GIVE HELP TO THOSE IN NEED!
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah
35:4-7
Gospel Lesson; Mark
7:31-37
Sermon Text; James
1:17-27
You will want to listen to this very carefully, because when I am done with this description, I am going to have you raise your hand if you agree with it, or not.
What if you found a church, a congregation, where the Word of God was taught in all of its truth and purity?
What if you found a congregation, where the Law was preached in all of its sternness and the Gospel was preached in all of its sweetness?
What if you found a congregation, where the Law was preached, and it was taught that we are sinners, stand condemned before God, and will be lost forever, unless saved by Christ, our Savior?
What if you found a congregation where the Gospel was preached in all of its sweetness, and it was taught that we do have a Savior, that God, Himself, came to this earth, died on the cross to wash away our sins, and we are saved by what Christ did?
What if you found a church that was true in every teaching of scripture?
What if you found a congregation that administered the sacraments rightly, highly honored baptism, saw to it that its members were baptized, and taught that through baptism, through the Word in baptism the Holy Spirit works?
What if you found a congregation that held the Lord’s Supper in high regard, saw to it that its members were taught that the Lord’s Supper is where Jesus comes to us with His own body and blood, and distributes the forgiveness of sins for the strengthening of your faith.
If you found a congregation like that, raise your hand, if you would be happy to go to a church like that. I am glad that everybody’s hand is up. We would be happy to go to a church like that, wouldn’t we?
Now, what if in that same congregation, you were there and one Sunday morning, after the church service, the pastor got up and explained to the members that they needed some volunteers to help an older member of the congregation. The pastor explained that he is very, very old. He can’t see. He can’t hear. He is very poor. And, his house needs to be painted, but he can’t afford it.
The pastor said, "I would like to ask for volunteers. Anybody who, two weekends from now can go, (whether it be for an hour or all day) and help paint that man’s house. Who is willing to go and help?"
As you look around, you noticed that not a single hand went up. Not a single hand.
The next Sunday, the Chairman of the Evangelism Committee goes up to the podium, after church and says, "You know we have Christ’s Great Commission. ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.’ And, we have a love for lost souls. So, this week we have an opportunity to go out, going door to door with the Gospel message, and hang it on people’s doors, in the hope that they will hear about Jesus, their Savior, and be saved! Who of you is willing to spend an hour of this week, (anytime this week) to go and hang those messages on doors?"
And again, not a single hand went up. Not a single hand.
What if it was announced that there would be a collection for the needy. The members of the congregation could bring donations of food to church and leave it for the poor and needy. But, when you got to church, there was not one grocery bag, not one speck of food for the poor and needy collected.
What if you went to that church and visitors came, but no one said, "Hello"? No one stopped to talk to them after the service, not one person. The visitors went home from that church, without anyone talking to them.
Now, how many of you would like to go to a church like that? I don’t see any hands up. What’s missing? There we have a church that teaches the true Word of God. It is the Word of God, in all of its truth and purity. The Word is there, with the Gospel and the Law. But what is missing?
What is missing is this. There is no evidence, in that congregation, that there is faith in Christ, the Savior. That is what is missing.
We cannot look into people’s hearts and see whether they have faith or not. We can’t see faith in people’s hearts. But we can see whether the evidence is there. Just like a trapper: he may not see the fox that is out in the woods, but he knows that it is there, because he sees the tracks through the snow. If the tracks are not in the snow, then there is no evidence that there is a fox in the woods.
If there is no evidence, no evidence that there is a love for the Savior, then there is no evidence that faith is there.
Today’s scripture reading talks about a critical twelve inches. It is the most critical twelve inches in the world. Those twelve inches is the difference between life and death. It is the difference between heaven and hell. It is the difference between salvation and condemnation. What twelve inches am I talking about?
It is the twelve inches
from
my head
to
my heart.
In our scripture reading today, James says,
"Do not merely listen to the Word,
and so deceive yourselves.
Do what it says."
There, James is telling us that it is possible to sit and listen to the saving Gospel message of Jesus, our Savior, and have it in our head, but it has not traveled the distance to our heart, where we cling to it by faith.
It that possible? Do you really think it is possible that there are people who, on the Day of Judgment, when they stand before the Throne of Christ, would be able, and could give the answer to anything you would ever ask about the Bible, and yet not accepted into Heaven?
I am sure that is going to happen to people on the Day of Judgment. There are going to be, on the Day of Judgment, people who sat and heard the Word of God. They listened to the Word of God. They knew the Word of God, in their minds. There will be people who, if God were to ask, "Who knows what verbal inspiration is?"
They could raise their hand and say, "That is when the Holy Spirit moved the writers of the Bible to write down, word for word, the scripture."
And, if God said, "Who of you here knows what it means that the Bible is inerrant?"
They could raise their hands and say, "I know that means that the Bible is without error."
And if God were to ask, "Who of you here knows what the Law is?"
They could raise their hands and say, "The Law is that part of God’s Word that tells us what we should and should not do. It is the Ten Commandments. It shows our sin."
And if God said, "Who of you here knows what the Gospel is?"
They could raise their hands and say, "I know what the Gospel is. It is the Good News that Jesus came to this earth to save sinners. It shows that we have a Savior."
They could know all of the answers, and yet God could look at them and say, "Depart from me you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and all of his angels because I never knew you."
WHY?! Because that knowledge of scripture never traveled those critical twelve inches to the heart, so that they gripped it by faith, and believed "I am a sinner. I need a Savior. Jesus is my savior. Jesus died for me." Jesus will say to people like that, "Depart from me. I was hungry and you didn’t give me anything to eat. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me anything to drink. I was in prison and you didn’t visit me. I was naked and you didn’t clothe me."
