1ST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Text: Romans 12:1-6
Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. Amen.
In our Savior, dear Christian friends!
There is a great difference between God's children during the Old Testament times and those of the New. During the Old Covenant God's children, as St, Paul expresses it, were still under the care of a guardian. They were not permitted to deal directly with God in all matters; the mediators between them and God were the priests. They were the ones who in the name of the people conducted the public services, in the name of the people brought all kinds of sacrifices to God, and especially in the Holy Place of the Temple drew near to God. It was the duty of the priest to expound God's Law, judge between clean and unclean, bestow the Lord's blessings upon the people, and with their prayers intercede with God for the people. Therefore, whenever an Israelite wished to be reconciled or purified, bring God an expiatory, burnt, praise, or thank offering, or turn to God with a question on his mind, he was directed to the priests.
This did not happen because the believers of the Old Testament were not on terms of grace with God, but as a testimony that the promised and expected Messiah would first reconcile men with God and open free access to God for them.
Therefore, when the New Testament was established through Christ's death, the veil, which had hidden the Holy of Holies from the people of the Old Testament, was torn in two to show that the Levitical priesthood with its privileges was now abolished and a new holy priestly covenant people was created, among whom there was no longer any special priestly station, but in which all were to be priests of the Most High God.
And so it is. According to the testimony of the apostles all Christians are born priests and the whole Christian Church is the temple, the house of God, in which day and night they worship God under their own High Priest, Jesus Christ, who through his own blood once entered into the Holy of Holies of heaven and wrought an eternal redemption. St. Peter therefore says to all the Christians to whom he is writing: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ....(For) ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1 Pet 2,5.9.
This tells us: The moment a person becomes a Christian through Holy Baptism and has received the Holy Spirit, he is also anointed to be a spiritual priest; and as long as a person keeps his baptismal grace, or, after he has lost it through unbelief and receives it again by true repentance, he is and remains clothed with the holy privileges of a priest of God. A Christian therefore needs no mediator if he wishes to deal with God; day and night he has free access to God and his throne of grace and draws grace upon grace for himself from the fulness of Christ.
Of course, even in the New Testament, God has made the rule that certain person are to administer his means of grace publicly, preach his Word publicly, administer his holy sacraments, and have the office of ruler and watchman among the Christians; but ministers do not constitute a special station in addition to the Christians to whom alone were entrusted certain spiritual gifts
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and rights, as was to the priests of the Old Testament. In the entire New Testament, therefore, the servants of the Church were never called priests but elders, teachers, servants, stewards. What they have is derived from the rights and gifts of the spiritual priesthood of Christians whom they serve; they are not lords, or the exclusive possessors of certain treasures which Christians or the lay people, as the are called, do not have, but they are merely stewards of the privileges and gifts which the Christians have in public offices; they are the officials appointed by the Church as their stewards. Of course, no lay person should take over the duties of a called minister except in cases of necessity, not because a layman as such is not capable of doing that and his acts would be invalid, but only that the order ordained by God in his Church might not be thrown into confusion.
By their faith Christians therefore are free lords over all and only through love are they the servants of all. In reality, no one but they act in the service of the New Testament Church. In passing judgment upon spiritual things they are subject to no person but alone to the Word of the Lord; yes, God himself has appointed them the watchmen and judges of those who teach them.
However, as spiritual priests Christians have not only a glorious, high privilege, but also many, great, holy duties. The apostle speaks of that in our today's Epistle.
Quote the text here: Romans 12, 1-6.
In the first eleven chapters of his Letter to the Romans Paul had shown how a person becomes a Christian and what rights and privileges he has; with the twelfth chapter, from which our text is taken, he begins to show the duties of the highly favored Christian. And above all, he shows them to what they are in duty bound as spiritual priests. On the basis of our Epistle permit me to show you
SEVERAL IMPORTANT DUTIES WHICH CHRISTIANS HAVE AS SPIRITUAL PRIESTS
Our text mentions three especially.
