Transcript
Speaker: Greetings and welcome to our next episode of This Sunday Podcast. I am Pastor Matthew Hardaway. Alongside me is Dr. Phil Brandt. Every week we take a look at the one of the upcoming readings in the church here.
Speaker: both as a devotional tool for the church and then also potentially a sermon help for those brothers that will be preaching on the text. So with that, 14th Sunday after Pentecost, this will be... for August 30th of 2026. It's also proper 17.
Speaker: So I will go ahead and... pull up the comments of the day. um begin with that prayer and then let dr brant kick us off with our discussion We pray.
Speaker: Almighty God, your Son willingly endured the agony and the shame of the cross for our redemption. Grant us courage to take up our cross daily and follow him wherever he leads.
Speaker: through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. One God, now and forever. Amen. Amen.
Speaker: Take up a cross. Theology of the cross. That's that's ah yeah that's a... that's a really interesting ah Lutheran um I need to step.
Speaker: Yeah. to me it's really interesting that you know after luther signed the 90 or posted the 95 theses 15 -17 fall. um and And this just seems to have sparked something. now What's really interesting is that not Not that long before, he had posted 98 theses.
Speaker: They got ignored. But... The 95 hit... It was like the match and the fuel, you know the fire and the fuel and the oxygen got right there at the right time. And it just exploded. And we know that within three weeks, they were reading the 95 Theses. in Spain.
Speaker: Wow. Yeah. Oh, man. Yeah, I mean it spread really fast. But... ah What? Um, What's really interesting is that his... his Augustinian order.
Speaker: was Well, they they they took notice of that. All of a sudden, here's this guy, and he's caused quite a stir. And so the next spring, in May, they had their... they're, you know National Convention, okay. their big gathering of the Augustinian Order, and it was going to be held in Heidelberg.
Speaker: And they put they put Luther on the agenda as the primary speaker. Um, At the Heidelberg. ah Uh, At the Heidelberg...
Speaker: event. And. ah They called it a disputation. Luther was supposed to stand up and kind of... defend his his his new thinking. And it's it's really interesting that...
Speaker: He doesn't talk about the 95 theses at all.
Speaker: what What he does is he compares and contrasts a theologian of the cross versus a theologian of glory. And that becomes the focus of the Heidelberg Disputation. and um if If you're... If you're really interested in that, um Gerhard Ferdi did a wonderful little book on on the Heidelberg Disputation. um a number of years ago now. And.
Speaker: really, really a fine treatment of that whole idea of the theologian of the cross. um Really highly recommend that. that text. And it would make a really fine like ah Bible study kind of a basis for a Bible study, but certainly for a...
Speaker: for a for a pastor or somebody who's ah a Lutheran theologian. Boy, it's kind of a text you just got to come back to again and again because I think what it really did was It...
Speaker: It... It redirected the... the the Lutheran Reformation from being simply a protest movement, which the 95 Theses kind of are a protest document.
Speaker: you know they're They're protesting an abuse by the by the by the Roman Catholic hierarchy at the time. and And the Roman Catholic Church had dealt with those kinds of protests.
Speaker: for centuries. Sometimes. You know? they They worked. And things did change. um But sometimes they didn't. but But the Roman Catholic Church had a whole process for dealing with that. But what Luther really did at Heidelberg was redirected it into saying, no, this is far more fundamental than simply the... protest about an abuse at The, uh...
Speaker: At the... ah ah at you know, at the at the institutional level. this is this is This is a fundamental...
Speaker: Rethink Oh. what the church is. what the kingdom of God is. and and how this this plays out. And in fact... um It would take, you know... A generation two... for that all to really... percolate through and work out. I think the... yeah The... the the real exemplar of of Heidelberg's Um,
Speaker: Heidelberg's success is John Frederick the Magnanimous. um the The late Reformation era. Elector of Saxony who ended up losing the war to Charles V, he ended up um He ended up in prison. He got this horrible scar across his face. uh he was stripped of his electorship he ended up really just
Speaker: taking it on the chin uh through that that entire process that's where he earned the name magnanimous Hmm. and And I think it was really in his defeat as he very charitably...
Speaker: and graciously And faithfully... Confessed his faith in God. and
Speaker: i Think it that that that that really showed that the Lutheran movement was a durable And... ah a durable movement which could produce people who could persevere through adversity.
Speaker: and And really, I think what you're seeing you're seeing John Frederick do there is is exemplify that. theft That. Theology of the Cross. Yeah. And so in the gospel reading for today, for this Sunday, Jesus is going to say, take up your cross.
Speaker: And so that's why we have that prayer. But what's interesting is, what is a cross?
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, Matthew, mean when you when you talk about cross -bearing to people, what what do you usually say? I mean, not many of us are called on to march through the streets of Jerusalem with one strap to our back, or as Peter was. due March. you know, to be marched into into the execution fields near Rome and be crucified upside down. Very few of us have that. kind of an experience.
