Posted on Sunday, March 15, 2009
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OCULI

The Third Sunday in Lent

15 March Anno + Domini 2009

 "There is No Middle Ground”

Luke 11:14-28

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Blessed Reformer, Dr. Martin Luther, writes in the Large Catechism:  "If we would be Christians, therefore, we must surely expect and count on having the devil with all his angels and the world as our enemies [Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:9]. They will bring every possible misfortune and grief upon us. For where God's Word is preached, accepted, or believed and produces fruit, there the holy cross cannot be missing [Acts 14:22]. And let no one think that he shall have peace [Matthew 10:34]. He must risk whatever he has upon earth—possessions, honor, house and estate, wife and children, body and life. Now, this hurts our flesh and the old Adam [Ephesians 4:22]. The test is to be steadfast and to suffer with patience [James 5:7-8] in whatever way we are assaulted, and to let go whatever is taken from us [1 Peter 2:20-21]” —Large Catechism III:70.

What Dr. Luther is getting at here is the same thing our Lord Himself teaches us in the Gospel lesson this morning, namely that "Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”  Christianity - true Christianity - is not easy.  There is no room for compromise.  There is no happy, peaceful middle ground upon which to stand.  Either you are with Jesus, we're told throughout Holy Scripture, or you are with the devil.  Period. 

And, if you are with Jesus, then that means that you are against the devil and this sinful world, of which the devil is "prince.”  And, if that is the case, then you can expect to be attacked and assaulted by the devil and the world.  Being with Jesus will get you mocked and ridiculed.  You'll be called loveless and intolerant, superstitious and ignorant.  Being with Jesus means picking up your cross and crucifying your flesh; it means being willing to suffer all, even death, rather than abandoning your faith in Jesus. 

You don't get to be a "half-way” Christian.  You don't get to pick and choose which parts of Christianity you'd like to keep and which parts you'd like to discard.  It doesn't work that way.  You can't find one example of compromising "Christianity” in Holy Scripture - not one.  Either you are in or you are out - you can't have one foot in the door and the other outside.  Christianity is not for the lukewarm, for Jesus Himself makes it vividly clear that He spits the lukewarm out of His mouth. 

But, we don't like to hear this kind of talk in 21^st century America, do we?  We're more sophisticated today.  We've moved beyond the way of archaic thinking.  We've learned to become politically correct and tolerant of all beliefs.  We've been saturated with the concept that truth is relative and that no one's personal truth is any truer than someone else's.  This post-modern, post-Christian worldview has so warped our way of thinking that the radical and exclusive claims of true Christianity seem old and worn out. 

That's why so many who claim to be Christian have abandoned those radical and exclusive claims today.  You can literally believe whatever you want to believe about Jesus and the Bible today and feel right at home in many so-called Christian denominations.  In fact, you don't even have to believe that Jesus was born of a Virgin, performed miracles, was crucified, and resurrected.  You can believe Jesus was just a good man with a good, moral message, and that's okey-dokey to many.  There's a pew, or an arena seat, for you, no matter what you believe.  Heck, you can even be a practicing Muslim, a religious Jew, a Hindu, a Scientologist, or whatever, and there's still room for you somewhere in so-called Christianity today. 

And, do not think that we Lutherans are immune to the compromising spirit of our age which abandons the radical and exclusive claims of true Christianity.  Just a few weeks ago, on February 20, the USA Today ran an article with this headline:  "Lutherans propose allowing gay pastors in committed relationships.”  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - the ELCA, which is the largest Lutheran denomination in America - will most likely pass a resolution this summer which will allow congregations to call homosexual pastors to serve them.  ELCA spokesman John Brooks said Lutherans, like many Christians, are divided over homosexuality.  The new proposal allows them to agree to disagree.  ELCA congregations will not be forced to call homosexual clergy, but they will be free to do so, if they so choose. 

Lutherans, like many Christians, are divided over homosexuality?  Really?  I didn't get the memo.  Last I checked God is pretty clear where He stands on this issue in His Word.  St. Paul has something to say about this in the epistle this morning:  "For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Eph. 5:5). 