1. They Offer Themselves to God;
2. They Separate Themselves from the World, and
3. They Show Love and Humility Over Against Their Brethren.
Lord Jesus Christ, eternal High Priest, holy, innocent, unspotted, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, we thank you that you have not only lifted us sinners out of the bottomless pit of our sins, but even earned for us priestly dress and honor and a royal crown. We also ask you to guard us that we do not trifle away the honor which is intended for us; give us a priestly heart and a royal spirit to follow you in sacrificing ourselves to you, separating ourselves from the world, and showing humility and love to our brethren. To that end bless also today's devotion and grant your high priestly intercession in our behalf. Hear us! Amen.
I.
To be a priest of the Most High God is the greatest honor and blessedness which can befall any creature. Even the saints in heaven, yes, the angels and archangels do not hold a greater office.
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Whoever is a priest of God has the office, the call, the privilege of standing continually before:God, being on intimate terms with him, and serving him as a V. I. P. in his great kingdom.
In order that sinful and fallen men could obtain this highest ho n or, God himself had to become a man, take our sins upon him, sacrifice himself on the altar of the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and appear before God as the eternal High Priest of the sinful world with the blood of the reconciliation which poured from his wounds.
In the new song, which the blessed and the saints sing before the throne of God, they, as John writes in Revelation 5, celebrate this greatest of all favors in song and say to the Lamb: "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood... and hast made us unto our God kings and priests." Rev 5,9.10.
If the honor and privilege of being a priest of God are great, the duties of God's priest are just as great.
The chief duty of a priest is to offer sacrifices. A priest without a sacrifice is an absurdity, a contradiction; for a priest and one who sacrifices are one and the same. The bringing of a sacrifice is as inseparable from the office of a priest as preaching is from the office of a preacher and teaching from the office of a teacher.
What is the sacrifice which a Christian as a spiritual priest is in duty bound to bring to God? The apostle shows us in our today's Epistle in the opening words: " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." V. 1. We see that Christians do not as the priests of the Old Testament have to sacrifice bullocks, rams, lambs, turtle doves, not the first fruits of the fields, nor oil, nor incense, and the like; all these were only typical sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood which itself was only typical. The spiritual priests of the New Testament should offer God their " bodies ", that is, themselves, body and soul with all which they are and have.
There all of you, who wish to be Christians and therefore spiritual priests, see your great duty toward God. Either carry this duty out, or lay aside the honorable title of a Christian, a spiritual priest.
But, you say, how can a Christian offer himself? I answer: A Christian does that when by the power of the Holy Spirit he every day and hour crucifies all evil which is in or clinging to him, battling against and suppressing it; and when he lays everything good in him at God's feet.
If you try to free yourself from the lust of the eyes, the attachment and love of earthly things, greed, and avarice, whenever you detect them in yourself; if you strive to root out the lust of the flesh, debauchery, pleasure hunting, and love of a fleshly comfortable life whenever you notice them in yourself; if you diligently seek to tear out of your heart the pride of life, the desire for honor, lust for self-praise, pride, haughtiness, self-satisfaction whenever you detect them in yourself; in short, if you are intent every day to become free of all your sins no matter how dear and pleasant they are; if you aim to become free of all your sinful desires, incitements, and thoughts, then, and only then are you a spiritual priest who offers himself to God.
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It is not enough for a Christian to seek to kill only the evil in him; he must also lay at God’s feet the good which he has; When you seek to serve God's honor with everything which you are and have; if you live as though your body and soul were not yours but God's; when you live as though your members, your reason, and the powers of your body and soul were not yours to use but given you to use for God; when you live so that you consider all your wealth as God's, which you must use for his glory; when you are ready to give up everything, your honor and good name, your joy and rest, your friends and relatives, your knowledge and skill, yes, your very life itself, in short everything which you hold near and dear so that it can serve for God's honor; when your one and only purpose, your one and only goal, your one and only desire in your entire living and thinking, speaking, and doing is to contribute something to the praise of God; when as St. Augustine says you desire to be a light which spends itself shining in the service of God, behold ! then you have sacrificed yourself to God.