Speaker: For me, liking it to
Speaker: You're usually trying to go smaller to greater depending on the setting. know But a cross could be, well, we talked about this before. you just a few episodes ago on Um, you know I I need you on the diet. I want to eat less. but I can't.
Speaker: And and the you know that that could be a cross for somebody. being you know Having a terminal illness could be a cross for somebody. No. Your next door neighbor might be one of your crosses or a family member. Basically anything where we bear.
Speaker: Um, any sense of burden. in confessing our faith. Mm -hmm. living our faith. that wants to, where sin wants to come in and go see, like, what's wrong here and is it Jesus that's wrong.
Speaker: Right. Right. Thanks a lot. it it It seems to me it's any it it's it's all of those things and more. It's it's that. it's that that That. realization that The kingdom of God. is really working through this this This counterintuitive, contrary to the world.
Speaker: mechanism. in which Giving is getting. Losing is winning. Um... Uh, uh...
Speaker: uh uh that that that That, you know, what Jesus says, he loses his life for my sake. preserves it. that it's this really weird...
Speaker: idea that the cross is is that there's that element of that losing it. And is that that thing that that in the in the suffering and the dying, we look a lot like Jesus.
Speaker: We look like Jesus on his cross. And... And. that does not dismay us that does not um That does not speak of God. rejecting or hating us.
Speaker: but it really speaks of God. loving and And using us because he's he is in that really connecting us to the cross. Thanks.
Speaker: and and And I think that... Um, that now becomes the the The framework. that it is through this counterintuitive losing is winning.
Speaker: Dying is living. um ah Giving is getting. a framework of of this kingdom of God that that's the only way to hear.
Speaker: what Paul is talking about now in Romans chapter 12. Because... Because if you remember last week, we started with that. That, you know, oh, how inscrutable are the ways of God. Okay. He just does stuff. His wisdom, his knowledge is so profound. and I can't figure this thing out.
Speaker: When you're in that kind of language, you're in. in theology of the cross language. and And I think you've got to have that cross -shaped theology.
Speaker: in order to really hear what Paul has to say here. Because if you don't, if you come to it from the theology of glory, This is going to become one of the most brutal passages of the law.
Speaker: and and crushing people. that you can you can possibly imagine. Um... ah So are you going to want to go more into what the theology of the cross and the theology of glory is, right?
Speaker: Essentially right now? or you but The contrast is, of course, you know, that theology of glory is is really in an ergo theology. I do this therefore.
Speaker: you know And and and it it it either sees God as... as the You know, the God is a button that I push. I pray enough. I give enough. I go to church enough. I'm moral enough. I do these things. Therefore, God is going to do something for me. That's always a theology of glory. That's always a...
Speaker: that's always But it also is a theology of glory when you start talking about my life as a... Response to God. That God is the button pusher.
Speaker: That God is the is the one who is doing this. And and and and in that, you... you Anytime you get This idea that you're going to measure God's love.
Speaker: based on on what he's what what he's asking you to do on the basis of of success or anything like that. You are in a theology of glory.
Speaker: A theology of the cross is always going to be far more of a of a of a connective, relational... Theology. And it's always going to it's always going to... it's going to notice that God... accomplishes his kingdom goals.
Speaker: through The crucifixion, death. and resurrection. Oh Jesus Christ. And... That that in my participation in the kingdom I'm not going to... I'm oftentimes not going to be
Speaker: that that That in my failures, in my in my in my in my my... my moments of suffering and in those those moments when when Life just really...
Speaker: Sucks!
Speaker: That oftentimes God is doing his best work in my life and that and that that I don't ever measure the love of God based on my human circumstance.
Speaker: Okay? So if i'm if I've got cancer and I'm laying in the hospital, that's never because God hates me.
Speaker: That's never because somehow I have failed or God has has has punished me or something like that. I completely remove everything from that. that that economy.
Speaker: um And instead I... I... I see that Good. you know, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, it isn't that God keeps me from walking in that valley.
Speaker: but his rod and his staff they comfort me in the midst of that they are right there with me That God goes with me into that into that operating theater. He goes with me into those moments of pain. and and suffering and, and And that oftentimes through those moments of pain and suffering, his kingdom comes, his will gets done. his is, uh... His kingdom work is happening.
Speaker: And so... um So what you have to really just remove, you have to remove my life. from any kind of An economy.
Speaker: a buy -sell therefore Language.
Speaker: that you have with God. to that that if you if you come to this text with that kind of a thinking, you will always This will turn into just a... taskmaster of the text.
Speaker: but For eight long chapters, Paul really worked out... how that gospel of... Salvation by grace works. that cruciform theology.
Speaker: In the last, in the three chapters right before this, he was working on how that plays out in the great question of his time, which was the the rejection by the Jewish people of the message of Christ.
Speaker: yeah and And what he ended up saying in that was so profound was that, that look, their rejection has resulted in... the the the message getting out to the Gentiles. And so there's that that theology of cross. What looked like a failure...
