For This Is the Will of God, Your Sanctification: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7

1 Thessalonians 4:1-7: "1 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness."

Last Sunday we declared that we would call upon the Lord, so that He could deliver us from trial and temptation. Today, we cry to our Lord to remember us. This is why the ancient name of today, taken from the antiphon of the Introit, is Reminiscere. We call upon our Lord to remember His tender mercies, and His lovingkindnesses. He remembers us by making us holy, by sanctifying us, and making us His children. This is what the Blessed Apostle, St. Paul writes in his first Epistle to the Church at Thessalonica. "The will of God, your sanctification." That is, that by the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the Sacraments, you are made and kept holy by the Holy Ghost.

Fred H. Lindemann in his excellent work The Sermon and the Propers explains this beautifully regarding this pericope:

"The church at Thessalonica was one of St. Paul's favorite congregations. In motherly affection he writes: Be holy. That is the purpose and aim of redemption. That is the will of God. Our sanctification is also the purpose of the Lenten preparation for Easter. Holy Baptism, the Holy Communion, the contemplation of the Scriptures, the sermons, all means by which grace is bestowed, aim at our holiness. To be holy is to possess the grace of sonship, to have part in Christ's divine life, with God's help assured, the exhortation to 'do so more and more' will be inspiration and incentive to greater endeavor in living a God-pleasing life. Hindrances are many, and not the least are those our own humanity throws into the contest. We need to be reminded that we must guard the inlets of the soul."

Indeed, we must guard the inlets of the soul, that is, what we put into our soul, or to say it another way, what we hear and listen too. This means purity of doctrine, and purity of our Lord's Sacraments, so that our soul is being properly fed. We eat healthily, for the most part, at least we try to eat healthy, eating a well-balanced meal, and not cramming our faces with junk food. We do this because we care about our physical health, not wanting our unhealthy eating to lead to sickness. The same should be true of our spiritual health, we should be careful about what we put into our souls. For when we eat "spiritual junk food" we drive the Holy Spirit away so that He is unable to make us holy.

St. Paul uses the example of sexual immorality. And we can assume that there were those among the Thessalonians who were living sexually immoral lives. Sexual immorality includes fornication, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, and all manner of sexual sins, whether in marriage or out of marriage. The Thessalonicans were listening to the world and society which was telling them that it was okay to commit these acts, and do what they wanted as far as sexual behavior. St. Paul warns them however, that such behavior is driving out the Holy Ghost, so that their spiritual health was being damaged, so that they were unable to be sanctified, that is, made holy.

Our society and world teaches the same lies, and there are many within the Church who continue to do these things, rationalizing among themselves that the rest of society is doing so why not them. Or, they are thinking to themselves that they are not hurting anybody, so what can it hurt. Or, they are thinking that their body is their own, and they can do with it what they please. But this is dangerous thinking, for such behavior, such listening to the world, is starving one's soul, and leaving them on the path of spiritual death.

These temptations of our soul, and of society and the world, are the reason that today we cry out to our Lord Jesus, to remember His tender mercies and His lovingkindnessess. For they have been ever of old. We also pray that our enemies, the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, might not triumph over us. And that He would redeem us out of all our troubles. This, of course, is what our Lord Jesus did for us on the cross of His death and our salvation; He redeemed us from our enemies. He destroyed the penalty of our sins, once and for all, and He bought us, so that we could live with Him for all eternity.

Therefore, be careful about what you put into your ears, and observe with your eyes, for these are the inlets to the soul. Put what is holy and good into your ears, and before your eyes, so that by the working of the Holy Ghost, you might be made holy and perfect in your Heavenly Father's eyes.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

I AM the LORD Your God: Exodus 20:1-23

Exodus 20:1-23: "1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.' 18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, 'You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' 20 And Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.' 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. 22 Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: "You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make anything to be with Me--gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves."'

The people of Israel must have at first thought that what God proposed was a great thing. For they had just witnessed His great power in sending plagues upon the Egyptians, and destroying Pharaoh and his army. So, when the Lord God proclaimed that He was going to be their God and they would be His people, they must have thought that was a great thing, to have such a God as this. Furthermore, upon hearing the commandments for the first time, they must have thought these were good things too, for they protected them from the cruelty of their neighbors. And since the Jews lived among the Egyptians, and probably had suffered these things from the Egyptians, they must have thought these commandments were a good thing too. Then they learned how strict our Lord God desired for them to be kept.

