Standing on the Truth

. . . for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23

Jesus spoke words of life. . .

One day, long ago, as the crowds were gathering, Jesus went upon on the mountainside along with his disciples and he sat down. Then he began to teach. He taught many things: about God blessing people, about being light in the world, about keeping the commandments, about being angry, about sexual sins, about divorce, about vows, about hatred and revenge, about loving enemies, about giving, about prayer, about money and possessions, about judgment, about entering the Kingdom, about false prophets and true disciples. {Matthew ch 6-7} Then Jesus concluded with these words and came down from the mountain side and the people were amazed.

Matthew 7: 24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell -- and great was its fall." 28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

A solid foundation

Jesus made a point in this parable, the whole of His teaching is a foundation for us, and the person who keeps it and treasures it will have a solid foundation for life no matter what storms might comes.

St. James taught this same message of Jesus.

NAB James 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

When Christians try to stand upon anything other than God’s Word, they stand on shaky ground. We desperately need the word of God. For with out this message of grace and salvation we would be left blind and hopeless for salvation. People have sought God through religion and philosophy for centuries. In Jesus God has sought us out. And we find Jesus in His Word.

NAB Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Salvation is God’s free gift to us. It is not something we earn or can create with our own efforts. It is God’s work on our behalf through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. God even works to create the faith in us we need to hold onto and trust this gift which is a promise to us from God. To deliver that gift to us, God gave us His Holy Word and the sacraments which are avenues of God’s grace for us. Through the Word and through the sacraments God announces and delivers His promise of forgiveness and creates the faith we need to receive it and trust it. And with this gift comes new life. We who were dead in sin, no breath and have life in God’s grace. And God gives us guidance about how to live that life in His Word. God give us strength to live our new lives in a healthy way through the Word and sacraments both. And when we slip into old ways, we find forgiveness in the same place, God’s Word and God’s Sacrament. Take away the teaching of God’s Word and you diminish the delivery of God’s promised forgiveness.

And the storms came. . .

Jesus did not speak words which would not apply to human life. He knew His parable would apply. The storms would come. And people will have built their house on sand.

One of the first storms to hit the church happened in the first few years of the church. It was a controversy over circumcision. Some wanted to force non-Jews to become circumcised to become true Christians. The Apostle Paul spoke directly to this issue with the Epistle of Galatians making the point that salvation is by grace alone though Christ alone received with faith alone.

Sadly, this one particular storm front, the temptation and struggle to dismiss parts of God’s Word and to add other teachings to God’s Word has remained with the church throughout its lifetime, a perpetual hurricane hovering off our coasts. When and where will it strike.

Martin Luther said in his explanation of the second commandment, that we should not lie nor deceive by His name. It is a great sadness that so many people have taught as God’s truth that which goes against God’s Word.

The church is faced with a terrific challenge. How to respond to the increasing pressure to compromise on God’s teaching. More and more individuals, congregations, and even church bodies are willing to surrender what they consider as less important teachings of God for harmony and supposed unity. An ELCA spokesman said that while differences still remain between the ELCA and the reformed church on whether Jesus is present in His actual body and blood in the sacrament, there can still be communion fellowship between the two. Because the reformed do say Jesus is present spiritually if not physically, for the ELCA this is enough for union. Why? It would seem it more important to be united for mission than to agree on all points of teaching for the ELCA. But this question must be asked. What good does it do to be united for the mission to spread the goodnews about Jesus if first you have a confusing mixture of ideas about what that good news is, and second if you have to give away pieces of it {such as the true presence of the body and blood in the sacrament} in order to achieve unity of purpose. The effect of such unity is to so water down the Gospel and make it appear to be so confusing that no one could possibly understand it much less believe it.

The church has no mission apart from God’s mission. Jesus directed us in Matthew 28 about this mission. We are to baptize, use the sacraments as a means of grace, and we are to teach people to treasure all that He has taught us. In this mission He Himself is present with us to the end of the age.

Every time we surrender a teaching of Scripture we surrender part of the gift that God has given to us in this treasure. For example: if we surrender the true presence of Christ’s body and blood, the sacrament becomes only a symbol of our efforts to be better people, and not a certain way God grants us forgiveness. Or if we surrender the teaching that God desires sexual relationships only between men and women, we loose God's blessing of family. Anytime we tell people that in our opinion is it OK to do what God forbids, we only undermine God’s relationship with His people. St. John tell us if we lie about sin, we only deceive ourselves. We deprive ourselves of the opportunity to confess that sin, find forgiveness, cleansing, and new life in Christ. {1 John 1:9}

A solid foundation

The truth Jesus taught is a solid foundation. Each teaching is one brick in the foundation. Each teaching dismissed weakens the whole. In His teaching God blessed us richly, for God tells us the truth, about ourselves and Himself. We learn we are sinners. We learn He is gracious. We learn He gives us new life. We learn what new life is about and how to live it well. Through the Word we are granted a clean slate, a new life, and guidance for living our new lives. Why would anyone want less than the full truth and the full blessing of God's Word?

Rev. David D. Reedy 2002

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

Dayton Tennessee

423.775.4253

Prince of Peace is a LCMS congregation located in Rhea County Tennessee, serving the entire county of some 32,000 people.