Speaker: God. turned into a way for his kingdom to come. And Paul is anticipating the same thing now happening. Kind of in reverse.
Speaker: All right, in reverse for that. And so but now. in this In this chapter, he's He's really talking about how the Gentiles... are going to be that that goad that that brings the Jewish people back.
Speaker: But also he's taking this as an occasion to really talk about in that this renewal of the mind that that phrase we had last week. Um, that That.
Speaker: In fact... What's... What is... ah ah what What is happening is he's defining and and and talking about what is this this thing. that God has done.
Speaker: Um... Hey. I really don't think... i mean I think Lutherans, if we have a fault, it is that we pay. All our attention to chapters... you know really Three.
Speaker: You know the the thesis in chapter 320 and following up to, you know, chapter 8, you know, where where God says, you know, where where you get this, and there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God.
Speaker: worthy material. Absolutely worthy of paying our attention in full to that. But... But I think if we have a critique of our reading of Romans is that we...
Speaker: we kind of get put off by that section of 9 to 11 where he starts talking about the Jewish question, which is really uncomfortable for Lutherans. um Yeah. and we just at that point don't really i think pay enough attention to these next chapters and ah Chapter 12.
Speaker: is to my mind, really the the The... The... the spiritual roadmap of Christianity.
Speaker: Um... and And into 13 and 14, but really chapter 12. where he's he's talking about these these these characteristics of the church, of God's community.
Speaker: Um, i think i just really important, and we should really pay attention to them. Again. Removed from that Economy of by cell salvation, you know that that that that that the theology of glory.
Speaker: But... in that theology of the cross. to here. these words. as God describing us.
Speaker: and calling us. ah into a new kind of life. Ciao. Um... Uh, Let's ah like love to just read them.
Speaker: Yeah. And let's look at what Paul has to say to us at the end of Romans chapter 12, the last two paragraphs usually in your text. so after having exhorted us to a to a ah to a humility, and after having talked to us about how the body of Christ has many different members, and if you have these gifts, use these gifts.
Speaker: for the for in In this kingdom, you know if you're if you have zeal, let it be leadership. If you have generosity, be a contributor. If you are a servant, if you have the gift of service, then serve.
Speaker: You know, in mercy. Be cheerful. Don't be grumpy. Be cheerful in all of this. stuff Now he gets kind of more into some of the the the the nuts and bolts of it. Let let love be genuine.
Speaker: Abhor what is evil. Hold fast. to what is good. there' is There's an entire sermon right there. but I mean... You know that That - that Yep. Let love be genuine. Love.
Speaker: and and enjoy it. Right? Abhor what is evil. Do you know how often, and hold fast to what is good, do you know how often we flip those things? yeah You know, we have this innate Broken human!
Speaker: love of Um, of of just watching something even.
Speaker: You know? Uh... We just look at... Look at. you know movies and television look at but look at The news. All right. i mean So little of our news is good news.
Speaker: Right. you know and And there's a reason for that. and That is that that the people who are generating the news content that's coming into your you know your stream, your your television, your radio, whatever it is that you're getting it.
Speaker: They need your eyes and ears paying attention. And they know that your eyes and ears are way more likely to pay attention. to bad news.
Speaker: And good. Okay. And so... they plan Just look at look at driving down you a freeway. Passed either a stall car off to the side of the road Yeah.
Speaker: or two cars that hit each other. Yeah. Everything slows down for some morbid curiosity. Yep. You know, you got this... this was see Is there blood? You know, kind of a thing.
Speaker: And... And you go. Why, you know, why are we? And and so Paul... Paul is saying, Guys, think about this and flip. Who was he?
Speaker: And embrace, hold fast. Do what is good.
Speaker: What an amazing What an amazing life that would be. I mean think about culture and society. If we... did this.
Speaker: Um. What would be so different? You know? I mean, You know, the the How would... I think about just how would film or or literature or... television or or any of these media be different.
Speaker: if people gravitated toward... The good.
Speaker: and abhorred The evil. instead of turning that over. Um, Yeah, paul Paul has this in mind, this this very different thing.
Speaker: Love one another with brotherly affection.
Speaker: Outdo one another. in showing honor. You know that That our competition becomes not a competition to see who can get ahead or who can get the most praise.
Speaker: but rather a competition to see who can give the most praise. who can give the biggest honor to somebody else instead of who can receive the biggest honor.
Speaker: Now, This was complete. Completely flipping. Roman culture in the first century too. This is Oh, yeah. The Romans were... We're very much in...
Speaker: A stratified, honor -based... society. And when I talk about honor, I mean showing honor based. So. Yep. when when a ah When... When an important person walked by, they were kind of like prescribed.
Speaker: Um... signs of respect that you were supposed to show. you know If somebody came by of the senatorial class, you know If you were out on the street, you here's Matthew out on the street in Rome, and you know he he's out here schlepping along, and here comes this... this And and it would have been it would have been this huge caravan of people, okay? This huge... Crowd.
