Sexagesima
Dear friends in Christ. The Church traditionally remembers the saints on the anniversary of their death dates. Instead of remembering their earthly birthdays, we remember their heavenly birthdays. Yesterday we Lutherans commemorated the blessed Reformer Martin Luther, as yesterday was the 471st anniversary of his death. A lot can be learned about a person as the person is dying. Luther had travelled to Eisleben, the town of his birth, in order to help settle a dispute between the counts and their subjects. Although he became quite weak and sick, Luther got well enough to preach several times and helped settle that dispute and began to think about returning home to Wittenberg. But on the 17th Luther grew weaker and complained of chest pains.
At 1 AM on the 18th, as Professor Krauss reports in his church history, Luther awoke and said, “O Lord God, I feel very bad! O, dear Dr. Jonas, I think I will remain here in Eisleben, where I was born and baptized.” He then again went from the room into the sitting room and again said, “Into Your hands I commend my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” When he had been rubbed and warmed, Luther began to sweat. Those who stood around him, especially the counts who had hurried in and other friends, hoped he would improve. But he answered, “It is a cold sweat of death. I will give up my spirit for the sickness is increasing.” Upon this he prayed, “O my heavenly Father, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, God of comfort, I thank You that You revealed to me Your dear Son, Jesus Christ, in Whom I believe, Whom I preached and confessed, Whom I loved and praised, Whom the wicked pope and all godless ones dishonor, persecute and blaspheme. I pray You, Lord Jesus Christ, let my soul be commended to You. O heavenly Father, although I must leave this body and be ripped out of this life, nevertheless I certainly know that I will remain eternally with You and no one can tear me out of Your hands.”
He spoke further in Latin, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3.16) and the words from Psalm 68 [.21], “Our God is the God of salvation; and to God the Lord belong escapes from death.” When a doctor gave him a tonic, he took it and again said, “I am departing, I will give up my spirit,” after which he rapidly repeated in Latin three times the words, “Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” Then he began to lay still with hands folded and eyes closed. He was called to but did not answer. Then Jonas and Coelius spoke to him with a loud voice, “Reverend Father, do you want to die steadfast upon Christ and the doctrine as you preached it?” Then Luther spoke so that all could clearly hear, ‘Yes,” and that was his last word. With that he turned upon his right side and began to sleep almost a quarter of an hour. The bystanders already had already had some renewed hope but his face turned pale; his hands and feet grew cold; he took another deep but weak breath, and with this he gave his spirit into the hands of his faithful God. The death of a saint of God—one who trusted in Jesus alone for forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
The death of a Christian and the death of a non-Christian both look alike—they both end in death, but there is a difference, a huge difference: literally the difference between heaven and hell.
What’s the point? How does that fit in with our text: You gladly put up with fools, since you are just so wise! In fact, you put up with it if anyone makes you his slave, robs you, takes advantage of you, looks down on you, or strikes you in the face! I am ashamed to say that we were too weak for that! However bold anyone might be (I am speaking in a foolish way), I am going to be bold too? Simply in this point—we dare not use worldly standards in the things of God. Luther died, Christians die, unbelievers die, wicked die. But we dare not conclude that there is no difference; we dare not conclude that it doesn’t matter what one believes because the end is the same. We, dear Christian, must look at everything through the eyes/ lens of Holy Scripture; we must form our consciences and judge things as God does in His holy word.
This was the problem St. Paul was dealing with in this congregation at Corinth. The people in the congregation thought that they were so wise and so they judged/ evaluated St. Paul and his faithful co-workers according to human/ worldly standards. And they found St. Paul and the faithful preachers of the word lacking and inadequate—and in fact, as weaklings. St. Paul calls them out on this in a rather sarcastic/ mocking tone: since you are just so wise.
Earlier, in his first Epistle, St. Paul had addressed the same issue [1 Cor 4.1,2]: This is the way a person should think of us: as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. In this connection, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. God’s standard is faithfulness—faithfulness to Him and His holy word. What is human/ worldly standard? Flash, show, success! As people today, so were the people of St. Paul’s day: we are easily impressed by and allow ourselves to be impressed with the outer wrappings, not looking at the inside, the substance.
This continues to be a danger in the church today. At least in our society, the emphasis is placed on numbers, hype, “success.” And that’s how we judge churches. A little church like ours, but one which preaches Christ crucified and gives His true body and blood, distributing His gifts and blessings is looked down upon and ignored, while a huge “mega church” that doesn’t preach Christ crucified but some sort of prosperity Gospel or some sort of feel good message is held up as “successful” and one to be copied. This is the same issue that St. Paul was dealing with: these Corinthians, who thought themselves so wise, were using the methods and values of the world and became enamored with the false teachers/ apostles and their false Gospel and turned away from St. Paul.
