LESSON: COLOSSIANS 1:9‒12

“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

We have seen in our consideration of this Gospel (Luke 10:23‒37) what God means when He says, “You shall love the Lord your God.” He means you, the whole you, not only your hands, your mouth, or your knees. When we love God with such a fullness of our being, we fulfill this law.

But there is not a single person on this earth who fulfills it in this manner. Indeed, we all do the very opposite. This law makes sinners of all of us, so that not even the smallest letter of this commandment is fulfilled, not even by the greatest saint in the world. No one adheres to God with his whole heart in such a way that he could forsake everything for God’s sake. We have, praise God, advanced so far that we cannot endure giving up even one little word, yes, not even a farthing, for God’s sake!

How is it possible to love God if His will is not pleasing to us? If I love God, I also love His will. When Gods sends us sickness, poverty, disgrace, and shame, that is His will. But what do we do? We rampage, snort and groan, and accept matters with much impatience. This is the least of our problems. What would we do if we had to give up body and life for God and Christ’s sake? Then I suppose we would show quite another front! In the meantime I act like this Pharisee and lawyer. I lead a fine life outwardly, honor God and serve Him, fast, pray, and always put on a very pious and holy front. But God does not look for this. He wants His will to be accepted joyfully and in love. In this respect we continue to drag our feet.

SL 11:1542 (18)

PRAYER: O God, make us ready and willing at all times to obey Your holy will, not grudgingly and impatiently, but wholeheartedly, feely and openly, for Christ our Savior’s sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 5:17-35.

LESSON: ROMANS 1:18‒25

“You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” Matthew 4:10

God allows us to love His creatures; that is why He created them and made them good. The sun is a fine creation of God; gold and silver and everything that is fair and beautiful quite naturally engender love in us. God readily permits us to love these creatures. But to cling to them and equate our love for them with our love for Him, this He neither will nor can tolerate. Indeed, it is His will that I should deny and forsake all if He wants me to do so, and that I should be satisfied even if I never saw the sun, money, or any of my property again.

Love of creatures must always stand a very long distance beneath love of Himself. Even as He is the supreme good, so He wants us to love Him in the highest manner before everything else. If He does not want me to love anything beside Himself, much less does He want anything to be loved above Himself, although both of these alternatives amount to the same thing.

Now, I believe, you can see what it means to love God with your whole heart, and your whole soul, and your whole mind. To love God with your whole heart is to love Him above all creatures. Although many creatures are quite lovable and please me well and I love them, I should still be fully prepared to disregard them and let them go for God’s sake, if God, my Lord, so wills it.

SL 11:1541 (13‒14)

PRAYER: We thank and praise You, heavenly Father, for all the good gifts of Your creation. Grant us the moderation and understanding to use these creatures according to Your will and for our neighbor’s benefit, in Christ’s name and for His sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 5:17-35.

LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 5:6‒8

Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:14

The really wicked people in God’s sight are those who are proud of their external performances, who want to justify themselves and be accounted righteous before God because of their works. The lawyer in the Gospel belonged to this class of men. What a proud ass he is! And like a proud ass, he comes to the fore. He imagines that Christ can find no fault in him. He probably even thinks that the Lord will commend and praise his life right here before all the people. It never entered his head that he might have something to learn from the Lord; he was seeking only his personal honor and glory. This coxcomb was expecting a song of praise from the Man to whom the people looked up and about whom everyone wondered.

The Lord does not really do this man a service in shaming him like He does. Christ can really be quite unfriendly and anything but kind, especially when He tells people the plain, unvarnished truth. One can understand why some people became so cross with Him. This pious, holy lawyer is still standing on his head. He has but one aim in view: to cash in on the very high reputation he has won by his holy living. He is quite sure that he has fulfilled all the commandments. He hopes to hear from Christ the commendation, “My good man, you have done everything; all is well with you.” But Christ says: “Do this!” In plain language Christ means to tell him, “You are a complete fake; you have never at any time kept this law, not even a letter of it.” He shows this man his wickedness. The poor simpleton thinks that he should be in one of the upper seats. It would be fine and clean. He would rather take his place among the angels than among these people. At times Christ can certainly be a very strange Christ.

SL 11:1539 (11‒12)

PRAYER: You have made it perfectly clear, O God, that self-righteousness never has any room to spare for Your grace and mercy. Empty our hearts of all false pride and self-righteousness, that Your grace and mercy may enter and abide there, in and through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 5:17-35.