Speaker: and you would have immediately known, you would have seen all these differences. because Because you know you and I are sitting here today in... in in dyed and clean clothing.
Speaker: right ancient world clothing was super expensive and the dyes were super expensive and they worked fast In other words, they wouldn't hold.
Speaker: Um, And so... you would you would immediately, because ah an average slow... You know, Schmoe, like you and me. We would have had probably... so you know,
Speaker: uh an undyed piece of clothing it would have been kind of ah a Okay. tan or a gray color. probably was going to be dirty because We only have a couple pieces of clothing, but... you know, that we we wash one and we we're wearing the other one. But we don't wash it very often because that wears it out.
Speaker: And here comes this guy down the street, and he's got this crowd of people around him. And as you get closer to the middle, the color starts to get more and more vibrant. And in the middle is this guy wearing these brightly colored clothes.
Speaker: And that is one of the ways that he's projecting his wealth. He's projecting his power and his authority. yeah And you'd see that. You'd be able to tell immediately, okay, this is somebody. And he's probably got somebody in front just announcing who he is.
Speaker: But he's got this, like... cadre of people running, and you won't get close. Because they're gonna push you off into the one of the alleyways along the way But they're also going to be watching, and you better bow low enough.
Speaker: Yep. to Um... Uh... Uh, Better bow low enough that you can... Pray pay proper honor to this person.
Speaker: you know, him. You can only imagine that people at the time would go, oh, you know. That was a begrudged gift. of honor. That was that was not something and people would know. and Impulse. Call soon.
Speaker: outdo one another in showing honor. Don't. don't uh Don't. Don't ah think, okay, well, now I worship Jesus, so I don't honor.
Speaker: The senator is going, like no, how do people showing on? Okay, because In so doing, you're actually, and this is going to be next week's reading, actually. And so doing you're actually honoring Christ.
Speaker: Do not be slothful in zeal. and And here the the word is very interesting. Zeal and jealousy are the same. Word in Greek.
Speaker: Um, ah And so it's it's got it's got both a positive and a negative that we that we have as well with those words. You know, I mean, being But... but But I think the positive in English is ah is is is a little harder for us. To be zealous is... is to be is to be eager.
Speaker: Okay, don't... Don't get... Don't get lazy in your eagerness. but rather be fervent in your spirit. Serve the Lord. Jump in with both feet.
Speaker: Don't. Don't let it. Be ya. Be it be a a slow thing. Rejoice in hope
Speaker: Okay? Uh huh.
Speaker: In the... uh, In the liturgy, um for well over a thousand years. Um, Christians who have come together to for for communion have that that that little thing called the Sursum Corda.
Speaker: Mm -hmm and Literally, it is it It's that. Lift up your hearts. it's right after it's It's at the beginning of the communion liturgy. And we say, the Lord be with you and also and with your spirit are also with you. Then we say, lift up your hearts.
Speaker: Um... the Latin for that. which is where this all gets translated out of, is simply source and corridor. and and And it's just...
Speaker: It's a command. Up with your hearts. And it's it's much more akin to what... a What a Roman centurion would bark at his... at his cohort, you know, at his century, and getting out of the trenches, he says, you know,
Speaker: Yeah. Get up! Get out. You know, let's go. Um, it's It's kind of abrupt. But you know, God's people have been saying, up with your hearts.
Speaker: In days of... you know the bubonic plague all right when when wars and famines and terrible things have been going on Every Sunday they keep coming back and they say, up with your heart.
Speaker: and and And Paul says, rejoice up with your heart. In hope. in this expectation of God. Because... you know the The theology of the cross says, I'm never measuring God's love for me.
Speaker: based on my human conditions. It's always based on the Word of God and what He has done. In Christ. Yep. I am a person for whom Jesus died.
Speaker: I have the promise of resurrection and salvation. I will. Rejoice! Always.
Speaker: Be patient in tribulation. That joy allows me to endure. The plague. the famine, the war, the enslavement, whatever it is.
Speaker: I can endure it. I can be patient with it I can be constant. In my prayer.
Speaker: contribute to the needs of the saints, and seek to show hospitality. Um,
Speaker: in the in the ancient world Most people would have had a very, very small circle of friends.
Speaker: people they really would have called an amicus.
Speaker: And... um those would have been people who you would have given to unconditionally. and they would have given to you. almost everybody else in the world would have been somebody who was in some sort of ah of a commodified relationship with you.
Speaker: You would have. you would have um, You would have seen them as an ally, perhaps. You might have called them a partner. um You might have been in some sort of ah of a mutual beneficial relationship with them. Maybe they were a patron and or are you were a client and they were a patron or other.
Speaker: They could have been your patron. But... Paul is talking about here. a life of the same really. everybody's friend. Yeah.
Speaker: okay those words They can knock on your door at any time. Thank you very much.