Yes, you will say: Alas, who can do that in this life! Who is not often conquered by his evil heart ! I reply: True, in this life a Christian is never perfect; he never sacrifices himself completely to God. He has to struggle with his flesh and blood until his death. But the very fact that he yearns to be that; that he pursues it without ceasing is a sign that a person is a Christian, a spiritual priest; therefore by prayer and God's Word he wrestles daily to sacrifice himself more and more completely to his God. Although such a Christian is not perfect he is not dead; the sacrifice which he offers God is a living, holy, and pleasing one to God for Christ's sake. Such a Christian has the earnest sincere desire to give himself completely to God; God therefore takes his wish in Christ as the deed.
II.
However, Christians by virtue of their spiritual priesthood have a duty not only to God but in the second place also to the world; for the apostle continues thus in our text: " And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and more perfect, will of God." V. 2.
So what is the duty of a spiritual priest as far as the world is concerned? He must separate himself from the world, if not outwardly then inwardly at all times.
Sad to say, there are only too many who call themselves Christians, who suppose that it is not befitting a preacher to be worldly-minded; who admit that it does not become a preacher, e.g., to enter places of public amusement, frequent taverns and theaters where all kinds of people assemble and all manner of sins, godless jokes, tomfoolery, buffoonery, and blasphemies of holy things are uttered in boldest shamelessness; that it does not become a preacher to gamble and dance; that it does not become a preacher to make a show of his dress and squander his money; in short, a clergyman must make a difference between himself and the worldling.
B u t if one is a layman, one can not set such narrow limitations upon and demand equal earnestness from him; if he wants to act like a minister, he becomes the target of ridicule; he is called a hypocrite, a "screwball"; he gives himself the appearance of being a hypocrite
As universal as these thoughts are just so wrong are they also. Of course, it is true that if a minister shows that he is worldly-minded, if he imitates the world, it is a twofold sins for him because he should be an example
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to his flock; but what is sin for a minister is also sin for every Christian. It is against God's Word to divide Christians into worldly and spiritual Christians. A worldly Christian, not the spiritual one, is a person without a soul, in a word, a non-christian.
Every Christian should be a spiritual Christian, that is, anointed with the Holy Spirit; every Christian should be one who is.effectually called and elected by God, that is, called out of sin and the world and chosen from among sinful, lost mankind; every Christian should be a preacher; that is, in his station and calling, with his words and with his deeds he should show forth the praises of him who has called him out of darkness into his marvelous light; in short, every Christian should be a spiritual priest, a saint, an elect of God, a servant of God, and a disciple of Christ; and if anyone does not want to be that or still is not that, he is also not a Christian.
Not only to preachers, but to all Christians the apostle says in our text: " Be not conformed to this world." My dear hearer, if you want to be a Christian, a spiritual priest, you dare not imitate the world but must sever connections with it; you must go a different way than the world goes; you dare not be intimate friends with the world; you dare not chase around with it in a wild, disorderly life; you dare not partake of its vain lusts; you dare not go to places where the world gathers to serve its god, in the dance halls and in the taverns, in the gambling places, and theaters; you dare not for your relaxation and pleasure sit down where the scornful sit; you dare not be joined with them in secret societies; you dare not dress in the latest styles; in your rooms, at your table you dare not follow the ostentation and lickerishness of the world; in all your outward associations you dare not act like a child of the world, that is, so free, so impudent, so proud, or so foolish and childish; in all your dealings with others you must reveal that you do not belong to the world, that you are in the world but not of the world.
If you will do that, I admit that the world will ridicule you; at all events it will call you a "character," yes, a pretender, a sanctimonious hypocrite; it will also despise you as a dumbbell and hate and persecute you as its most vicious enemy. But that is the way it has gone at all times; the Apostle Paul says: "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Tim 3,12. And the Savior says to his disciples and thus to all Christians: "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." Jn 15,18-20.
If you now perhaps say: I will not be so narrow-minded. I will never decide to pine away my youth and in addition make everyone else my enemy, then know this: You will not be compelled to forsake the world, if you do not force yourself to do it; but you will also not be forced into heaven. For this is and remains certain: Those you associate with here are the ones you will associate with in eternity; if you associate now with the world, and only seem to associate with Christ and his Christians, you will also be lost with the world and never see the kingdom of Christ. While God's children sing praises with the angels in heaven, you will howl with the world in hell; while God's children eat and drink at the heavenly banquet, you will languish, hunger, and thirst in hell. For "the friendship of the world is enmity with God; whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Jas 4,4.
