october 1 2023
October 1st 2023
Old Testament: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm: Psalm 25:1-10
Epistle: Philippians 2:1-4 (5-13) 14-18
Gospel: Matthew 21:23-27 (28-32)
Sermon Text: Philippians 2:1-18
Sermon Title: “Be of One Mind and Hold Fast the Word of Life; in Humilty”
The Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel; “The soul who sins shall die”. (Ezekiel 18:4b) That is pretty direct isn’t it? No wiggle room, no making it up to God by our own good works, no exceptions to this rule. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, death came into the world, and everyone born since that day, is born with original sin; meaning they are dead spiritually and destined to die physically and eternally. That is why Jesus taught “unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God”. (John 3:3b)
So, before we were “cleansed by the washing of water with the Word” (Ephesians 5:26b) in holy baptism, we were “dead in (our) trespasses and sins … by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind”. (Ephesians 2:1, 3b) So, as baptized believers in Christ, we are now called to live a life of daily contrition and repentance, (Baptism, part IV, Small Catechism) for Ezekiel also warns, “when a righteous person turns from his righteousness … he shall die for it”. (Ezekiel 18:26a) Do not take the gifts of God for granted; “Repent and turn from your transgression, lest iniquity be your ruin”. (Ezekiel 18:30) “Turn (from your iniquity and sin) and live”. (Ezekiel 18:32b) As Luther wrote in the first of His 95 Theses, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘repent’. He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance”.
At the end of the Epistle reading for last Sunday, the Apostle Paul exhorted us to this life of repentance saying, “let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ … to be of one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel”. (Philippians 1:27) So, we are to be in agreement; “of one mind”, regarding our confession and doctrine; the Word of God; the Gospel. And the only way to do that is to study (be in) the Word together. As we heard in the Psalm, “Good and upright is the Lord, He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way”. (Psalm 25:8-9)
Paul continues in this teaching this morning; “If there is any encouragement, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy; complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind”; (Philippians 2:1-2) again, having agreement in teaching/doctrine only according to the Word; “for all the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness”. (Psalm 25:10a) (Little or nothing will be accomplished in the church if we are not united in all humility, around the Word of God.)
As CFW Walther put it, “the Christian cannot be satisfied by knowing just enough of God’s Word that is necessary for salvation … if the church is to remain unified, each member must diligently and daily, with prayer and great earnestness, seek to grow in God’s Word … they must train themselves to distinguish between good and evil and to judge between truth and error … If the church is to grow in unity of faith, it is not enough that pastors and teachers are grounded in God’s Word. Instead, the entire congregation must stand as witnesses for the truth”. (Walther “God Grant It” page 565)
He goes on to say that historically, most harmful errors in the church arose and spread because people were too proud or arrogant to admit their errors. S St. Augustine wrote, “Pride is the mother of all heresies”. (false teachings) Would that they and we would instead heed the words of the Apostle Peter who said, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. (1st Peter 5:5b)
Hear what else the Scriptures say about humbling ourselves before God. Solomon also wrote in the book of Proverbs, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom” and “Pride goes before a destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”. (Proverbs 11:2. 16:18) Our Lord Jesus declared, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”. (Matthew 23:12) And Peter again, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time, He may exalt you”. (1st Peter 5:6)
Echoing these words, Paul wrote, “Do nothing from rivalry (strife) or conceit (boastfulness), but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others”. (Philippians 2:3-4) Again, we are all “with humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2) and forgiving as we have been forgiven; humbly submitting ourselves to the Word of God and being of “one mind”; following the example of Jesus; for this humility is what Christ our Lord did for us and the salvation of the world.
That is what the (missing) verses in our lectionary speak of; “Christ Jesus, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man … humbling Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”. (Philippians 2:5b-8) As the writer of Hebrews declared, “He learned obedience through what He suffered … he became the source of eternal salvation to all” (Hebrews 5:8-9) who believe in Him.
After His bodily resurrection, “God has highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him the name that is above every name … at the name of Jesus every knee will bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. (Philippian 2:9b-11) Here again, we have Paul exhorting us to live like we confess we believe. “Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation”. (Philippians 2:14-15a)
Our lives are not to resemble the wicked world around us, “grumbling and questioning”, rather we are to “hold fast to the Word of life” (Philippians 2:16a); not wavering between two opinions as the chief priests and elders did in the Gospel reading; they were more concerned about what people thought of them and how they would maintain their influence in the synagogue, than they were about the truth of God’s Holy Word. Sadly, many in the church today follow the example of the Chief priests and elders in the Gospel text, refusing to submit to the Word and insisting on their own way.
When they said, “We do not know” (Matthew 21:27a) to Jesus’ simple question, He said to them, “the tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you”. (or instead of you) (Matthew 21:31b) The openly sinful and wicked are often brought to repentance through the Word, quicker than those who are outwardly moral and profess a high esteem for the things of God; for example, the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8 or the thief on the cross.
Paul’s admonition, “Holding fast to the Word of life” (Philippians 2:16a), indicates the absolute necessity of true doctrine; that the Word of God is (to be) supreme in the church; again that we cannot be of “one mind” without together, humbling ourselves before the Word. So, in the Book of Concord, “we confess our adherence to the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testament … which alone is the one true guiding principle according to which all teachers and teachings are to be judged and evaluated”. (F of C, S D, Intro. Par. 3)
There it also states, “we reject and condemn all heresy and error that was rejected and condemned in the first ancient orthodox church on the true … foundation of Scripture”; (Therefore) “in order to preserve pure teaching … and God pleasing unity in the church, it is necessary to censure (silence) those who contradict it and teach other doctrines” (F of C, S D, Intro. Par. 17, 14) as Paul taught in the pastoral Epistles. “Order certain persons not to teach any different doctrine” (1st Timothy 1:3b) and “rebuke those who contradict” (Titus 1:9b) the true doctrine. True shepherds are as Luther put it, “both to pasture the sheep and ward off the wolves” who would deceive with false teaching.
Next/finally, as in the previous chapter, Paul speaks of suffering for the sake of the Gospel saying, “even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you should be glad and rejoice with me”. (Philippians 2:17-18) Even if they are to suffer for the sake of Christ. Paul wants them to continue to be of “one mind”, humbling themselves under the Word of God, and rejoicing in the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life that has been given to them by our Lord.
Again, Paul said, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” and “Be not frightened in anything by your opponents (for) this is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God”. (Philippians 1:21,28)