Speaker: Um, ah that this is This is... This is a radical rethink. of the early Roman society. Okay. This is just a radical rethink of it.
Speaker: Bless those who persecute you. No. Here again, you have that rejoicing in hope. I know that Jesus is going to raise me from the dead.
Speaker: I know then I am going to i'm going to spend eternity in his blessed relationship.
Speaker: So now you're persecuting me.
Speaker: You can't take that away.
Speaker: So that means even though you're trying to hurt me, Even though you are threatening me and abusing me, I can still bless you
Speaker: I can still I can still...
Speaker: Pray for me.
Speaker: Bless, do not curse them.
Speaker: Then in verse 15 he says rejoice with those who rejoice Weep with those who weep.
Speaker: I... I think this is... This is... Um. the perfect summation of the do not covet commandment. in in the Ten Commandments Because it's when you flip those things.
Speaker: You know, when you... when you when you Weep at somebody else's joy. when you're eight when you're When you're upset because somebody else is happy or when you're happy because somebody else is sad.
Speaker: Right? That's really the epitome of coveting. Because coveting... Is it? really a desire for what somebody else has. It's really a desire that they don't have it.
Speaker: that they shouldn't be enjoying that. Because you're not enjoying it. um you know and And so, I mean, you can... You can kind of... I always think, you know, I always imagine, you know, you're really breaking the ninth and tenth commandments when you, you know, say your neighbor bought some new thing. They got a new television.
Speaker: and And what do you do? You go over and and and you're going to rob them of their joy. You're not going to steal the TV. That would be breaking that. Stealing Command. right? The seventh. Um,
Speaker: No, you're going to just go over there and tell them, oh... Oh I heard they had a much better deal on those same TVs at Best Buy. You know, you spend $40 too much for it. you know Why did I have to tell him that?
Speaker: Or why did I need to say that you know I heard that you know the that the that the Samsung is a better... has a better room. you know resolution on the tv and now or something it's like why do you do that Rejoice with him. He just got something new. He's going to enjoy it. He's going to watch the game on Saturday.
Speaker: Be happy.
Speaker: Live in harmony with one another.
Speaker: Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Okay. Just live at peace with people. Never be wise in your own sight.
Speaker: Don't. Don't over -hyperthink yourself. Repay no one evil for evil. Somebody hurts you. Don't hurt him bad.
Speaker: But give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. I think here's Paul admitting there are some people it's impossible to live peaceably with.
Speaker: Okay. Insofar as it depends on you, however. Make the effort. Try and be that peaceable person with them.
Speaker: But some people won't. well Won't do it. i think and We might all know that that narcissist who... who just cannot or that that person who has what I think today they would call it a a borderline, you know, that that in between two different diagnoses, personality disorder.
Speaker: Good. you know, who really isn't happy unless you're suffering.
Speaker: And. and you know I think Paul is recognizing there are people like that. Yeah, and and there's some people you... can't live peaceably with because they are aggressively trying to.
Speaker: Hurt you or make you miserable Um... but
Speaker: don't be that person didn You don't need to be that person. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
Speaker: and And this one seems to me to be another piece that I think sometimes Christians have really forgotten. Um... uh, forgiveness is not giving up on justice.
Speaker: And I think there's there are some people who legitimately critique. the Christian teaching of forgiveness. as as an abrogation, you know a turning back on. on the idea of justice.
Speaker: ah No. i mean Forgiveness is really the promise that says, listen, I am not your judge. Jesus is your judge. He has died for your sins.
Speaker: I am going to live out of that reality toward you. I'm promising you. I'm not going to take it out of your hide what you've done to me. Okay.
Speaker: But ultimately, what you're really doing is handing the justice off to Jesus. No. He may look at his hands and say, payment enough. Right?
Speaker: you know justice achieved. you know by my death on the cross where these hands got nailed to that wood. Um, But... That's Jesus' call to make, not mine.
Speaker: you know, and so And so what Paul is really saying is if you're going to really... you know, Receive the forgiveness of Jesus. You're gonna have to... Blibbit! And that means...
Speaker: That means... saying Well, your justice will be served. for you. but that belongs to the judge of heaven. The one I confess every Sunday. and say, he comes again with glory to judge the living and the dead.
Speaker: That guy. gets to do. The vengeance thing. Not me.
Speaker: On the contrary. If your enemy is hungry feed him If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing doing so you will he Burning coals on his head. Yeah. Shame.
Speaker: Is that what he's talking about there? This this this one is this one is a little a little weird, but I think Paul is really quoting here a kind of proverbial wisdom. that that that if you are going to change your enemy into a friend,
Speaker: And... Burn out that hatred. Love and kindness are the only way to do it
Speaker: arguing, being right? and uh Ah. and getting even. will only make you more of an enemy.
Speaker: only make you more of an enemy.
Speaker: And then... The last verse of the reading. which I think is is super important. um Do not be overcome by evil. but overcome evil with good.
