Anything but Normal

Pastor Steve Stolarczyk

LSB Lectionary, Series A • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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You are no longer normal. You have been baptized into Christ.

Notes

Transcript

Text: I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. –

Last week we focused on the fact that baptism is not just plain water. You encountered Christ there, you died and were raised to life there. You were born again by that water and the Holy Spirit—born again, and this time born as a child of God. Today we’ll develop the thought even further.

There is a story told by the former speaker of the Lutheran Hour radio broadcast, Rev. Klaus, about lottery winner who vowed that it wouldn’t change him.

“Last year,” Pastor Klaus wrote a couple of years ago, “27-year-old Marvin Martinez was cleaning leaves out of a gutter when he spotted a lottery ticket labeled, “Win $1,000 a week for life.” Martinez took the ticket home and contacted the New York Lottery. They promised to check it out and, over the months, Martinez forgot all about the matter. He forgot until the New York State Gaming Commission gave him a call. They said the unclaimed ticket was his. That means Martinez could have received $1,000 a week as long as he lived. Rather than gambling on a long life, Martinez decided to take a single payment of $525,612 (after taxes). When reporters asked Martinez what he was going to do with the cash, he said he was going to send some money home to his family in El Salvador; he was going to buy a house; and he was going to help his mother finish some post-hurricane repairs on her home. Oh, Martinez said one other thing. He said, “I want to keep living a normal life. This won’t change us.”

“Excuse me? …How can Martinez’ life be normal? He has received half a million dollars without having invested a single cent. He is able to help family members and purchase a home. His life has been changed and it will never again be normal. Martinez has been given a singular gift, a special opportunity.

“It occurs to me there are many spiritual Marvins out there. By the Holy Spirit’s power, they have been brought to faith in Jesus Christ, who came into this world to live, suffer, die, and rise for them. Through Jesus’ great offering they have been freed from the Law’s judgment and have been give a special place in heaven. No longer do they have to live in fear of Judgment Day; no longer can their sins accuse them. Even though they have been singularly blessed by God’s grace, many people, like Martinez say, “This isn’t going to change me. I’m going to live my life as if nothing has happened.”

Klaus, Ken. “Anything but Normal,” Daily Devotions, Lutheran Hour Ministries, January 16, 2014. https://www.lhm.org/dailydevotions/default.asp?date=20140116

Are you changed?

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge… so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

These are the words of Paul to the believers in Corinth, but I could say them to you, as well, for exactly the same reason: “In every way you were enriched in him in all speech and knowledge;’ “you are not lacking any spiritual gift”—they were all given in your baptism.

So where are they? Where are those spiritual gifts?

St. Augustine, one of the most famous teachers and leaders in the early church, was rather well known for his struggles with his faith. Specifically, he struggled with lust and sexual sins. It’s from him that a rather interesting prayer has come down to us through the centuries: “Lord, give me chastity… but not yet.”

In the book of James, the author talks about this same thing. “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (1:16-18). Then he proceeds to warn us: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror and forgets what he looks like. …If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue it deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (1:22-24, 26-27).

When you looked in the mirror this morning, did you see a son or daughter of God? Could you say that you remembered that that is who you are, wherever you were and whatever you did that day? Or did the spiritual gifts—peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control—seem to be a little lacking?

In the words of St. Peter ()—“5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

Virtue, self-control, knowledge, godliness—these things are not optional for believers. They are not optional for you. We look at virtues like these and say, “That’s all icing on the cake. God just asks for faith, we don’t have to go to those lengths.” Listen carefully: There is no such thing as “I’ll get to that virtue someday.” “Do these things in order to make your calling and your election as one of God’s chosen people sure,” Peter says. “In every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge… so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ….”

Perhaps we join in St. Augustine’s prayer: “Give me chastity, give me modesty, give me temperance, give me patience, give me love for my brother… but not yet.” [You and I] use Christian freedom and liberty in the gospel as excuses for everything from crass humor and language that we’d be embarrassed to have to repeat here to staying away from worship, to being lazy stewards of the physical gifts He’s given us, and to allowing all kinds of sin to have protected places in our lives. By your actions you seem to be saying, like our friend who won the lottery, that what you’ve received isn’t going to change you. If so, then you are only hearers of the word and not doers.

Have you forgotten who you are? That’s why last week’s message was so important. Who are you, because of the waters of baptism? You are baptized into Christ. Do you look at yourself in the mirror and see anything but a baptized child of God, who has been given every spiritual gift? Then come back to the water because all the gifts are there.

Come back to the font in repentance and look again at who you are—who He has made you to be. Know that “He is faithful”—The spirit is not idle within you. (Solid Declaration, Article XI:) “Sometimes [we] fall into temptation so terribly that we imagine we can no longer perceive the power of God’s indwelling Spirit, and so we say with David, “I had said in my alarm, ‘I am cut off from Your sight’ ” ().” I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that it strikes too close to home. Actually, let it never be said that it strikes too close to home. It’s right on the mark. “…we say with David, “I had said in my alarm, ‘I am cut off from Your sight’” (). Yet [you can and] should, without regard to what [you] experience in [yourself], again say with David the words immediately following (as is written in the same place), “But You heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to You for help.”

When you look at yourselves honestly, the idea that you are God’s called, chosen people, His “elect” may seem unlikely, or even laughable. But it’s not.

“[Believers should practice all Christian virtues] so that the more they find the Spirit’s power and strength within them [as they practice those virtues], they may doubt their election less. 74 For (through those virtues that are seen in their lives) the Spirit bears witness to the elect that they are God’s children ().”

If you want to know who you are, don’t look to yourself. Look at the cross. That is for you. That is His gift to you, “His divine power [that] has granted to [you] all things that pertain to life and goodness, through the knowledge of Him who called [you] to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (). Come back to the water to be washed clean and renewed in your calling as God’s people. No, of course we don’t need to be re-baptized completely. As Jesus told Peter, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet” (). Come back to the water to be washed clean by daily repentance and faith.

See yourself for what you are in the mirror of God’s law—a poor, miserable sinner. Just as importantly, look at your reflection in the waters of baptism so that you can continue to say: “I am baptized into Christ.”

I most certainly do give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you have been enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. –

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” No, you haven’t won the lottery. The gifts you’ve received go far beyond winning $1,000 for life and being able to buy a house.

Jesus was beaten, rejected, spit upon, crowned with thorns, and nailed to a cross so [you] might be forgiven. How can [you] act as if this is business as usual? The death of the Innocent for we who are guilty is not business as usual. It is a gift of love unparalleled in all of human history, and [it has been given to you without investing a cent.] …[You] get eternal life and a mansion in heaven. (Klaus)

May we never again settle for an ‘normal’ life.

In His Name, Amen.

[1] Klaus, Ken. “Anything but Normal,” Daily Devotions, Lutheran Hour Ministries, January 16, 2014. https://www.lhm.org/dailydevotions/default.asp?date=20140116

[2] Klaus

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