God wants us to keep His law perfectly, and not just in deed, but also in thought and word, too. And because of the fall of Adam into sin, "no one is able to fulfill God's Law in a manner acceptable to God. Unbelievers do not fulfill it at all, and even the obedience of believers in Christ is sadly deficient. Christ alone has fulfilled God's Law."* We can see this from the fact that every commandment contains something that is forbidden, and something that is required. Even if we were able to not do the thing forbidden, we would fail to do the thing required.

In the First Commandment, God requires that we fear, love, and trust in Him above all things, and forbids us to have other gods. In the Second Commandment, God requires that we call upon His Name in every trouble, that we pray to Him, praise Him, and give Him thanks at all times, He forbids us to take His Name in vain, that is, curse, swear, use witchcraft, or other satanic arts, lie, and deceive by His Name. In the Third Commandment, God requires that we sanctify the holy day, that is, hold His Word sacred, and gladly hear and learn it, and He forbids us to despise preaching and His Word. In the Fourth Commandment, He requires that we honor our parents, serve them, and obey them, and hold them in love and esteem, He forbids that we depise or anger our parents and other authorities. In the Fifth Commandment, God requires that we help and befriend our neighbor in his every bodily need, He forbids us to kill, that is, to hurt or harm our neighbor in his body. In the Sixth Commandment, God requires us to lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and each love and honor his spouse, He forbids us to commit adultery and other sexual sins. In the Seventh Commandment, God requires us to help and improve our neighbor's property and business, and forbids us to steal, that is, to take our neighbor's money or property, or get them by false ware or dealing. In the Eighth Commandment, God requires that we defend our neighbor, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything, He forbids us to bear false witness against our neighbor, that is, deceitfully belie, betray, slander or defame him. In the Ninth Commandment, God requires that we help and be of service to our neighbor in keeping his inheritance or house, He forbids that we covet our neighbor's house, that is, craftily seek to get it, or obtain it by a show of right. In the Tenth Commandment, God requires us to urge our neighbor's wife, servants, or cattle to stay and do their duty, He forbids that we covet them, that is, estrange, force or entice them away.

Therefore, God not only forbids things in the Commandments, but requires things as well. And so, that we might learn how serious our Lord God is about these commandments of His, He adds these words, to the beginning of the Commandments: "I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me." What does that mean? It means that God indeed threatens to punish all those who break His Commandments. Therefore, we should fear His wrath, and not act contrary to them.

But our Lord God also presents a promise with these Commandments, that is, that He would be "showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." This is great news! God will show mercy to us, if we keep His commandments. Uh, oh! That is impossible for us! "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?"**

Here we see our deliverer, our dear Lord Jesus. We also see why this text comes at this particular time in the Church Year. Tomorrow, Sunday, is Quinquagesima, it is the Sunday before Lent, which starts this coming Wednesday on Ash Wednesday. Lent has always been a time of catechesis, and among Lutherans, it has been a time of catechesis in the Ten Commandments. For as we study the Ten Commandments, we see how little we keep them, and that brings to the forefront of our minds, our sin and transgressions, and our great need of forgiveness. This leads us to proclaim with the Blessed Apostle, St. Paul, "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" And this leads us to the cross. Where our dear Lord Jesus, after fulfilling the Law perfectly, something we were unable to do, but He was able to do perfectly on our behalf, He suffers and dies, taking on our punishment for transgressing the Commandments.

Therefore, the Lord God, the Great I AM, visits the iniquity of the fathers upon His very own Son, punishing that sin, not just for three or four generations, but for all the generations of man, that had come, and will come. He was punished once and for all, that all mankind might have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. And that is what He does for all those who have believed and been baptized, He shows us His love and mercy, that is, He doesn't treat us the way we deserve to be treated, but instead treats us the way His Son deserves to be treated. His Son, on account of His perfect sacrifice was rewared with life again, and now sits on the right hand of the Father judging the quick and the dead, proclaiming all those who believe and are baptized to be His children, His people, just like the people of Israel, who stood that day under the cloud, hearing our Lord's commandments.

This love and mercy is for thousands of generations, which is to say, it is for all generations. This means it is for you and for all! Certainly there are those who reject and despise this gift, who desire to remain a slave, in bondage to sin and death. And we must certainly continue to proclaim the Word of God in its truth and purity, continue to proclaim the Ten Commandments, so that people might realize their sin, and their grave condition, so that they might repent and believe, and be baptized, so that they too might have our Lord God's love and mercy. This is the task of the Church, it is what our Lord God has given us to do, while here on this Earth, and we pray that He would bless our efforts, so that His love and mercy may fill the whole world, and sin and death may be driven back by our Lord God.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

* From "Doctor Martin Luther Small Catechism and Explanation of Christian Doctrine based on Doctor Luther's Small Catechism", Edited by Markku Sarela, Published by The Confessional Lutheran Church of Finland", page 114.
** Romans 7:14.

