“God’s Grace-filled Will Is Election, Not Rejection!”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord [Amen.]
“Then is our comfort this alone
That we may meet before Your throne;
To You, O faithful God, we cry
For rescue in our misery.
“For You have promised, Lord, to heed
Your children’s cries in time of need
Through Him whose name alone is great,
Our Savior and our advocate.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
615:2-3)
Epistle Reading................................................. Romans
11:1-2a, 13-15, 28-32 (esp. 1-2a)
1I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an
Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God
has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. ...
Prologue: In your most basic study of Christian doctrine either
as a junior high school youth preparing for Junior Confirmation or an adult
preparing for Adult Confirmation, the following question and answer in the
Synod Catechism about predestination was probably one of the most
challenging of all: “Are you sure that you have eternal life? Even as I now
believe in Christ my Savior, I also know that I have been chosen to eternal
life out of pure grace in Christ without any merit of my own and that no one
can pluck me out of His hand (eternal election of grace or predestination).”
(Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986, 1991
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 172.)
Among the many things that the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther spoke
and wrote about this topic is this gem: “Now since God has taken my
salvation out of my will and has put it into His own and has promised to
save me, not by my own work or effort but by His grace and mercy, I am sure
and certain that He is faithful and will not lie to me. In addition, He is
strong and great. No devils and no adversaries are able to destroy Him or
pluck me out of His hand. ‘No one,’ says He, ‘shall pluck them out of My
hand’ (John 10:27).” (What Luther Says. An Anthology Compiled by Ewald M.
Plass. Volume I Absolution-Giving. Copyright © 1959 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO. Page 456)
So it is that today’s Epistle Reading reminds us and emphasizes to
us that …
“God’s Grace-filled Will Is Election, Not Rejection!”
God is a God of promises … and He is faithful in keeping them. In
fact, when God made a promise it was as good as already fulfilled. That’s
how certain His promises were then and still are today. So it is that based
on His promises of mercy and grace …
I. God Seeks to Attract Those Who Reject Jesus By Bestowing His Mercy
and Grace on Those Who Receive Jesus. (13-15)
13Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to
the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14in order somehow to make my fellow
Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15For if their rejection means
the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life
from the dead? ...
I’m drawing heavily today on the sainted Paul E. Kretzmann, who
wrote the following about these difficult verses: “The Gospel of the
reconciliation of God with man, as accomplished in Christ, was carried out
into the heathen world as a result of the rejection of the Jews. When the
remnant out of Israel has been converted to the Messiah, then the object of
God will have been realized, then will come the glorious life in and with
Christ through all eternity, then both the Jews and the Greeks will inherit,
through faith, the Kingdom which was prepared for them before the foundation
of the world. The Gospel is taken from the ungrateful and given to such as
are more appreciative of its value.” (Paul E. Kretzmann in Popular
Commentary of the Bible: The New Testament Volume II. Copyright © Unknown
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 60.)
The apostle Paul’s heart overflowed with love for Jesus, who had
revealed Himself to him as the Messiah foretold by the Old Testament
prophets. Paul knew that Jesus was the Savior of mankind, whom the heavenly
Father sent to atone for the sins of all people of all time. Paul knew
beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Jesus, whom his fellow Jews rejected as
the prophesied Messiah, was most certainly the Redeemer promised of old to
rescue mankind from Satan, sin, and eternal death by His holy life, innocent
suffering, crucifixion death, and majestic resurrection from the dead. Paul
possessed the wonderful peace and everlasting security that Jesus gained for
him and all people, that reconciled him with almighty God, and that
liberated him from his past life of hatred for and persecution of Christians
as well as all other countless sins he had committed.
But Paul’s heart was also filled with great sadness and sorrow
over the refusal of his fellow Jews to recognize and confess Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior. His heart ached with wretched grief over the fact that the
Israelite people, from whose bloodline Jesus was born and whom He primarily
came to save from their sins, rejected Him as the Son of God and Son of man.
So, he turned his attention and energies to telling the Good News about
Jesus to the Gentile people who were longing for and receptive to what the
Jews inherently had but obstinately rejected. He did so hoping against hope
that when his fellow Jews saw from the outside looking in what they had
forfeited and the Gentiles had gained, they would then change their heart
attitude toward Jesus, acknowledge Him as the Messiah, confess Him as
Savior, and receive the wonderful gifts of forgiveness of sins, spiritual
healing, and forever-life in heaven that He won for them and all people on
Calvary’s cross.