Speaker: I think you know One way, if you're if you're thinking about preaching this text, is start with that last verse and work backward. Mm -hmm okay or Start with that last verse and say, here's the goal. We are going to overcome evil with good.
Speaker: that the only answer to the evil of this world. is not strength and power, and and these things, it is love and goodness.
Speaker: And. and And that is the way we're goingnna we're going to actually do something.
Speaker: It's definitely the way that Christ shows us his love. And so like going back to the... difference between the theology of the cross and the theology of glory.
Speaker: You could say the theology of Christ. Bye. He does everything backwards, you know. He's the loser that wins. He's, you know, all those things.
Speaker: Because the the theology of glory is almost a theology of... and how cause and effect mm -hmm impacts me. Great. and And how I can take control of cause and effect and start to impact God and my neighbor.
Speaker: Right. and and And Paul is really here talking about... That whole economy... right That whole economic structure of cause and effect.
Speaker: Christianity. is is is is in is in a very real sense saying no to. Now, we all live in the world. Okay. you know we We go to the if we if we if we go to the to the clothing store and we want to buy that and We want that shirt. Yeah, I gotta give them you know, the 40, 50 bucks that the shirt costs and they're going to give me the shirt. I mean, that's...
Speaker: That's an economy of cause and effect. and And that is... the way the world works.
Speaker: But I think what Paul is talking about is when we talk about these human relationships and these things that that a Christian, by the renewal of his or her mind... By this rebooting of your operating software, you...
Speaker: ah You now look at all of those transactions. completely differently. All right. In some ways it doesn't help. VAD as soon as we're born,
Speaker: We learn a lot by cause and effect.
Speaker: one i that's And that's, you know, so Paul will say, well, now that's human spiritual. Milk. You know, and and let me get you up to something a little bit meatier. And so it all it all fits, but...
Speaker: It's awesome. video. The renewal we need. because their sinful nature is so corrupt. we are always going to default back to Cause and effect. Bitch. It is there.
Speaker: you know, and it's, made you know, maybe that's a, Good thing for us to spend our entire lives studying and learning it. We can learn from that. ahem But...
Speaker: It's so easy to take that same approach in our relationship with God and Christ. Yep. it If you do this right, you will be rewarded. Oh, so that means if I have a strong enough faith.
Speaker: That will be rewarded. and If I pray like the woman who you know was praying for crumbs for her child, if I do... This then the effect should be that God is pleased with me and Christ is pleased with me And yeah, on a surface level that brings comfort.
Speaker: until you're not doing it well. All right. Life happens. Or in fact, you you know, you you get the cancer diagnosis and you've been going to church the whole time and you're kind of going, well, that didn't work.
Speaker: Or something like that. yeah and And, yeah, that... that Yeah. but And even when you take out faith and you look at... higher institutes of of education.
Speaker: That's going to be the default they go to is to cause and effect. mm -hmm Yeah. I used to teach ah teach ah a class at ah at a Roman Catholic school not far from here called the University of Portland.
Speaker: um It's the sister institution of Notre Dame in ah in Indiana. Um... And they have me teaching a and kind of an introduction to the Bible course for them.
Speaker: which I always thought was kind of interesting. yeah He was this Roman Catholic Lutheran in there doing this. But they were they were down with that. I appreciated that. um They never tried to tell me what I could and could not teach. But... um Ah. Uh,
Speaker: One of the things I did with my classroom the very first day of class was we read this passage. Hmm. And I said, I want to think about you know, how we're going to conduct this class. Because, you know, we've got kids who've gone to parochial schools their whole life. they they they're used to but we got Some kids have been in public schools their entire education up to this point.
Speaker: And. They've got no... experience talking religion. Right. you know, and you know they they've taken math classes history science all of those other classes but they've never taken a religion class before.
Speaker: and And in fact, probably if they if they haven't gone to church. ah But even if they did, you know, I mean, a lot of times... You know, church... ah Sunday school and youth group kinds of programs don't really equip you to to To have academic or...
Speaker: or really deep conversations about. um Well, that's what I'm going to say.
Speaker: I want you to, and and what I always told them was, I said, read this passage. I want you to find... Two or three things in there That are. The way you would like...
Speaker: your classroom. to look. Hmm. How would you like this classroom to function, to to operate? How would you like your peers in the class to behave, and and what would you want yourself to look like?
Speaker: And and then then I also always said, and look through you and find, is there anything in here that really bothers you? that you think is is asking too much or is inappropriate or is is out of place. And it was ah those were always fascinating conversations. I always had to know this. broad spectrum of students in the class.
Speaker: you know you had i had some very pious christian students in there i had some very you know ah Sometimes I'd have an antagonistic kind of atheist student, but for the most part, I just had kids who had never thought about it before.
Speaker: Um... And and those were always really interesting conversations. And then we would always draw up kind of ah a little contract, if you will, or a little... ah Uh, guideline. you know that that we could we could kind of put on the wall and say, Hey,
Speaker: We said we were going to talk this way. and And what you're doing here doesn't seem to fit that. And it was helpful.
