Sunday Sermon
Here goes, things have been a bit hectic, so I might not post again till after my Sermon, next sunday.
This morning is All-Saints Sunday the day were we remember those who by their death in the past year. Have entered into eternal life by their faith in Christ Jesus. But as we reflect on those who have recently passed, there is one thing I have always wondered about funerals. It is that people seem to lavish as much as praise on a person as possible. They talk about all the great memories they have of a person. But people never seem to acknowledge those times of their imperfection, the sins they may have committed.
But the truth from God’s word is that inspite of our imperfections, inspite of whatever sins we may have committed in the past. God has forgiven us totally by grace through Faith. We have no need to sit in the back of the Church wondering “I remember that good thing this person did, but what about when they did this, will God still forgive them for that. ” Do we sometimes have a fear that if we acknowledge a wrong in one’s past, then God might change his mind and change the verdict in regard to someone’s salvation.
I know from my own life, I have a very loved family member that is getting up in years, who has struggled with recovery from Alcoholism for about the last 30 years. She does not stand up proud of her condition like the openly unrepentant, or deny her need for God’s grace and forgiveness like the Self-Righteous , she has faith that Jesus Christ alone can make her right with God. Now she has good qualities that people could go on and on, when we come to her funeral service. But her life dealt with a very traumatic death by giving into alcoholism. She is a sinner, just like the rest of us.
I wonder if at her funeral, people might sit back wondering, what about the drinking, the DUI’S, and the rage shown. Can God ever forgive her for that? But I suspect her situation isn’t that different from a number of people’s situations. People often wonder if they or their loved ones have done enough for God? Wondering Could God possibly forgive me of all my sins? Wondering , How can I ever be called a Saint by anyone?
But the truth is in the words of Martin Luther the Christian Life is one being both sinner and saint. . This sounds like an odd statement to make- no one would ever say look at that good football team that is 0-10 on the season, no one would ever say what a good driver to someone with multiple accidents, and reckless driving tickets, no one would ever say someone’s a good cook, if you get sick every time, you eat their food. So how can one be both Saint and Sinner at the same time.
For we are sinners by our very nature listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7: “18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
For we can leave this room, and say “I am never going to sin again, but soon we will put our own interests before God’s, . as soon as someone does something that we don’t like-are we really going to love our neighbor as ourselves-. How ever hard we might try to not sin, we just aren’t by nature able to meet God’s standards of perfection. But yet, we don’t have to sit here today wondering if maybe we tried hard enough, so hopefully God might cut us some slack?
For, we are Saints in that God has promised to declare us to forgiven of all our sins before him by faith.
Let me read what I consider to be some of the most important words of scripture to answer how we are both Sinner and Saint at the same time -From Colossians 2:13-14-“You who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumsion of your flesh, yet God made us alive together, having forgiven all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside nailing it to the cross.-
This verse nails down the message of the Gospel and why someone inspite of their sins can be called a Saint. For we are all dead before God because of our sin. . What this means is that anyone who has ever sinned. If left to be judged by God by their own actions will lead to death, as stated in Romans 6.
But God’s in displaying his tremendous love for us, wanted to see us become his children. as stated in I John 3:1. So God by his grace acted so that we would be totally without debt before him, so we may spend eternity in paradise with God as stated in I John 3:2.
How did God act so that any gap in what we should do, and what we do before God because of sin , be eliminated and paid in full? By paying it on the cross. By the Cross-God experienced death-which is our fate because of sin, but at the same time-God defeated death by his resurrection, so God made us totally right with him, and we and all the saints are thus resurrected from the dead,because of him.
For we are sinners-in that we all have sinned. But we are Saints in that God has declared us to be totally forgiven of all our sins before him by his grace through faith.
Here’s an analogy of how this works, as told by a Seminary Professor on a video in the Augsburg Confession class, I teach - He told the story of being student who drove a car that was just a beater. A car that was all-rusted out, with a radio that barely works, a Car that doesn’t start up all that quickly, then when it does fires off a sound to wake the neighbors He then met a girl that who had a brand new Cadillac. These two then unite in marriage, and that the car that was her’s became his’. For as Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5. For God’s united himself with us through Christ’s death and resurrection, so that God’s righteousness, may be our righteousness. Therefore everything we have done in the past may be forgiven. This is how a Sinner can be a Saint.
So when a funeral comes remember in spite of whatever sins someone has committed-defining them as a sinner. God will still forgive them by faith, and they will still be with God-for God has declared us to be Saints. For as our reading from I John 3:3 states “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. For it is in this hoping in Jesus Christ that we are made pure. We are called saints, not by our own actions. But by the fact that Christ canceled all our sins, and sins’ debts by his cross and resurrection. This is how we become totally right before God, and are forgiven of all our sins. This is why we can remember our loved ones today,-not for the sins they may have committed or wondering if they did enough, but for the fact that God declared them saints and totally righteous in Jesus Christ, so they may be with God.
