August 29th in the year of our Lord, 2025
August 29th in the year of our Lord, 2025
Yes, it is Friday, so be of good cheer, as Sunday is almost here!
Six days have past since the last time we heard “I forgive you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
So be of good cheer, as Sunday is only two days away.
But… I am not sure many people get this straight. I mean, it’s a struggle. We think there must something wrong with us…
Well, there is, but the reason and the solution is what we get wrong.
We still sin. A lot. Every day.
I mean we don’t commit murder… or … or…
But wait, what did Jesus say? If it appears in your heart, you have—it is as if you did do it. In truth. In time. In our place—where we live.
It is not me that says this. That is why it had to be God, who died for us. They are that big. That much. That often!
But I can hammer this home, and if people are honest, they can accept it. That is not what I am getting at, here, however.
What the issue is … what we are concerned with is
…well, we look inside… we reflect on our lives… and wonder… and ask: shouldn’t we be further along by now…? I mean, shouldn’t we be better… have less sin … more piety and good works?
Did you ever stop and think that maybe you are… that you do? It’s not for us to know or notice, really. That could just add to our problem.
It is better for us to be surprised when we get to heaven. We are to be like those people who Jesus said did this and that, and then they asked Him: “When did we do…” any of that? [Matthew 25:36-40]
This does not mean we are not to do the good we see right in front of us. Do it. And don’t do what we know is wrong. Of course.
But… but… we don’t want to always… very much… and we do want to do…
Yeah, just like St. Paul. I quoted him below.
The pain and horror is that we have to live in this… our condition… all our lives. To be sinner and saint until we are planted in the ground. For us it is: “Simul Justus et peccator.” Luther and Reformation theologians, that were honest, used that Latin phrase all the time.
It means: At the same time, saint (justified) and sinner.
It means the closer we get to Jesus, the “smaller” sins seem huge, where before we would have given them little thought!
White lies become HUGE BLACK BLIGHTS of dishonesty!
The casual glance becomes at weekend in a brothel.
Rounding up becomes a bank heist.
Agreeing with a passing remark about someone, becomes a libel suit, and you are the guilty defendant!
So… don’t be so surprised at how SINFUL you discover yourself to be. You are not alone. That is why we need so great a savior. He had to be God and man for all of it to be taken care of. And it why we need to hear the LAW and the GOSPEL at least each week, if not more in our daily devotions. That is why we need His Supper often. That is why we need to remember our Baptism. That is why we need to dwell in His Word richly.
Hear St. Paul in his letter to the Romans chapter 7:
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh,[c] sold as a slave under sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 21 So I discover this law:[d] When I want to do what is good,[e] evil is present with me. 22 For in my inner self[f] I delight in God’s law, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body,[g] waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
With this, we too are glad then, with king David, when he says, “I was glad when they said, ‘let us go into to the house of the Lord.'” [Ps 122:1].
Because even though it is Friday, Sunday is almost here… closer now…
Come, for all is being, has been, and will be made ready. See you there.
This coming Sunday – 12th Sunday after Pentecost – August 21st 2025 – Readings:
Old Testament – Genesis 15:1-6
Epistle – Hebrews 11:1-16
Gospel – Luke 12:22-40
Psalm – 131
Sermon Theme – THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH
Based on the Gospel Reading
Prayers: Remember those grieving and suffering because of the school shooting in Minneapolis. That our leaders would make good decisions regarding this and other tragedies like it, not just mindless reactionary ones.