the culture has, like those First Century Corinthians, turned to worldly
wisdom as their guide and source.
What
you might not have known about the Equality Act is that anyone who believes in
the Creation account of humanity to which God’s Word says: “So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and
female he created them” (Genesis 1:27) and to which Jesus Himself
confirms in Matthew 19 to which He said, “Have you not read that he who
created them (Adam and Eve) from the beginning made them male and female, and
said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to
his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5), if we
hold to God’s truth, we would be found in violation of this proposed bill.
You
see, worldly wisdom cannot undo how God created us. We are male and female, and
no make-up, medication, or surgery can undo this. In fact, on the Last Day,
when Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead as we confess in the
Creed, we will all be as God created us and not as we choose to identify
ourselves.
So,
if we hold to God’s Word, which teaches us this truth: that God created us male
and female and we hold to His Word that marriage is only a union of a man and
woman, as the bill stands now, we would be in
violation of the Equality Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and for this
face legal action.
On
top of this, the Equality Act, as it is currently written, would make
abortion more readily available. The bill offers no protections for employers
who morally object to covering abortion in their healthcare plans. On top of
this, abortion would be paid for all at taxpayer expense.
So, healthcare professionals might also be forced to act contrary to their conscience
and faith and be required to participate in an abortion, sexual reassignment
surgery, and on and on.
As
we have witnessed in the past decades, the morality founded upon the Ten
Commandments has eroded. And for those who follow God’s commands, we are often ridiculed
or mocked as homophobic, transphobic, and the like. In this bill, there are no
religious exceptions, so any organization that adheres to God’s Law in defining
Christian morality could be punished by the Federal government, since the
Equality Act designates schools, churches, and hospitals as “public accommodations”
and as such they would be forced to accept the government’s beliefs and mandates
about sexual orientation and gender identity. This means that First Lutheran
Church may be required to permit a biological male – who identifies as a female
– access to the women’s restroom.
Essentially,
the Equality Act makes Christian morality bigotry on the Federal level. As long
as we stand faithful to God’s Word, this could mean that the Church would be
forced to perform weddings for couples living contrary to God’s Word, which would
force us to declare along with Peter and the disciples in Acts 5:29, “We
must obey God rather than men.” This could put our non-profit tax
status in jeopardy, since we would be identified as a “hate group” all because
of faithfully standing upon God’s inerrant Word.
Again,
nobody likes discrimination of any kind. We should seek equality, but not at
the expense of the truth. Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us: “I am the way,
and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”
(John 14:6).
As
Christians, we love and respect every person, just as Jesus loves and respects
every person. Now, this love and respect, as defined by Scripture and not
the world, is to inform our neighbor in the kindest way when he or she is
on the wrong road. Loving and respecting is not saying we are fine with whatever
decision a person makes. Fellow redeemed, as Luther’s answer to the Fifth
Commandment reminds us: “We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt
or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical
need.”
As
followers of Christ, we are no better than anyone else, since we are all
sinners in need of salvation. Thankfully, we know Christ and have been brought
to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word and
Sacraments, but for much of the world, they are walking aimlessly in the
darkness of their false worldly wisdom. So it is our vocation as a Christian to
tell the world that forgiveness and salvation is found only in Christ to share
God’s Word with them in all its truth and purity. That is the truly loving
thing to do, to tell them the truth.
There
are many organizations that are supportive of this bill. But all of them,
whether they be educators,
businesses,
politicians, or religious leaders
are simply employing worldly wisdom that is based upon the deceiver who peddles
false truth.
Jesus
teaches us, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you
will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
So, disciples of Christ cannot support this bill or similar legislation. This
bill is designed to Federally eliminate gender differences altogether. This
bill eliminates the differences between male and female and that is contrary to
what God’s Word declares.
So,
what can we do? We can share God’s truth that exposes the lie. We can inform
each other. By remaining silent, we are implicitly agreeing that God’s Word is
wrong and worldly wisdom is right. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Not to
act is to act.” For me, I would much rather be on the side of God, since I
do not want to face His eternal wrath. As God says, He is wrathful to the
evildoer, but He shows His steadfast love to the righteous. And with Peter and
the disciples in Acts 5:29, we must remember and be faithful and steadfast. “We
must obey God rather than men.”
If
you are upset that this is being preached from the pulpit, that is between you
and God. Always remember this truth: God’s Law afflicts the comfortable, but
His Gospel comforts the afflicted.
Also,
do not be dismayed. Just as God protected the three men in the fiery furnace
(Daniel 3) when they faced persecution for remaining faithful to the one true
God, God will protect us too. Instead of choosing to fit in by bowing down to
the false idol of Nebuchadnezzar, these three remained faithful to God even
unto the fear of death. God indeed protected them. We have that same promise
from God. He will deliver us from sin, eternal death, and Satan. We have this
sure and certain promise through the crucified and risen Christ.
This
is a fiery furnace moment for the church. The question for us is, who are we
loyal to? Are we loyal to the prevailing winds of culture, or are we loyal to
God?
[The
Wisdom of the Cross]
As
the triune God teaches us all throughout Scripture, His Word is not a
suggestion. His Word is truth. His Word is true wisdom. We have something that
worldly wisdom will never have. We have true equality. As the Lord inspired the
Apostle Paul to write to the Church of Galatia: “There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are
all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
For
everyone in Christ, we are not divided by outward appearance and put into
separate groups. We are all one in Christ. We have all received reconciliation
through Christ crucified. In Christ alone, we have received forgiveness of
sins, which guarantees eternal life and salvation. And where we go wrong – for which
we repeatedly do – through repentance, our sin is forgiven through the blood of
Jesus. It is through the crucified and risen Jesus that we are united to Him
and to His Father in heaven.
So,
as the sinful world seeks wisdom through worldly things, God proves that man’s
wisdom is foolish. The Jews saw the cross as proof of weakness, but God made
that cross the world’s most powerful instrument for good. The Gentile Greeks
saw the cross as proof of absurdity, but God made that gospel the greatest
truth the mind of man can receive.
Today,
worldly wisdom mocks Christians who actually believe God’s inerrant Word. As it
was in First Century Corinth, the followers of Christ were laughed at and
ridiculed, rather than to be listened to and respected. In many respects, we
have returned to those times.
Remember,
we preach Christ crucified and risen! It is only through the crucified Christ
that we are saved. No social justice theory can save us. Banning books cannot
save us. No environmental justice theory can save us. We are only saved through
the Word of the Cross. We are saved through Christ crucified.
It
is through the cross that God puts to shame and humbles all human wisdom and
power. Human wisdom cannot lead to God since He reveals Himself in the message
of the cross found only in His timeless Word. This is where we are forgiven. It
is at the cross where salvation for the world was won. It is here where Christ
accomplished His mission so that whoever would believe in Him would receive
forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
Through
Christ, our identity is that of a child of the heavenly Father. It is through His
suffering, death, and resurrection that we have received this wisdom from God. By
grace through faith in the crucified and risen Christ, we have received
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. So, what may be foolish to some
is wisdom to all who believe! Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
T SOLI DEO GLORIA T