The apostle says not only: " Be not conformed to this world," but he also adds: " But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." This tells
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us: If a person wants to be a Christian, a spiritual priest, it is not enough that he is not conformed to the world, that he outwardly severs connections with it. Even in spite of the most secluded life, a life far removed from all associations with the world, an outwardly pious life, a person can nevertheless be a false Christian.
A true Christian, a true spiritual priest must above all be different from the world, and more and more be removed from it by another mind. What pleases the world must displease him more and more; what the world seeks he must flee more and more; what the world deems precious he must deem contemptible; what the world takes delight in must more and more disgust him. If the world seeks wealth, he must be satisfied with his poverty; if the world seeks good days, he on the other hand must consider his suffering precious in Christ; if the world thirsts after honor, he must be pleased with contempt for Christ's sake; if the world desires long life, he must yearn for a blessed departure. And thus for the Christian God's will, which the world hates when it is directed against its flesh and blood, must always seem good, satisfactory, and perfect.
There, you Christians, that, that is your duty as spiritual priests; that the goal toward which you must hasten if you wish to receive the crown.
III.
However, the apostle reminds us in our today's Epistle of a duty which is incumbent upon Christians as spiritual priests toward their brethren; they are to practise humility and love toward them. Permit me to add a few words in conclusion about that.
The apostle concludes our Epistle thus: " For I say, through the grace given unto me. to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly that he ought to think but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so we being many, are one body In Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us." Vv. 3-6.
The apostle wants to say this with these words: The gifts which were given you as Christians are different indeed; the one can heal the sick miraculously; another can speak in foreign languages; the third has the gift of prophecy and explaining Scripture; the fourth has the gift of ruling the church, and the like; the one has a greater gift, the other has a lesser, the one a brilliant one, the other not; but the gifted dare not exalt themselves over the less gifted because of his gifts and the latter are not to envy the more gifted; for the only true measure according to which you have to judge is faith.
According to your faith you are all one in Christ, and over against each other the one is the member of the other. Even if one has ever so great gifts, he is still not more righteous than the other before God through his faith in Christ; which strong Christian therefore dare exalt himself over another? And even if someone has very insignificant gifts, so that it seems as if he is the least member in Christ's body, the most important members must nevertheless serve him; hence dare he envy the rest? is not the eye, this most precious member of the body, a member, a servant of the foot? does not the head serve the hand? the heart every member of the body?
You who want to be Christians and spiritual priests see from this: Humility and love is the duty which you must above all practice toward your brethren.
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You who perhaps have more knowledge,or a stronger faith, or an honorable office, and the like, you dare not exalt yourself over your brother; for before God he is your equal; he has the same grace, the same Christ, the same righteousness, the same salvation, the same heaven. The moment you exalt yourself, you exclude yourself from the number of Christians and from a first become a last.
But also you, who are less gifted than others, you dare not envy them; for see, since you are a member of Christ's body, the glorious gifts of your brother are for you to use, as the light of the eye serves the foot; the gifts of your brethren are also yours. If instead of brotherly love you permit envy to rule in your heart, you have ceased being a member of Christ's body, a Christian, a spiritual priest.
Well, then, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we who through faith are spiritual priests, let us not, as many proud enthusiasts do, brag of this privilege, but also remember what high and holy duties this privilege lays upon us. Let us, I repeat it, as far as God is concerned, offer ourselves to God with all that we are and have; let us as far as the world is concerned, sever connections with it outwardly by our entire life, inwardly by a renewed holy mind; and finally, let us as far as our brother is concerned, in humility regard the other higher than we ourselves and in love consider him our equal.
Thus will we wear the true priestly garment, and when our last day will come, then the veil before the Holy of Holies of heaven will be tom from our eyes, and we w ill enter with joy and stand forever as priests and kings before God and bring him the eternal sacrifice of praise. May Jesus Christ grant that to us all! Amen.