february 5 2023
2023 Epiphany 5, February 5th
Old Testament: Isaiah 58:3-9a
Psalm: Psalm 112:1-9
Epistle: 1st Corinthians 2:1-12
Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:13-20 and 1st Corinthians 2
Sermon Title: “
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“For I tell you, that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”. (Matthew 5:20) “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. (1st Corinthians 2:2) “That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God”. (1st Corinthians 2:5) These texts reflect the theme of the service this morning.
As we read through the opening chapters of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian churches, we once again hear the Apostle ridiculing and contradicting “lofty speech” and “plausible words of wisdom” (1st Corinthians 2:1b, 4b). Why did he do that? “So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God”; (1st Corinthians 2:5) “in the Word of the cross”. (1st Corinthians 1:18a)
Once again, Paul is glorying not in his own power of persuasion or wisdom; or in the works or understanding of his hearers; rather he is glorifying in “the word of the cross, (which) is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God”. (1st Corinthians 1:18) “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. (1st Corinthians 2:2) Of course, this does not mean that all other topics were off limits for Paul, but rather that the cross speaks to every single issue that may come up; not only in the churches he founded, but in all churches; even our congregation here at St. Paul.
The good news of our salvation, the Gospel of Jesus’ death and bodily resurrection, is not revealed through human wisdom, but through humble preachers testifying about the cross and the forgiveness that Christ won for all people. Through their preaching, the Holy Spirit “works faith, when and where He wills”. (Woe to the preacher or hearer, who trusts in “lofty speech” or human wisdom over God’s truth; over the message of the cross.)
Paul writes, “the wisdom of this age and of the rulers of this age are doomed to pass away”. (1st Corinthians 2:6b) Yet, he does proclaim the wisdom of God saying, “Among the mature, we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age … these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit” (1st Corinthians 2:10a) “that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1st Corinthians 2:12b) in His Word. Our Confessions declare, “Through the preaching of His Word and (our) meditation upon it, He ignites faith and other God pleasing virtues in us … (these) are gifts of the Holy Spirit alone”; (Solid Declaration, par. 71) who is our wisdom.
As Luther wrote, “through the Word, God reveals; He … illumines hearts; so that they understand, accept, cling to, and persevere in the Word”. (Luther, Large Catechism) Once again, we hear, the wisdom of God, trumps the wisdom of this world; “that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1st Corinthians 2:5) found in the “word of the cross”. (1st Corinthians 1:18a)
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus continues teaching His other worldly wisdom to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. As we heard last week, Jesus claimed that those who trust in Him are blessed, even when they suffer in this life; even when they are “reviled …. persecuted for righteousness’ sake; (even when) “all kinds of evil is uttered against them falsely on His account”. (Matthew 5:10-11)
In the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, which goes through chapter 7 of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus continues to make clear to His disciples what the life of those who are blessed by God looks like. The righteousness that the blessed are to hunger and thirst for, now begins to take shape in their lives. So, Jesus said, “you are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet”. (Matthew 5:13)
Jesus is here speaking of the use of salt as a preservative to keep food from spoiling. In the same way the life of Christians (are to) have a preserving influence on the world we live in. Luther wrote, “If it were not for the preserving power of Christians, the whole world would become a Sodom and Gomorrah”. If Christians refuse to act as salt (and light) in this world, if they hide the light of Christ, they become useless and the world receives no benefit from them.
Jesus continues; “You are the light of the world; a city on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house”. (Matthew 5:15) Now, “Jesus is the true light, (not we ourselves) which enlightens everyone” (John 1:9a), but we Christians are called to reflect that light to the world.
How? By bearing witness to Christ; publicly confessing our faith in Him; by being willing to be hated for the name of our Lord Jesus and the truth of His Word. By practicing our faith in word and deed, without apology. Again, Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”. (Matthew 5:16) So, the Church stands on the Word of God (the Gospel) and proclaims the death and resurrection of Jesus; so that sinners may be saved from the power of sin, death, and the devil; from an eternity in hell.
The opposite of this is (of course) to try and hide the light of Christ, by hiding our beliefs and convictions about Him from others; pretending that we are not His people and hoping no one finds out that we are Christians; in order to avoid suffering abuse and persecution for His name’s sake. This is what Peter did when he denied three times even knowing Jesus on the night of His arrest, calling down curses upon himself and swearing he didn’t know Jesus.
Peter, of course, repented of this sin and Christ forgave and restored him, and He will do the same for us; as we repent and daily die with all sin and evil desires. The Scriptures declare, “I acknowledged my sin to you, I did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin”. (Psalm 32:5)
Next, Jesus directly addresses the connection between true righteousness and the law or Word of God. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; (meaning the entire Old Testament which speaks of Jesus’ coming.) I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the Law until all is accomplished”. (Matthew 5:17-18) (Iota was the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet and the dot is a punctuation mark; dotting an i)
These words of our Lord should cause anyone who doesn’t take seriously the law or commandments of God to think again; for Holy Scripture is God’s inerrant Word. If the Law of God is unimportant, why did Jesus bother to keep it perfectly on our behalf? He did so for the sake of sinners like us so that; “by one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous”. (Romans 5:19b) Christ was “born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law; that we might receive adoption as sons”. (Galatians 4:4-5)
So, we take God’s Law seriously, when we take Jesus seriously, as the One who came to fulfill that Law for us; and Jesus said, “Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them, will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven”. (Mathew 5:19)
The Law of God is fulfilled by Jesus’ perfect obedience; not by way of our perfect obedience; as no human being has ever been able to keep the commandments perfectly. This was the grave mistake of the Jewish leaders and sadly many in the Church today, who think they can earn their way to heaven. This is not possible, even in the smallest way.
For Jesus said, “I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven”. (Matthew 5:20) They trusted in their own abilities to keep the commandments of God to become righteous; rather than trusting in Christ alone for their righteousness.
But the Scriptures declares, “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law … through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe”. (Romans 3:21-22a) We know that it is Christ alone who makes us righteous by grace, through faith in His saving work of redemption on the cross; where He died for the sins of all people.
Therefore, the Christian, because they believe in the forgiveness of sins which Jesus won for them on the cross, can take the Law of God seriously without trying to justify themselves; drowning the “Old Adam” in us by daily contrition and repentance; which means that we who have been forgiven, still need to hear the Law of God. Interestingly (ironically), the freedom and the power to live according to God’s Law comes only from the Gospel, the confidence that our sins have been forgiven for Jesus’ sake.
In the Catechism and our Lutheran Confessions, this instruction from God’s Word for the believer, is called the “Third Use of the Law”; which teaches that for the Christian, the Law of God (Word) shows us what we should and should not do, in order to lead a God pleasing life. As Jesus said, “if you keep My Word, you are truly My disciples” and “Whoever is of God, hears the words of God”. (John 8:31, 47a) Paul also declared, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness”. (2nd Timothy 3:16)
Therefore, the Christian (should) gladly hear and take seriously the Word of the Lord, by which the Holy Spirit creates and sustains saving faith in us and gives us a new attitude/desires, so that we strive to keep His commandments; forgiving others as we have been forgiven. As Jesus said, “do not be ashamed of My Word, in this sinful and adulterous generation” (Mark 9:38). “Let your light shine before others”; (Matthew 5:16a) bearing witness to “the Word of the cross”. (1st Corinthians 1:18a) Amen.
“Give us lips to sing Thy glory; Tongues Thy mercy to proclaim;
Throats that shout the hope that fills us; Mouths to speak Thy Holy Name
Alleluia, Alleluia, May the light which Thou dost send
Fill our songs with Alleluias, Alleluias without end”
The peace of God …