Tag: forgiveness

Hope – the Spirit and Flesh are opposed

63013wordle

Biblical Text: Galatians 5:1,13-25
Full Sermon Text

There are three theological virtues: faith, hope and love. We like to talk about love a whole bunch, but at least from my view we don’t understand it, at least not as a theological virtue compared to a pale emotion. Lutherans love to talk about faith, and when we talk about faith grace is right behind it. But Hope gets left to Star Wars and stale political campaigns. What is Hope?

The text from Galatians for the day revolves around the proclamation that you are free (grace and faith), but that freedom is not a pretext for the desires of the flesh but to Walk in the Spirit. And Paul contrasts what the desires of the flesh are with the fruits of the Spirit. One thing that we must understand is that our sex addled culture only hears more sex when Paul says the desires of the flesh, but Paul means a much wider view of our corruption. The desires of the flesh are everything that we would naturally do given free reign. And that is what we have been given. The law has no penalty in Christ.

If our adversary can’t attack grace and faith, he will immediately attack hope. “Sure, you are saved, but you can’t actually change who you are or what you do.” Such a hopeless grace is a submitting back to slavery – a slavery to the desires of the flesh which are natural in our fallen condition. Just as much as trying to add something to faith, trying to subtract from the extent of what God is doing is a denial of the gospel. Christ has placed His Spirit within us, and that Spirit opposes the desires of the flesh. The Christian has hope that we might crucify the desires of the flesh because it is not us but the Spirit of God with us.

Don’t live a hopeless life submitting to the desires of the flesh – which is submitting to death itself. But live in hope, walk with the Spirit, learn to carry the cross, to lose yourself to find life. Hope – the Spirit within us ensures the victory, because we are being made a new creation. In the resurrection we will put away the flesh that troubles us, until that day we struggle. And the struggle itself proves our hope.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

So What Does it mean the Jesus was ‘The Son of David”?


Full Text

Text: Matt 1:18-25
This text from Matthew has a really clear purpose – to explain how Jesus is the Son of David even though he is the Son of the Virgin Mary. But I have to admit that what this text was written to address is just not relevant to today. Now before anyone goes nuts (‘the Parson has lost it, he’s throwing out the scripture!’), I’m perfectly willing to say its scripture. It is interesting in and of itself. But it was written in an apologetic mindset. It was written to convince people that Jesus was born of a virgin and still the Son of David.

There must be something important about Jesus being the Son of David. Something that maybe just escapes me, but I’d bet escapes most Christians today. I suggest three things, but it is more of an open question.

My thoughts were: 1) The eternal throne of David is in the new Jerusalem. What goes on in the Old Jerusalem carries no special religious significance. (i.e. the evangelicals that encourage a pro-Israel policy because of religious prophecy are badly misguided). 2) The Son of David – the fact that Jesus was the Jewish messiah – says something about how important culture is. God incarnated himself in a very particular culture, and then he forms a new people and calls them his body. Christians are the body of Christ. It is our task to incarnate Christ to our very specific time, place, culture. 3) The Son of David was the first to hold the key (see Isa 22:22). That key was given by the Son of David to Peter and the Apostles (i.e. the church). (see Matt 16:18-19, and Rev 3:7). That key is our salvation from sin. The king has the authority to pardon. Jesus as the eternal King – the eternal son of David – can pardon eternally.

So maybe it is relevant, but not easy to think about. About as easy as how God was born of a virgin.