Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost (Observing the Feast of the Reformation)
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. In some Gospel readings, Jesus’ Words are simple and easy to understand. Today’s Gospel is not one of those Gospels. This is a strange and disconcerting Gospel: The same God who had earlier commanded, “Honor your father” (Exodus 20:12), now says today, “Call no man your father on earth.” Jesus Himself sent men out into the world to teach (Matthew 28:20), but today He says to those same men, But you are not to be called rabbi [“which means teacher,” (John 1:38)] for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. … Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. Dear Christian friends, Today we celebrate Reformation Day. The Reformation did a lot of good things for us Christians, not the least of which was to clarify the relationship each Christian has with his or her pastor. · The Roman priesthood had come to regard itself as a spiritually superior class of men, much like the scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus condemned in today’s Gospel. Jesus’ indictment against the Pharisees in this Gospel reads as if it could have been a prophecy against the priests of the medieval papacy: “They preach,” says Jesus, “but they do not practice.” · In Medieval culture, all people were divided into three classes: those who fought (the nobility), those who farmed (the peasantry), and those who prayed (the priesthood). If you happened to be one of those who fought or one of those who farmed, then your religious duty was to keep your mouth shut and obey those who prayed. “They die up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. The Reformation undid all that nonsense. The Reformation emphasized for you, not that your pastor is your gatekeeper to eternal life, but rather, your pastor is one part of the way God the Father Himself repeatedly showers down upon you the blessings of eternal life. In order that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and the sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit was given, and the Holy Spirit produces faith when and where it pleases God (AC V; Tappert, 31). “How can they to hear without someone preaching?” asks Paul (Roman 10:14) For that matter, how can Christians eat a Holy Communion that has not been served, or wash away their sins in a Baptism that has not been administered? For this reason, “the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments was instituted.” Or, as Paul says in another place, “[Christ] ascended on high… and He gave gifts to men. … He gave… the pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:8, 11). Some children of the Reformation took our Lord Jesus literally in today’s Gospel, where He says, “Call no man your father on earth” and “You are not to be called rabbi [or] instructor.” One man, a radical man named Andreas Carlstadt, was so serious about taking Jesus literally that he vehemently insisted on being called nothing but “good neighbor” or “Brother Andreas.” But Brother Andreas went too far, dumping more than just the language of the Church. Andreas also rejected infant baptism, destroyed church art, threw away vestments, and finally helped to create a new form of Phariseeism to replace the old. Must we really think that Jesus in today’s Gospel is forbidding you to use the word “father” with reference to the man from whom you sprung? Probably not. Jesus created fathers and gave them to us. Why would He now forbid us to put the letters f-a-t-h-e-r together into a word? It is better for us to read the commands, “Call no man your father on earth” and “You are not to be called rabbi [or] instructor” in light of how Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees in today’s Gospel. These men hoped to stand between God and the people. These men set themselves up as fathers and instructors, not in the sense of giving God’s good gifts to the children, but in the sense of being the source and decision-maker for who gets what. This is a good Gospel for us to hear on Reformation Day because this Gospel emphasizes that no one—not your father, not your instructor, not your pastor—no one stands between you and the Christ who redeemed you with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. · Next week we celebrate my eleventh anniversary in this pulpit. Stated another way, I have been this congregation’s rabbi and teacher for more years than any other man. In your finer moments, you might even feel willing to admit that you have learned from me. Jesus in today’s Gospel warns you to look at your rabbi and instructor rightly: not as the source of your faith but as the empty vessel and the fellow beggar whom Jesus happens to use in teaching you the faith Himself. “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). · For these eleven years I have been very much a father to many of you—even some of you who are my age or older. I have watched out for you; I have rebuked you; I have comforted you; I have bailed you out of trouble; I have given you fatherly advice. If God’s apostle Paul calls himself Timothy’s father (1 Timothy 1:1) and the father of the entire Corinthian congregation (1 Corinthians 4:15), then perhaps I can be allowed to think the same way concerning you. Nevertheless, if I should someday leave this pulpit to serve elsewhere in Christ’s church or die, another man will undoubtedly arrive to assume the role of father after me. There is only one Father who will never weaken, never err, and never move on: As Jesus comfortingly declares in today’s Gospel, “You have one Father, who is in heaven.” But you are not to be called rabbi for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. According to these Words, your pastor should never be a door, but always a window; your pastor should never become the master of the Scriptures, but ever and only its student and slave; your pastor should be at all times your servant, holding out to you an opened palm rather than a closed fist. You better make certain he stays that way, or else you and your children will suffer a new bondage under a worse Pharisee than the ones Jesus confronted. The Reformation did a lot of good things for us Christians, not the least of which was to clarify the relationship each Christian has with his or her pastor: In order that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments was instituted. (AC V; Tappert, 31). · Not the Father, but an instrument of the Father, proclaiming the Father’s mercies to you for the sake of Christ, by whom you and I both are forgiven and saved. · Not the rabbi or the instructor in any way except “in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ.” Take today’s Gospel to heart, Christians! Guard yourselves and guard your children. Teach your children well—even better than you have thus far. Teach them what it means to have a father and a rabbi and an instructor. Teach them also what it does not mean. “For you have one Father, who is in heaven… [and] you have one instructor, the Christ.” If I have somehow managed not to lord my office over you, it has been solely by the grace and mercies of God. If you have learned from me, it is on account of the Word of Christ—miraculous and powerful—despite the way I bray. When you hear me speak forgiveness, continually remind yourself that such forgiveness is not ultimately mine. “In the stead and by the command I forgive you all your sins.” That is a gift from your Father. It was earned for your by the Christ. The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