Speaker: It was helpful just because of all the different things coming in. But what I found really interesting was we started, of course, in last week's reading with the humility phrase. and and and honestly they They really found that the arrogance...
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It was... It was the academy, all right? It was a university. Um, Knowledge does puff up. Uh, Ed. They really wanted...
Speaker: They wanted the room. to make mistakes. They were terrified. of making a mistake and getting judged by... their peers.
Speaker: They actually weren't that afraid of me.
Speaker: um When I was in college, I was always terrified of my... of my of my professors and and their assessment of me. Um... but My students, for the most part, in the last few years have been far more afraid of The...
Speaker: but what their peers are going to say about them on social media. Okay, what they're what they're what what that other student in in the class is going to say about...
Speaker: about them on facebook or probably not facebook because these are these are ah young people uh that probably would have been something like instagram or something like that that there was going to be some some group chat from the class or some some probably some subgroup within, we're going to start talking about one of the other kids in class and and their reputation on campus.
Speaker: And in that... And that group of people is going to get destroyed. you know Because they had an idea or they said something in class that everybody else thought was you know foolish or stupid. and And so this whole idea of don't think too much of yourself, live in harmony, strive to...
Speaker: to what That was super appealing. to to these young people, that kind of a community. um I think... We oftentimes believe that young people aren't interested in church.
Speaker: and And I wonder... if they see church like this. Or do they see church as a judgmental? As a... ah as a criticizing kind of a community.
Speaker: and And is that what they're really... Yes. I guess. what what What I think is that that... I hear a lot of people in my... in my denomination, in our... in our LCMS but but across the board in in other churches as well, decry the fact that young people aren't going to church.
Speaker: and And I wonder... Is it because they're looking for what Paul is describing in Romans 12 and not finding it? in their variations. And and and.
Speaker: And what would... What would... What would happen if we just started living this way?
Speaker: i I really find that interesting. now Um. and As I said at the beginning, You you you have to take the you have to take the the commodification of this off the table.
Speaker: I don't mean to say this is some... some ah Uh, uh. new program. you know like we were We were told years ago that if we just have the right music, then the young people will come.
Speaker: Or if we just have the right program, then the young people will come. you know and and And I truly believe that young people or that people come when... they perceive the love of God.
Speaker: know But but i i I hear a lot of people today. really struggling with ah with a larger culture. That is... really at a You know, at ah at at least a 90, more like sometimes 180 degrees to what?
Speaker: To what we're. we're We're reading here in Romans chapter 12. and And I think... Um, I think the church as a whole Um,
Speaker: But... would be a lot of healthier if we If we... really spent some time talking and thinking about this and and maybe wrote our wrote our mission statements and our bylaws and our... and our Our covenants of love with one another. uh to to reflect what Paul says here. I think this would be really...
Speaker: really useful. i mean I wonder what a convention would look like if it operated this way.
Speaker: you know, an LCMS convention. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Bye. I think that would be really cool. I honestly have not. Been able to attend one yet, so I only hear...
Speaker: Hear or read the small stories. well conventions can be can be ah can be really interesting places.
Speaker: um They can bring out some really good things in people and some really... really negative things. i think Again, we said earlier. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
Speaker: um I think there's a place where sometimes we don't talk enough about what is good. We talk about, you know, that guy who stood up and and ranted about... about you know it our our our our insufficient attention to CFW Walther.
Speaker: um And didn't... Talk about all the good things that were happening. at at the convention. All right. you know so Um,
Speaker: But I... I... I do think that... That. too often as our churches, as our fellowship of people in in a congregation live.
Speaker: I think this is actually super attractive.
Speaker: I think this is what what God calls us to be. And that, in fact... I think this is just a way better life to live.
Speaker: then yeah I don't want to be too therapeutic about it, but... But honestly...
Speaker: I want to live like this as much as possible. Because... I really believe one, this is what God is calling me to and that that I'm participating in the life of Jesus this way. but but also This is going to be way better than...
Speaker: The life of... competition and and honor seeking and And, ah ah you know. pushing down my neighbors so that I think I'm I mean at least I'm going to be higher than him because I've made sure he's lower than me.
Speaker: Right. Oh. My bad. Jesus says, love. Love the Lord. God, your father and... No one else in. Love your neighbor as yourself. Right.
Speaker: And that's really easy for anybody that's been around the church to remember and to say. and Hmm. Put in the bulletin, put up a little stencil art on the wall in the narthex, and...
Speaker: And... We have focused, and I've been... forced to participate in some small ways on those efforts. to bring more people in.
Speaker: You know, I get the young people in and change this and change that. And it's like. and Is there an audience that might appreciate that? Great! All for it. if it's If that's the stumbling block, that's keeping...
