Sunday, September 2, 2018

Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost (B) 2018

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: James 1:17
Theme: Gifted From Above

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

The Holy Spirit says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth.”1 The first gift of God from above is His own Son. He is the incarnation of the saving promise of the Father. With Jesus comes the forgiveness of sins, hope and support for the present, and certainty about our eternal future. On this Father’s Day we are rightly reminded that the fatherhood of God is made possible to us only through the brotherhood of the Son.

We are birthed into the family of the heavenly Father through His life-giving action. For the one being born, birth is a passive activity. It’s not something you do, but something that is done to you. The one being born benefits from the actions of others. Just as God breathed life into the first man, Adam, so too He breathes spiritual life into our listless frames in baptism. Jesus says, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”2 The unilateral activity of God, then, gifts us with life and sustains that life until the end.

Dear friends, God does not owe us a single thing. He is not indebted to us. It’s only arrogance that causes us to think God has obligations to us that He must fulfill. Any expectations that He should meet our desires certainly aren’t based on what we truly deserve. God owes us nothing and yet He provides us with everything. The air we breathe, the food we eat, the people who patiently tolerate our eccentricities, our very lives are gifts. They are endowments from God’s infinite capacity and magnanimous generosity. “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”3

We have His word and that alters everything. The gospel is transformative. It is the power of God, therefore it initiates new life in the one receiving it. The demand of the law, i.e., to stop trusting in idols (including ourselves) and trust instead in the one true God, is then fulfilled when the Holy Spirit grants faith. The conversion of the heart, the renewal of the mind, the transformation of the will are the first fruits of the gospel’s activity. The law will continue to make its demands, “Do this!” “Don’t do that!”. But obeying those demands, while proper, godly, and necessary, never makes any headway with the sinner’s need to be justified in God’s sight. Obeying the law is a consequence of faith, a corollary even, but never achieves pardon from the heavenly Father. Rather, it is the pardon that drives the desire to follow God’s will.

St. James talks about these realities today saying, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”4 When people receive the word of God and believe it things change. But what things? The daily routine of a person who is converted from unbelief might not seem too different than before. They go to work, struggle with the dynamics of relationship, face temptations and endure challenges. But now, their perspective if different. Their conscience is attuned to God’s will. Their heart is comforted by His promises. The meaning and purpose of life take on an entirely new perspective in view of eternity. Living as a baptized child of God involves the lifelong endeavor of dying to self and living for others. The purpose of a Christian’s life is neither pursuit of self-indulgence (even when this can be done in a way that’s acceptable to society as is the case in our affluent culture), nor the task of saving the world. The Christian has the privilege of holy vocation. Our holy vocations involve being the hands and feet, the mouth and mind of Christ to our neighbours…beginning with our spouses, family, and members of the body of Christ and extending right out to our enemies.

Today James emphasizes the verbal aspect of this privilege when he says, “Take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”5 He goes on to speak very frankly about taming the tongue. We’ll hear this Scripture in two weeks’ time. For the moment we’ll just consider the lesson of four preachers who met for a friendly gathering. During the conversation one preacher said, "Our people come to us and pour out their hearts, confess certain sins and needs. Let's do the same. Confession is good for the soul." In due time all agreed. One confessed he liked to go to play the pokies and would sneak off when away from his church. The second confessed to liking to smoke expensive cigars and the third one confessed to spending too much money on frivolous shopping trips. When it came to the fourth one, he wouldn't confess. The others pressed him saying, "Come now, we confessed ours. What is your secret or vice?" Finally, he answered, "It’s gossiping, and I can hardly wait to get out of here."

Will Rogers once said that you should live in such a way that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. It is colloquial advice that speaks frankly to one of the most common temptations we face. Are we any better than the fourth preacher just mentioned? It may seem easier to confess our sins to God than to admit guilt to the person we have offended. The anonymity cloaks our shame and embarrassment. But truly, we should be even more concerned about offending God than we are our neighbour. He is the final judge. But our Judge is also gracious beyond measure.

God owes us nothing, and yet He gives us everything. The Scripture says, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all- how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”6 Here are two rhetorical questions that have emphatic answers. God spares no expense. This knowledge can sustain us in our darkest trials. To be sure, the Almighty does often give the appearance that He is withholding blessings, but this fact too must finally tend to our wellbeing and His glory. The man born blind in John chapter 9 surely endured his blindness as a complication of the sinful, fallen world in which we reside. But his blindness also gave occasion to reveal God’s glory through the healing power of Christ7. It’s no different with us.

Dear friends, Jesus Christ did not expose Himself to the insults of the world, capitulate to the false indictments of men, suffer at the hands of sinners, traverse the gauntlet of hell, and succumb to the horror of death only to establish the legacy of a martyr or inspire others fighting oppression by His determined example. The only begotten Son of God was slain on the crudest altar constructed by men so that the sum total of the debt of sin- all the liability accumulated in the history of the human race could be paid in full. He wiped the ledger clean. He settled the account. He shattered the darkness with light that cannot be extinguished. He is risen, and He reigns. The power of His life sustains your life. Thanks be to God!

+ In nomine Jesu +

Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
2 September 2018
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 James 1:17-18
2 John 3:5-6
3 James 1:17
4 James 1:22
5 James 1:19-20
6 Romans 8:31-32
7 See John 9:3

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