SERMON for The 3rd SUNDAY after PENTECOST: June 1, 2008
"False Teachers Offer False Hope"
In der Liebe Christi,
Rev. Kurt Hering, Pastor
Trinity Lutheran Church
Layton, UT
TEXT: Matthew 7:15-16a, 28-29 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them
by their fruits. . . . And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings,
that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one
having authority, and not as the scribes."
Imagine, if you will that your dream house is complete to the very last
detail. You have carefully picked out all the shades and hues of carpeting,
tile, and wall coverings. You have filled it with every appliance,
appointment, and piece of furniture that struck you fancy. Your acreage has
been all fenced in and landscaped just as you always pictured it. It has
taken 30 years of hard work, sacrifice, and heart ache. You have lost
friends because when you weren't working to pay for your home you were
working on your home and yard. Even family members shun you out of jealousy.
But now, at long last, after thirty years of blood, sweat and tears it is
all yours - the bank has been paid off. You are enjoying your home and all
its luxuries, but now your job requires you to be away for a year.
Let me ask you something, do you leave your dream home and all your property
without care and protection? No way! If you haven't already installed and
armed a security system, you do now. Maybe you even hire a person to house
sit. Certainly, you make provisions for someone to tend to the yard work and
maintenance of the property. This property is far to valuable to go
unattended and unprotected.
Dearly beloved of God, how much more valuable are you to God? Not only did
God the Father create you in His own image so that He could shower you with
every blessing, His Son suffered the indignities of this world and the scorn
of its people (including you) to the point of shedding His own innocent
blood and dying in your place to secure you a place in the kingdom of His
Father.
In our Gospel text today, Jesus had not yet returned to Jerusalem and the
cross of Calvary. He had not yet been pieced by thorns, spikes, and spear.
But He was preparing His people for that day and this one. He was preparing
His people for the day when, raised triumphant from the grave, He would
ascend to the right hand of His Father to rule on heaven and earth in all
His glory, and power, and authority.
But, in order that all who had been appointed for Him and entrusted to Him
for salvation might be gathered into His kingdom & His glory, His power and
authority must remain hidden from sinful men and revealed only in the
mysteries he has entrusted to His ministers and servants of the Word [1
Corinthians 4:1] until the Last Day. So, until that day the Holy Spirit has
been sent to reveal the kingdom of God to the elect and keep us and the
whole Church on earth with Christ Jesus in the one true faith.
The trouble for us is that we cannot see the Holy Spirit, and there are
other spirits, false spirits, masquerading as angels of light trying to take
that which belongs to Christ Jesus. Thus our Lord warns, "Beware of false
prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravenous wolves."
They will look, sound and give you the feeling that they were sent from God.
But, "You will know them by their fruits."
What does this mean?
The fruit of the Spirit is people restored to the image of Christ, people
who reflect Jesus and what He has done - i.e. forgiven all our sins.
This is still a tough thing for us, since sin remains in us and we remain in
a sinful world. Yet Christ does not leave us without defense or the ability
to recognize His Spirit from the spirit of the world and its prince - His
prophets, from false prophets, His servants of the Word from the devils'
twisters of the Word.
The key is in the close of our Gospel for today: "And so it was, when Jesus
had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
So here is how you can tell those prophets and teachers sent by God to speak
His Word - they speak by and with His authority as they have been called and
sent by Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. Only from the authority
of God is their certainty and hope.
False Prophets Offer False Hope, for they lack the authority of God and give
no certainty - only possibilities and unfulfilled conditions like the father
of lies original false hope, "Did God really say . . . ? You will not surely
die."
They give you conditions like, "If you do this, then . . . ," leaving you to
wonder if and when the conditions might be fulfilled. That is, the false
prophets give you nothing certain because they always leave you with
something to do or something to complete or something to decide.
God's prophets however, come with His authority to call a thing what it is:
to call sin, sin; to call sinners, sinners; call that which is forgiven,
forgiven; to call that which is not forgiven, not forgiven.
So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I
also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to
them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. "If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (John
20:21_23 NKJ)
That which He has given, He guards and protects, for you are valuable to
Him. Just as Jesus came and taught with authority, He sends His servants of
the Word, starting with the Apostles and continuing through those they
trained and appointed in the churches and on through the Church today so you
can tell what and who it is that comes from Him.
"He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who
rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me." (Luke 10:16 NKJ)
Christ says, He who believes and is baptized *shall* be saved (Mark 16:16
NKJ), so His Apostle tells you Baptism now saves you (1 Peter 3:21) - a
false prophet today, though he speaks every other word about Jesus and what
He once did, is one who does not tell you where Christ still works today.
Christ says, "Take eat, this *is* my body, given for you", so His Apostle
tells you the Lord's Supper is a participation in the body of Christ -- a
false prophet today, though he speaks every other word about Jesus and what
He once did, is one who does not tell you where Christ still comes in the
flesh today (1 John 4:2).
Christ commands His disciples to go forth and forgive sins and deliver the
kingdom of heaven. So the Apostles did -- a false prophet today, though he
speaks every other word about Jesus and what He once did, is one who does
not actually forgive your sins as Christ commands His servants to do, but
instead leaves you to claim that forgiveness by your own work.
In all of these things God meant to give you the finished work of
forgiveness and eternal life - Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Absolution, Yet a
false prophet stops short of giving you the whole thing and makes each of
these things a holy work the person is to do, and thus offers you false
hope. For a hope that neither knows nor confesses that salvation is won and
done and received in its entirety is no hope at all.
On Calvary, our Savior said "it is finished." And in Baptism he says "you
are God's beloved Son." There is nothing left for you to do to get in good
with God or to enter the kingdom of heaven. It has all been done for you by
Christ Jesus and it has all been completely given to you by the Holy Spirit
in Your Baptism. God's decision has been rendered and His kingdom has been
opened to you - you are forgiven all you sins to live forever in heaven - in
the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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