Amen
This morning is All-Saints Sunday the day were we remember those who by their death in the past year. Have entered into eternal life by their faith in Christ Jesus. But as we reflect on those who have recently passed, there is one thing I have always wondered about funerals. It is that people seem to lavish as much as praise on a person as possible. They talk about all the great memories they have of a person. But people never seem to acknowledge those times of their imperfection, the sins they may have committed.
But the truth from God’s word is that inspite of our imperfections, inspite of whatever sins we may have committed in the past. God has forgiven us totally by grace through Faith. We have no need to sit in the back of the Church wondering “I remember that good thing this person did, but what about when they did this, will God still forgive them for that. ” Do we sometimes have a fear that if we acknowledge a wrong in one’s past, then God might change his mind and change the verdict in regard to someone’s salvation.
I know from my own life, I have a very loved family member that is getting up in years, who has struggled with recovery from Alcoholism for about the last 30 years. She does not stand up proud of her condition like the openly unrepentant, or deny her need for God’s grace and forgiveness like the Self-Righteous , she has faith that Jesus Christ alone can make her right with God. Now she has good qualities that people could go on and on, when we come to her funeral service. But her life dealt with a very traumatic death by giving into alcoholism. She is a sinner, just like the rest of us.
I wonder if at her funeral, people might sit back wondering, what about the drinking, the DUI’S, and the rage shown. Can God ever forgive her for that? But I suspect her situation isn’t that different from a number of people’s situations. People often wonder if they or their loved ones have done enough for God? Wondering Could God possibly forgive me of all my sins? Wondering , How can I ever be called a Saint by anyone?
But the truth is in the words of Martin Luther the Christian Life is one being both sinner and saint. . This sounds like an odd statement to make- no one would ever say look at that good football team that is 0-10 on the season, no one would ever say what a good driver to someone with multiple accidents, and reckless driving tickets, no one would ever say someone’s a good cook, if you get sick every time, you eat their food. So how can one be both Saint and Sinner at the same time.
For we are sinners by our very nature listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7: “18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
For we can leave this room, and say “I am never going to sin again, but soon we will put our own interests before God’s, . as soon as someone does something that we don’t like-are we really going to love our neighbor as ourselves-. How ever hard we might try to not sin, we just aren’t by nature able to meet God’s standards of perfection. But yet, we don’t have to sit here today wondering if maybe we tried hard enough, so hopefully God might cut us some slack?
For, we are Saints in that God has promised to declare us to forgiven of all our sins before him by faith.
Let me read what I consider to be some of the most important words of scripture to answer how we are both Sinner and Saint at the same time -From Colossians 2:13-14-“You who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumsion of your flesh, yet God made us alive together, having forgiven all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside nailing it to the cross.-
This verse nails down the message of the Gospel and why someone inspite of their sins can be called a Saint. For we are all dead before God because of our sin. . What this means is that anyone who has ever sinned. If left to be judged by God by their own actions will lead to death, as stated in Romans 6.
But God’s in displaying his tremendous love for us, wanted to see us become his children. as stated in I John 3:1. So God by his grace acted so that we would be totally without debt before him, so we may spend eternity in paradise with God as stated in I John 3:2.
How did God act so that any gap in what we should do, and what we do before God because of sin , be eliminated and paid in full? By paying it on the cross. By the Cross-God experienced death-which is our fate because of sin, but at the same time-God defeated death by his resurrection, so God made us totally right with him, and we and all the saints are thus resurrected from the dead,because of him.
For we are sinners-in that we all have sinned. But we are Saints in that God has declared us to be totally forgiven of all our sins before him by his grace through faith.
Here’s an analogy of how this works, as told by a Seminary Professor on a video in the Augsburg Confession class, I teach - He told the story of being student who drove a car that was just a beater. A car that was all-rusted out, with a radio that barely works, a Car that doesn’t start up all that quickly, then when it does fires off a sound to wake the neighbors He then met a girl that who had a brand new Cadillac. These two then unite in marriage, and that the car that was her’s became his’. For as Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5. For God’s united himself with us through Christ’s death and resurrection, so that God’s righteousness, may be our righteousness. Therefore everything we have done in the past may be forgiven. This is how a Sinner can be a Saint.
So when a funeral comes remember in spite of whatever sins someone has committed-defining them as a sinner. God will still forgive them by faith, and they will still be with God-for God has declared us to be Saints. For as our reading from I John 3:3 states “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. For it is in this hoping in Jesus Christ that we are made pure. We are called saints, not by our own actions. But by the fact that Christ canceled all our sins, and sins’ debts by his cross and resurrection. This is how we become totally right before God, and are forgiven of all our sins. This is why we can remember our loved ones today,-not for the sins they may have committed or wondering if they did enough, but for the fact that God declared them saints and totally righteous in Jesus Christ, so they may be with God.
Amen
posted by Stew at 8:08 AM
3 Comments:
Wow! What a sermon! This is powerful and pastoral and insightful! I especially liked the personal illustration...
Duncan-
I made six references to the neccssity of faith throughout the sermon. The point of this sermon was to address those with troubled consicenses, who wonder if they have done enough. If I made zero refernces to faith, that would have been problematic, I agree.
Rebecca,
Thank-You for your compliment.
Post a Comment
<< Home