He Arose From There and Came to the Region of Judea by the Other Side of the Jordan: St. Mark 10:1-31

St. Mark 10:1-31: "1 Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again. 2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?' testing Him. 3 And He answered and said to them, 'What did Moses command you?' 4 They said, 'Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.' 5 And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God "made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh;" so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.' 10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.' 13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.' 16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them. 17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, 'Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?' 18 So Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not bear false witness," "Do not defraud," "Honor your father and your mother."' 20 And he answered and said to Him, 'Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.' 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.' 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!' 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, 'Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' 26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved?' 27 But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.' 28 Then Peter began to say to Him, 'See, we have left all and followed You.' 29 So Jesus answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.'"

With today's reading, our dear Lord leaves Galilee and enter into Judea. We are told that He crossed over the Jordan to get there. There is symbolism in the Evangelist St. Mark saying it this way, for he is relating that our Lord Jesus has entered the promised land by the same way that the Israelites entered the promised land, through the Jordan. In a sense our Lord has been in the wilderness ever since His Holy Baptism. For after His Holy Baptism, He entered into the desert to be tempted by the devil, and then resided in the land of Galilee, which was the first territory of Israel to be led into exile. So what the Evangelist St. Mark is getting at by introducing this pericope in this fashion, is that our Lord is drawing near to His crucifixion and death, that is, the completion of His work and life.

Just like the Israelites, who upon entering into the promised land went to battle with the Canaanites to take over their land. So too, does our Lord begin His sojourn in the promised land by battling the Pharisees, who ask Him about divorce to trick Him into saying something wrong. For this question has a slippery slope on both sides, for whether He was to say that it was lawful or unlawful for a man to divorce His wife, they could refute Him from the teachings of Moses. But He instead, seeing through their guise, asked them a question. He we see the Pharisees defeated, much like the Israelites defeated their enemies after they had crossed over Jordan into the promised land.

There is a marked difference here made between the Pharisees and the crowds. For the crowds gather about Him to hear Him, and He "as was accustomed" taught them. The crowds are willing listeners, the Pharisees are willing objectors. In their minds they believe that they are protecting the crowds, for they think that our dear Lord Jesus is a false prophet, and if they can show the crowds that He is wrong regarding certain laws of Moses, then they would stop following Him. However, the Pharisees having been defeated, the crowds believe in Him all the more.

There are three more significant parts to this pericope. One, the disciples ask our Lord Jesus in private about the matter of divorce. And unlike the response to the Pharisees, He gives them full understanding, so that they might be fully equipped. We see in this the difference with which our Lord taught those who believed on Him, and those who were just there to test Him. We also learn from our Lord that divorce is wrong. Those who are joined together, are joined together by God, and no man can put them asunder. What is interesting about this account from the Evangelist St. Mark, is that there is no mention of the supposed "out clause" of being able to divorce in cases of unfaithfulness, which, quite frankly, some people use as a crutch to get divorced. After driving their spouse to commit unfaithfulness through neglect or harsh treatment, they now have a clear conscience to divorce them. The problem with this scenario, is that it was their intent all along, they were just looking for an excuse to divorce someone they no longer want to be married too.

This is the point that our Lord Jesus is trying to make with the Pharisees, the ones who are always looking for a loophole in the Law. It is on account of the hardness of their heart that Moses grants them the right to divorce, not because it was our Lord God's will. God desires that those He has joined together remain together, even if there is unfaithfulness. Even in this case, the unfaithfulness should be repented of, and resolution should be sought between husband and wife. We can see an example of this in the Old Testament prophet Hosea, who is told by the Lord to take an unfaithful wife. The amazing thing about Hosea and his unfaithful wife, is that he remains faithful to her. Of course, this was done to show our Lord God's faithfulness to us, in the midst of our unfaithfulness to Him through sin and chasing after false gods.

This is also the case regarding the bill of divorcement that the Pharisees brought up. For among the Jews, no one was allowed to write Hebrew letters, except the scribes. Therefore, those who desired a bill of divorce had to go to the scribes to get one. And, it was only at the scribes approval that this bill would be released. There are two things about this. One, we Moses' intent to delay the divorce, so that the man would come to his sense, and remain with his wife. (No woman was allowed to ask for divorce). Second, the scribes had veto power over the man's will, so that they could say no to the request. In this process, we see the desire of Moses, and of God, that divorce was wrong, but because of the sinfulness of man, it was allowed to be a concession to the true Law. This "hardness of heart" refers to greater sins being committed if divorce was not allowed, for example, murder. Therefore, the bill of divorce would have been granted if the hatred of this man for his wife was so great, that he was probably going to create greater sins against his wife, if he was not allowed to divorce her.