It’s in that context, then, that Paul declared the fact that …
II. God Ultimately Desires All People To Know, Trust, and Confess
Jesus as Savior. (28-32)
28As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as
regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29For
the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30Just as you were at one
time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their
disobedience, 31so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the
mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32For God has consigned
all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
Returning to the words written by Paul E. Kretzmann: “God loves
the Jews, to whom the apostle here refers, because He has chosen them from
the beginning, has selected them for His own. What God has once decided
upon with reference to the election of grace is not subject to change and
recall on His part. … the Jews whom Paul here has in mind are even now,
although as yet without faith, beloved of God. According to their unbelief,
they are enemies of God, who must condemn their hatred of Him; but according
to the election, they are His beloved, although not yet in possession of
salvation. But now, having heard the Gospel, these former Gentiles had
experienced and received the mercy of God. And in the same manner, St. Paul
argues, the Jews have entered into the state of disobedience, of unbelief,
and therefore may well be shown the mercy of God unto conversion, the same
mercy and grace which the heathen have experienced. [After all,] He is able
to change the disobedience of the Jews into obedience, just as He did in the
case of the Gentiles. He had abandoned all the people of whom the apostle
has spoken to disobedience, that in His time He might bring them to faith
and impart to them His mercy in Jesus Christ.” (Paul E. Kretzmann. Page
63.)
What all this reveals is God’s heart that’s filled to overflowing
with love and compassion for all people … including you. It’s what is in
Pastor Marks’ and my hearts as well as we so desperately desire for you to
know that we love you, care for you, and are committed to your spiritual
health, vitality, and welfare. That’s why we proclaim God’s convicting Law
to you, a message telling you that you’re sinful and unclean, that you don’t
deserve God’s mercy and grace, that you do deserve His temporal wrath and
eternal punishment in the fiery confines of hell. That’s why we joyfully
declare that you are absolved of all your sins in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That’s why we lovingly give you Jesus in
Word, Bread, and Wine. That’s why we seek to be with you in your times of
sadness, sorrow, heartache, and distress, as well as times of joy, delight,
elation, and success. That’s why we bring words of comfort and reassurance
in these troubled times of racial unrest; epidemic of suicides; continued
murder of countless babies still in their mothers’ wombs; persecution and
execution of Christians throughout the world and especially in Iraq and
Syria at this time; ongoing war between Israel and her enemies as well as
other places throughout the world. That’s why we pray with you, often
reflecting today’s Collect: “You give Your children many blessings even
though we are undeserving. In every trial and temptation grant us steadfast
confidence in Your loving-kindness and mercy … .” That’s why we share with
you the comforting and reassuring truth of today’s Gradual: “Many are the
afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
(Ps 34:19 ESV) That’s why we regularly and frequently remind you that God
graciously elected you and made you His own in the Baptismal waters, in
which Blessed Sacrament He connected you with Christ’s death and
resurrection and promised to never leave you nor forsake you … to be with
you throughout this temporal age and then bring you to be with Him in the
eternal age.
In conclusion, therefore, hear once again (and for the final time
in this sermon) wonderful words from Paul E. Kretzmann: “This mercy should
have its effect upon us also in this way, that we make use of merciful
patience in judging and in dealing with other people. God may well do for
those that are now in the depths of unbelief and contradiction against God
what He did for us, and thus bring them into the fellowship of His Son Jesus
Christ.” (Ibid.) What that means, quite simply and yet very profoundly, is
that as God’s elected possessions you have the privilege and responsibility
to love one another and others as you have come to know and realize that God
loves you and, yes, as Pastor Marks and I love you. You have experienced
and continue to experience the joyful truth that …
“God’s Grace-filled Will Is Election, Not Rejection!”
With that in mind please indulge me to share with you words from
another very wise theologian who wrote the following: “Paul reminds us that
the vast majority of the Jews have become ‘enemies’ of the gospel. As a
result, God has, generally speaking, taken his gospel from them and given it
to the Gentiles. Hence Israel’s rejection of the gospel has been a
tremendous blessing, a literal godsend, for the Gentiles who now find
themselves enjoying the blessings of God’s New Testament Christian church.
God is dedicated to receiving a response to his gracious invitation. God
has a plan, and that plan includes Jews as well as Gentiles. Disobedient
Gentiles were not looking for God when, almost by default, the gospel came
to them. The Gentiles brought nothing; they had no inherent worth or merit.
There was no reason, other than God’s boundless mercy, why they should have
received the gospel. Mercy is the only avenue of hope for people who have
no merit—and disobedient people obviously have no merit. Paul is not
preaching universalism, as though all people will eventually be saved
whether they accept Christ or not. Paul is rather saying that God’s good
and gracious intent, his mercy, extends to all in spite of their
disobedience.” (Armin J. Panning in People’s Bible Commentary: Romans.
Copyright © 2000 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 197ff.)
So it is that we joyfully shout the words in today’s Introit:
“Blessèd be the Lord! for he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am
helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” (Ps. 28:6-7
ESV) We do so with grateful hearts that …
I. God Seeks to Attract Those Who Reject Jesus By Bestowing His Mercy
and Grace on Those Who Receive Jesus. (13-15) Today’s Old Testament Reading
reflects that truth: “The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
declares, ‘I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.’”
(Isa 56:8 ESV) Yes, He does that all because …
II. God Ultimately Desires All People To Know, Trust, and Confess
Jesus as Savior. (28-32) as was evident in the life of the Canaanite woman
in today’s Gospel Reading: “Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the
district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region
came out and was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my
daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before
him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is
your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed
instantly.” (St. Matt 15:21-22, 24-25, 28 ESV)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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