But, that's the ELCA pastor, not us.  This is true.  We in the Missouri Synod continue to hold as official doctrine that homosexuality is an abomination in God's sight, since, well, that's what God Himself says a number of times in His Word.  But, don't be mistaken - the same disease of agreeing to disagree that plagues the ELCA has infected us as well.  You may not know this, and some of you may even like what you're about to hear, but in 2004, our synod passed a resolution that says it's okay for member congregations to allow women to serve in any lay capacity within the church, which means that they may now serve as elders, read the Scriptures, and assist in distributing the Sacrament.  The same resolution said that individual congregations may decide for themselves on this issue.  In other words, if a congregation believes that the Scriptures forbid women to serve in these capacities, they may continue to forbid them from doing so; but, if a congregation thinks it's okay, they can allow women to serve in these capacities.  We can agree to disagree on this matter.  Evidently, God's Word on this matter is no longer clear enough for us to take a united position.  And, guess what?  The same little catch phrase the ELCA is using to describe it's new position on homosexuality is being used by leaders in our own synod to describe our new position on women serving in the church:  "Blessed Diversity.” 

Another area where our own synod has been infected with the "agree to disagree” disease is in worship.  On paper, we're crystal clear:  Worship among us is to be a holy, reverent encounter with our Holy God in His Holy House.  We do not abolish the historic liturgy and hymnody handed down to us in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.  In fact, our synodical constitution states that all member congregations must use (not, should use) doctrinally pure liturgies, hymnals, and agendas.  But, in practice, this is hardly the case.  You can travel around our synod today and find all kinds of "worship styles” being employed.  There are many congregations in our synod that do not even have an altar.  You gotta make room for the praise band, after all.  Evidently, God's Word is no longer clear on how worship is to be done in His Holy House, and we are free to agree to disagree, and to do whatever is pleasing in our own eyes. 

So, what's the point of all this?  It's simply this:  We live in a day and age when compromising "Christianity” has become the norm, and those who remain steadfast in the Word, clinging to the radical and exclusive claims put forth in Holy Scripture, are becoming fewer and fewer in number.  Christianity is not easy.  Jesus never said it would be easy.  Picking up your cross and following Him is hard.  But, if we would be Christians - true Christians - as Martin Luther said, that's what we are called to do. 

So, how are you doing, dear friends?  That's the Lenten question.  Are you remaining steadfast in the Word of your Lord, or have you fallen prey to the compromising spirit of our age?  Are you battling the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh, or is your Christian walk battle-free and suffering-free?  Are the fruits of your Christian faith visible for all to see, or are there a number of people who wouldn't even know that you are a Christian? 

Wherever you find yourself today as you answer those questions in your self-examination, there is Good News for you.  Your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has already won the battle in your place.  He lived the perfect, sinless life you're unable to live, and He went to the cross to suffer and die for all your sins, even the sins of compromising to the world, which are so prevalent today.  He invites you to repent of your sinfulness this day, and to pick up your cross and follow Him.  He doesn't promise that this will be easy.  On the contrary, He makes it vividly clear that following Him will bring you much trouble in this world.  But, He promises an eternity in Paradise for all those who conquer the devil, the world, and their own sinful flesh through faith in Him, and the eternal Paradise He promises far outweighs all the troubles you experience in this dead and dying world. 

Heed His Word, dear friends.  Hear His warning.  There is no middle ground.  Either you're with Him or you're against Him.  Either you belong to His Holy Church or you belong to the synagogue of Satan.  He has chosen you in your Baptism, where He inscribed His name upon your forehead with the "finger of God.”  He swept out the demons and cleaned house in you.  But, He warns you, do not let the demons, don't let Satan and his minions, back in, for your state will be much worse if you do than it was before.  In order to keep that from happening, He continues to visit you with His Holy Word here in His Holy House.  And, more, He fills you with Himself in the Holy Sacrament, that you may be strengthened and preserved in the faith, able to go out into this world and face the battles which await you there.                    

Dear friends, may the Lord grant each one of us the strength to keep His Word pure and undefiled in the treacherous days which surely lie ahead of us.  Times are getting tougher and tougher in our world.  The ability to remain steadfast in the Word is becoming increasingly more difficult as more and more of so-called Christianity falls away from that Word.  May the Holy Spirit empower our eyes remain ever toward the Lord and may we ever be empowered by Him to declare boldly in faith, "Here we stand!  We can do no other!  So help us God!”  We ask it in the Holy and Precious Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.            

Now the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.