Speaker: from coming And I think, no, it's not that. Because for for a lot of those that have... I've been in church for a while or completely total period. They have no clue what to expect about style of music.
Speaker: Mm -hmm well of worship or do you condemn or you know All those things, they don't, but what they're going to spot is when the church is struggling with this passage in Romans.
Speaker: Mm hmm. And then it doesn't matter how great your music is, how great the organist is. or what you did, all the programs and everything under the sun.
Speaker: That is something that... And it might not even be able to articulate it. right You start seeing weak patterns of that, and then... Yeah, something's just off there.
Speaker: Yep. It's not. It's not. It's not in step with that Jesus. I know from my New Testament and from the people who have loved me with Jesus' love.
Speaker: Right. Or that I just heard the pastor preach a great sermon on. Yeah, yeah. You know?
Speaker: Yeah. yeah I think anybody who's preaching this, what you really want to do is is look through your congregation and and find those because, you know, Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. talk about those things Show where this is happening.
Speaker: Hmm. and highlight those things. That's the way you get your congregation to do more of that. is by is by pointing out, this is look at what Jesus is doing here. Look at what Jesus is doing here. Don't talk about things he did 2 ,000 years ago.
Speaker: Talk about what he's doing right here right now in these people who are in front of you. and And I think that's how this that's how this grows. That's how this becomes something. Yeah.
Speaker: And this is Mark Reisling. Yeah. This is a great text. This is such a fun... This this is a text that has... just Bye. Like I said, I think you could take almost any one of these little phrases in here and there's a sermon.
Speaker: Right. The sermon goes on. After the last couple of chapters. Paul kind of owes this one. That's right. That's right.
Speaker: No kidding.
Speaker: Absolutely. Absolutely. i mean to to be honest even with you and i having extra prep time to to go through Romans you know for most of the summer.
Speaker: I think I've maybe preached on it once. yeah And it's not because I feel like and and it's boring, it's old, it's stale. Just take it down and and try to...
Speaker: I don't know. Okay. And look, there's that remake. i So. Spirit leads where he will when when we are prepping. Our sermons. I know that. This this is where this is where, honestly, i I have really appreciated the discipline of...
Speaker: making sort of a vow to myself and to God to say, I'm going to preach the epistle readings this year. And come whatever.
Speaker: I'm going to preach that reading. And sometimes I look longingly at the gospel reading and wish I could preach that one instead. And then I do the same thing with the gospel readings one year. I'll do the Old Testament reading. um What I found I just about could not do, and and... What I... have instead opted to do, I think for this next year, is I'm going to preach the psalm twice a month.
Speaker: Okay. right The Psalms are hard to preach every Sunday. Yes. but Um, But... Usually, in ah in the course of a month, there's two preach there's two really preachable psalms in there.
Speaker: um and yeah And almost always I preach the psalm as ah as a... uh, It's kind of... the I kind of imagine the Gospel reading bounces off the Old Testament reading, and that's the Psalm.
Speaker: Yes. Okay, so if you think of the gospel reading as a trajectory that's hitting the Old Testament reading, and then when what bounces off of that is the psalm.
Speaker: and And that the psalm is almost always the gospel the The character in the Old Testament reading. Singing. Mhm. and And when you do that, then it becomes, okay, that lets you tie in the other readings and the psalm works. but They're hard. The Psalms are a tough one to preach.
Speaker: Yes. I was using the Psalms as the associate pastor's article for the monthly newsletter at a church I was at once.
Speaker: Because I can't stand newsletters. but ah Sorry. and Anyway. I find that, you know, after struggling, like, what do you write every single month? And you've got, you know, a retired pastor, a senior pastor.
Speaker: If you don't write the same thing, that's just gonna be embarrassing. You know, and there's in all these silly little stumbling blocks. I know just because I'm ornery and I don't want to. But... I have to, so I force myself to go into the Psalms.
Speaker: Um. Yeah, the first. But how about the first 15?
Speaker: There's only a couple times I was struggling and we're talking to maybe 200, 250 words. Mm hmm. you know, at most, because it also includes a part of the song for the newsletter. Right, right. For those that don't have their Bible out, you know, in the newsletter.
Speaker: Ah. And... Yeah, it got to a point though where... Especially when you're just going in that numerical order, not that they're structured specifically numerically, but so many themes that can be can like.
Speaker: represent themselves again. So I did it. Didn't we just hear about this in the song before it? Ah! So yeah. I had a pitch on the song before and thoroughly enjoyed it. yeah End.
Speaker: Not that this is matters, but also gotten some sometimes I get more feedback from people I don't usually get feedback from. You preach songs, really? We preach songs. So...
Speaker: It might be that my sermon sucked, but hey, I got feedback. There we go. Cool. Well Matthew, this has been fun. Yes, it is. Thank you for...
Speaker: Hmm. Making the time this week for this. All right. Well... Preach them a good one Sunday. You do the same And until next week. We'll see you then.
Speaker: God bless you. God bless.