What is Jesus saying there? There was no evidence. There was no evidence of faith in that person’s life. Faith alone saves, and the evidence was not there.
Now as we look at our own lives, and I look at my life, that is a little troubling to all of us, isn’t it? Our Savior, here in today’s scripture reading, says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress." As we look at our own lives and the evidence of faith in our lives, (or the lack of evidence of faith in our lives) who of us here is not convicted? Who of us here doesn’t look at yourself and say, "Certainly I have seen people in need. But, I have not always helped them the way I should. I have not always had a heart for orphans and widows in their distress. I have not always had a heart for the lost, gone out and done everything I could to win the lost for Christ, bringing them here to hear the Word of God. I have fallen flat on my face many times in regards to the care and concern for the lost. I have not always seen to it that the hungry have something to eat, and the naked have something to wear. I have fallen flat on my face. Where is the evidence that I have faith and love for Christ, my Savior?"
As we really begin to look at ourselves, our scripture reading says, "It is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror." Like a man looking in a mirror, we should use God’s Word as a mirror. Look intently at your life and compare it to God’s Word. As we do that, it should trouble us. I do not measure up to what God’s Word intends me to be. I have not served my neighbor the way that God wants me to serve my neighbor. I do not deserve to have God say that my religion is pure and faultless. I deserve to have God say to me, "You didn’t help me. You didn’t clothe me. You didn’t give me anything to eat. You didn’t give me anything to drink. You didn’t visit me in prison. Depart from me you cursed."
There we take a good look into the mirror of God’s Word. We look further and more intently into God’s Word, His perfect Law, because what does that do? The Law grips our hearts and brings us to repentance. It brings us to say, "Oh I wish that God would not see my sins. I wish that God would not see me that way. I wish that my sins were gone."
Then, we look intently into the Gospel message. And, what is the awesome Gospel message of scripture? The awesome Gospel message, for anyone who sees his or her shortcomings and failings, points us to the cross of Jesus Christ. There it shows to me (who sees that my hands don’t serve the way they should), the cross of Jesus. I see that He was pierced, for my transgressions. I see the nails that slammed His hands up against the cross. There on the cross, His hands were punished, as if they did not help the poor. As if they did not help the needy. As if He did not see those who were in need and did nothing about them.
There, I see Jesus on the cross suffering great thirst.
That is what I deserve.
Have I always helped those who are hungry or thirsty? No I have not! I deserve to have God remove from all that would sustain me. And yet, there on the cross I see Jesus. Jesus is the one who is suffering what I deserve. He is thirsty and He is suffering for me.
"The LORD has laid upon
Him
the iniquity of us all."
There, I see Jesus suffering great loneliness.
That is what I deserve.
Have I always befriended those who are lonely and in need? No I haven’t. I deserve to have God forsake me, for not taking care of His children. But there on the cross I see God pouring out His wrath, not on me, but on Jesus. We hear Jesus say,
"My God, my God.
Why have you forsaken me?"
There, Jesus is paying for what I failed to do.
There, I see Jesus dying - God’s Son dying.
That is what I deserve.
How many people have died, because I did not help? I didn’t help, in one way or another. I don’t know. But we all know that we are guilty. And, we all deserve to have our own lives taken away, because we have not served God’s People. Yet, God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. There, God gives up His own life. He dies, for what we deserve.
And by that, our sins are removed. They are washed away. We are purged clean of our sin, and God says, "I do not see your sins against your fellow man, anymore. My wrath has been poured out on my own Son. Now, I am at peace with you."
As we look intently into that mirror of God’s Word, not only do we see that, but we also see that God chooses, by grace, to see us as if we were Jesus, Himself, with His holy life! He sees us, for Christ’s sake, as if we always helped the poor. As if we always helped the needy. As if we always spread the Word of God. As if we always shared and gave, to God’s People. He declares us to be holy and righteous, as a free gift, for Christ’s sake. That is the saving Gospel message that we hold, not only in our heads, but also cling to it with our hearts, by faith.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, if there is anybody in the world who should have a heart for those in need, if there is anybody in the world who should have a heart for orphans and widows in their distress, if there is anybody in the world who should have a heart for the hungry, the thirsty, and the naked, it is you and it is me. We have been saved, by grace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior. We believe in Jesus, as our Savior.
Faith alone saves. Scripture is so clear about that. Jesus goes on and says, "Whoever lives in me and I in him will bear much fruit." Faith is active and living. Faith in Jesus says, "Lord Jesus, because of what you have done for me, I now want to go out. I am changed. I believe in you. I want to live for you. I want to do that, by serving those in need."
What do people see, when they come here to Holy Cross Lutheran Church? They see a church that teaches the true, pure Word of God. They see a church where the Word of God is spoken in every nook and cranny. They see a church where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached from the mountaintops, where the Gospel, the holy saving Gospel message of Jesus is preached in the pulpit, in the classroom, in the Bible classes, and wherever we go. They see that.
And then, do they see the evidence of faith? If there is any place where it should be evident, it is here. We have the Gospel. We have Jesus, our Savior. We have the full and free forgiveness of our sins. What God has done for us! If there is any place where people should see the hands go up, when we say that we have a brother or sister in need, it is here. The evidence should be here. If there is any place where people should see the hands go up, when we say that we need someone to go out and spread the Good News to the lost, it should be here. The evidence of the love for Christ and lost souls should be here. If there is any place where it should be evident that we want to help those in need, it is here. The evidence should be here.
Here is the Gospel. And where the Gospel is, there is faith. And, where faith is, there is love!
Amen.
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