The second significant thing in this pericope is the children who are brought to our Lord to be blessed by Him, and the disciples rebuking them. At this our Lord is greatly displeased. And from these words, we see the words of the baptismal rite of infants. "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God." We see in this the great faith of the crowds in our Lord Jesus, contrasted with the unbelief of the Pharisees. For the crowds clearly viewd our Lord as someone sent from God. The disciples, however, rebuke the crowds, in a sense they are acting like the Pharisees, and for this reason, our dear Lord Jesus is greatly displeased. He then tells us that the kingdom of God is such as these. What that means is that those who desire to hear and learn from the Gospel and the Word of God, must become like little children.

What are little children like? They receive instruction from their parents gladly and willingly, trusting them completely. They don't put up objections, they don't try to refute what their parents say. Now this could be sad if their parents are teaching them falsely. But our Lord Jesus instructs us in the truth. And the ministers that were sent by Him also preach the truth. Therefore, we should listen to them like a little child listens to his parents, trusting that what is being told them is the truth. Little children do not doubt their parents, if they are beaten or disciplined, they don't give up on their parents, if they are dressed in what the world considers old clothes, they don't care that they are not the most expensive clothes. Such should be our reaction to our Heavenly Father. We should not doubt Him, or leave Him if we suffer persecution and hatred from the world, nor should be desire to be rich and properous in this life, but learn to be content in what has been given to us. And this leads us to the rich man who comes to our Lord Jesus.

The next significant part of this pericope is the rich man who asks our dear Lord what he must do to inherit eternal life. This is his first problem, that he is wondering what "he" can do. Since, we are only saved through the work of God, that is, of the saving work of our Lord Jesus who suffered and died for us. But we see in the response of our Lord Jesus to the approach of the rich man, that this man did not have a right heart towards our Lord, for our Lord instructs him in his use of the phrase, "Good Teacher." That is to say, this man did not consider our Lord Jesus to be God, for only God can be called "Good." We can also see this in the man's question, for he desires to place his eternal life in his works.

Our Lord removes these props from him, for this man erroneously thinks they he has kept these from his youth. There are many today, and even church bodies who support this thinking, who think that they haven't sinned in years, because they have kept the outward tenets of the Law. Even if someone was able to not sin in deed and word, there is still one's thoughts. These thoughts come out of the heart, as we learned earlier in the Gospel of St. Mark. Our hearts are full of evil, and although this evil is suppressed and driven back by constant hearing of preaching, and receiving of the Sacraments, it will always remain there until our death. This is of course why it is important to be a part of a parish, for it there where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the Sacraments are instituted according to Christ's institution. And if these things don't happen in that parish, then one should find one that does. For no one can be a Christian by themselves, the Church is a community, and no one can be a community by themself. Even our Lord God is a community unto Himself, being three persons, in one God. And in this community of God, we are told again and again, that we are indeed sinners in need of God's grace.

And this is exactly what this rich man needs to hear. But first, our Lord Jesus removes the props of the works of the Law from underneath him, so that he cannot stand upon them, therefore, He tells Him in the end, to sell all that He has and give it to the poor, and follow Him. This makes the rich man very sad, for he had a lot of wealth. In this revelation, we see truly where this man's faith and trust were centered, in his possessions. Therefore, our Lord Jesus states that it is difficult for those who cling to their possessions to enter into eternal life. For their possessions are their god, and not the one True God.

After the disciples despair about who can be saved, and we along with them, our Lord Jesus offers to us, and the rich man hope. For although impossible for man to save himself. Our Lord Jesus, who is God, can save us. For all things are possible with God. And this doesn't mean whatever one wishes, but this is specifically referring to our salvation. Our salvation is won by God, the Lord Jesus, through His suffering, death, and burial. Through Him alone we have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. This is revealed to us by the camel, which goes through the eye of the needle. For this mystically is our Lord Jesus. He is the camel. On the cross His hands and His feet were nailed to the tree, the needle representing the nails in His hands and feet. And by the going through the eye of the needle is meant the entire suffering of His Passion. For it is in this difficulty of the camel going through the eye of the needle that we see a picture of our Lord's suffering and death on the cross. But having suffered the cross and shame, He won for us eternal life.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas