Peace Lutheran Church
2025 Sermons
Posts Tagged "Baptism"
Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 23, 2025
Text: 1 Cor. 12:12-31a
Sermon Outline
God Knew What He Was Doing When He Designed the Body.
I. We’re predisposed to divide the body, either by feelings of inferiority or feelings of superiority.
II. But God has designed a unified, healthy, well-ordered body with all the gifts it needs.
Sermon
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the First letter of Saint Paul to the Church at Corinth, chapter twelve verses twelve through the first part of thirty-one.
Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. What do I have here? Right, I have a puzzle. I enjoy putting puzzles together. It’s fun to take all the different parts and put them together. It’s fun to see if you can figure out what the picture is. The best part is the final piece, when you see every little part put together, and you can see the larger whole. Something like this is going on in the Corinthian idea of the Body of Christ. Saint Paul says we are all parts, put together in the Body of Christ. We all have our parts, what do you think yours is? Ponder that as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
God Knew What He Was Doing
When He Designed the Body.
I.
If we could draw a picture of the Corinthian Church, it would be all about a human body divided, maybe along the absurd lines of a cubist or surreal painting, or perhaps the exaggeration of a political cartoon. But that’s not how our Lord designed his Body, the church. God knew what he was doing when he designed the body. Paul wrote his letter so (v 25), “that there may be no division in the body.” Even when Jesus as the Lamb of God was being killed for the sins of the world, his bones were not broken, and his body was not divided. Do you suppose that’s a thoughtless coincidence? Again, “that there may be no division in the body.” Do you think this is important to Paul? More importantly, do you think this is important to our Lord?
So why should this matter to you? It matters because we’re all predisposed to see ourselves as members of that Body in one of two ways: (1) either we labor with a misplaced sense of inferiority, or (2) we labor with a misplaced sense of superiority.
It’s just so easy to diss those who have an elevated view of themselves, and evidently, there were lots of such people in the church of Corinth. (I know, Lutherans have no problem with this!) If you read 1 Corinthians cover to cover, you’ll see that Paul has already been giving these people a spanking. But here in chapter 12, he starts with those who are living with feelings of inferiority.
“Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” or “because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body” (vv 15–16). This is beautiful on Paul’s part because it forces those with feelings of superiority to empathize with those who suffer feelings of inferiority. It gets them off their high horse without knowing that has happened. So gracious!
But both groups need the stinging word of God’s Law. The person who says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” is accusing the Lord of bad design. It’s a full-on violation of the First Commandment. This person, by his ongoing groveling, is enabling the person whose head is almost exploding with his or her greatness to dive just that much deeper into his or her delusional parallel universe.
Just to recap: Love God! Oops, failed there. Love the neighbor! Oops, failed there too. Feelings of inferiority are not to be confused with humility. Indeed, many people control others with their disabilities or their grievances.
But God most certainly knew what he was doing when he designed the body. Verses 18–19: “But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?” As hideous as cubist and surreal paintings can be, they force us to reckon with that question.
All of which brings us to those who have feelings of superiority. Verse 21: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ ” Yes, you do! Every member of the body needs every other member of the body. That’s how bodies are made. God knew what he was doing when he designed the body. If the hand does not reach for the bag of carrots, the eye will not receive the vitamin A contained in those carrots so necessary to eye health. God knew what he was doing when he designed the body. When injured, the head needs the feet in order to get to the hospital. The hands need to cloth the lesser parts to give them the greater honor.
II.
A balanced and wholesome understanding of the body and its members is heard when the psalmist says to the Lord: “You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance” (Ps 139:13–16).
How do we become a member of this Body? We were all “baptized into one body” (v 13). We were incorporated into that one Body by means of Baptism, a Baptism that we all share. That Body is the Body of Christ. Let that sink in! The qualitative difference between an eyeball and a spleen pales in comparison to the difference between what we all were by nature and the grandeur and glory of what we all are now as members of that one Body of Christ. So the psalmist can say, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Ps 84:10). Whatever your abilities and gifts, flashy or pedestrian, whatever your checkered past, if you are in Christ by Baptism, you are a treasured member of the most exalted Body in the entire cosmos. Christ gives His Body gifts, whether large or small, that are given and necessary for the Body to function properly. All are a part of the body. You need someone to lead you in music and giving praise to God. You need a Pastor to give you God’s Word and administer the Sacraments, just as much as you need someone to take out the trash and sweep the floor. How messy would the church be if that never happened? A small thing, but you would notice the body in pain after a while, the same as you do if you stub your small toe.
Just as Christ has a Body, of which you are a member by Baptism, so you, too, have a body with members. You know how this works. The pancreas doesn’t say to you, “I was a good boy today. Will you please reward me by giving me two ounces of sautéed spinach?” No! You give your body what it needs. If it needs water, you give it water. If it needs rest, you lie down and pull the covers over you. If it needs fresh air, you step outside. You relate to your body by providing for its needs. You relate to your body by providing gifts.
In that vein, Paul shows us an hors d’oeuvre buffet table just to whet the appetite for “higher gifts” (v 31), those being apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various kinds of tongues (v 28).
All of those gifts, whether large or small, are given to ensure “that there may be no division in the body,” because they are there to get the greatest and most necessary gift of all to you, Jesus himself, so that you could be in him.
Sometime this afternoon, stand in front of the mirror and take a good look. Don’t let your eyes deceive you. Speak to that person: “You are a marvelous new creation because and only because you have been baptized into the one Body of Christ.”
Yes, God most certainly knew what he was doing when he designed the body, and you are part of that grand design.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Baptism of our Lord
January 12, 2025
Video Part 2
Text: Romans 6:1-11
Outline
1. You have died with Christ
a. SN no longer rules
2. You live with Christ
a. He rules in you
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the Epistle of Saint Paul to the church in Rome the sixth chapter verses one through eleven.
Intro: Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Have you ever had tortilla chips? The delicious chips that you could dip in salsa or sour cream or make nachos or have with tacos or something like that. But where did tortilla chips come from? What were they before they became chips? Well, if you said tortillas, you’re absolutely right. Sorry, no product placement here, but prior to becoming a chip, this was just a tortilla. Now, can the chip turn back into a tortilla? No, of course not, because this is soft, this is the before stage, and this is the after. There’s nothing this delicious satisfying chip could do to go back to being a soft little tortilla. It has been transformed. The same is true of us. Saint Paul writes that we have been transformed. How did that happen? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon.
1. You have died with Christ
In chapter five, Saint Paul has been discussing the proclivities to sin that we have all inherited from Adam compared to the grace and mercy that has come to us because of Jesus Christ, the Second Adam, and His death and resurrection from the dead. This raises an important logical question. If we get more grace, then it should follow that we should do more sins to increase the grace that we receive.
We would expect Paul to launch into a huge law-oriented diatribe against sin, railing against it with all of the passion of a fire and brimstone preacher. Yet, he does not. Rather He outright rejects this logical premise on the basis of the transformation that has happened to us because of Jesus Christ.
Through the waters of Holy Baptism, we have undergone a change. You have been transformed. Many in our world today see their baptism as a one and done type of event that has no impact upon their daily lives. They think, “I am Baptized so what?” They fail to see that their baptism is not a one time and done event. It is a constant and daily dying and raising again. We have died. We have been buried with Jesus Christ, our sins lie dead in the grave, and we are raised with Christ to newness of life. Paul uses one of his favorite compound vbs., synthaptein, a compound of syn-, “with” (i.e., “coburied”). As a result of the coburial, the Christian lives in union with the risen Christ, a union that finds its term when the Christian will one day “be with Christ” (syn Christō) in glory. Cf. 8:32; 1 Thess 4:17; Col 2:12.
Because you have died with Christ, that means that sin no longer rules in you. You are no longer controlled by sin. You cannot say that you had no choice to sin. You are not a beast controlled by raw emotion. You have a choice because of Christ living in you through the power of the Holy Spirit.
For a Christian, continuing to live in sin is not only impermissible, it is impossible! To be sure, Paul knows that even a believer commits acts of sin until the day of his release from this earthly existence. We wrestle with our sinful nature on a daily basis. Our sins of disrespecting those in authority over us. Putting ourselves in the place of God, being selfish with the gifts we have been given. Our sins of thoughts in the dead of night, words spoken in frustration and anger. In the apostle’s theology this circumstance does not provide a valid reason for easy living. See verse 15. Moreover, the notion that a child of God should voluntarily give sin an opportunity to operate, that he should actually encourage it, produces a revulsion in Paul’s heart. He is disgusted with the very suggestion!
2. You live with Christ
Saint Paul says not only have you died; you have been raised to newness of life. But what is that “newness?” Surely if our old life, now dead and buried with Christ, was wholly sinful, the new, to which we rise with the risen Saviour, must be altogether a holy life; so that every time we go back to “those things whereof we are now ashamed” (Ro 6:21), we belie our resurrection with Christ to newness of life, and “forget that we have been purged from our old sins” (2 Pe 1:9) We have been freed from our sinful nature. We are free to live to God in this new-year, this new beginning, this new life that we have been given in Christ. We are free to let Christ make Himself manifest in us.
How does He do this? Christ manifests Himself in us through our daily actions. Daily we die to sin, rejecting and refusing to indulge our sinful nature. Christ manifests in us as we live in service to our neighbor. When we use our time in service to others, helping out with food, shelter, and caring for them. When we focus upon the Word of God rather than indulging our sin-filled thoughts. When we give monetarily for the mission work of the Church, and many more, Christ is manifesting Himself within us.
Con: Thanks be to God that He has transformed us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, united us with Him in Holy Baptism, and daily gives us of His Holy Spirit that we may daily die to sin and rise to newness of life.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.