Because we live in and are surrounded by the methods and values of the world, we need constantly to hear St. Paul’s word spoken in love and kindness and yet with mockery and censure: You gladly put up with fools, since you are just so wise. We need to hear it and to examine our own hearts and actions: Am I judging things according to human/ worldly standards or by God’s standard of faithfulness to Him and His word.
Looking at Luther, we see that his emphasis was on the word of God alone—Scripture alone. All doctrine must be based on Holy Scripture; what is judged to be right or wrong must be on the basis of Holy Scripture. The conscience must be formed by the will of God as He has revealed it in His word. Was Luther “successful” according to human standards? Not really. Lutherans are only a small percentage of Christians today. The Lutheran church has been attacked and rocked by various false teachings/ teachers. At least in our country, most people don’t even know what a Lutheran is. But what Luther taught is correct—why? Because he faithfully taught the word of God, without human additions or subtractions; he let the word stand, even if it is difficult to understand or reconcile. The word of God and faithfulness to it, not methods and values of the world, are supreme and are the basis of judging.
Just like the Corinthians were enamored with the false apostles using worldly methods and values regarded St. Paul as some sort of weakling, so too, today, many voices within the church are saying what Jesus gave/ entrusted His Church—namely His holy word and Sacraments—are not enough; we need other things to make the Church grow. But what does Jesus say? He says [Mt. 16.18; 28.19-20]: I will build My Church and we are to make Christians by baptizing and teaching—word and Sacrament. He builds His Church/ kingdom by His word and Sacrament and He uses us to bring that word and sacrament to a world so in need of it! Yes, the word and Sacrament are according to worldly standards weak; what is a word we hear, water poured on our head, a sip of wine and a piece of bread? Judged by the methods and values of the world—weak, like St. Paul, and insufficient. But those who judge the things of God according to worldly wisdom and standards are wise fools. In fact, the things of Christ are always seemingly weak and insufficient. What does Jesus compare His holy word to in parable in today’s Gospel? To seed—that is eaten by birds, trodden upon, choked out, easily killed.
But the wise fools who use worldly standards in the things of God are merely wise in their own eyes but are really fools before God. They are the ones who want to compare apples with oranges. Yes, we have earthly wisdom; but that is for earthly things. When it comes to God and the things of God, we must give up our earthly wisdom and humble ourselves to what He reveals/ says in His holy word. That we, dear Christian, do this is a great grace of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in us and on us. Left to ourselves, all we would know and do and have is earthly wisdom and would use earthly standards, but we have been given the Holy Spirit at our Baptism; He is mighty and active at work in the word. He enlightens us to know the things of God and He forms our minds and consciences to know and to want to do the things of God and to judge the things of God—like the doctrine that we hear—according to God’s standard. He leads us all the more deeply into the word of God to understand it all the more clearly and better so that we can judge doctrine rightly, so we can fight against using worldly methods and values in the things of God, so that we do not become wise fools.
2. Being wise fools—like the Corinthians were—gets us nowhere. Listen to the blessed Apostle in our text: In fact, you put up with it if anyone makes you his slave, robs you, takes advantage of you, looks down on you, or strikes you in the face! He shows them to be fools for having taken up these false teachers. Notice the vicious cycle: the false teachers do not know/ understand the word of God and so they become fools in the things of God; their hearers look at the outward and judge divine things by worldly standards and become enamored with the false teachers. And they become fools along with their teachers believing what they teach. But they think they are wise because they use worldly standards and methods to judge their teachers.
So what is really happening here? In fact, you put up with it if anyone makes you his slave… The false teachers promise to give, but in reality they enslave, exploit, domineer. The false teachers are wolves wrapped in sheep’s clothing. They enslave by turning people away from the full and free salvation in Jesus and put them under false doctrine which does not point to Jesus and give the forgiveness of sins He won by His holy life and innocent suffering and death, that does not give the forgiveness of sin in the absolution and sacrament. In fact, the wise fools, judging their teachers and doctrine by worldly values, bear all sorts of things they would never endure from a true and faithful preacher of the word: In fact, you put up with it if anyone makes you his slave, robs you, takes advantage of you, looks down on you, or strikes you in the face.
Dear Christian, may we never be such wise fools. Instead, may we humble ourselves and judge all things according to the holy word of God. Yes, according to the world’s standards the word, water, bread and wine may not look like much; yes, Jesus may appear weak and be rejected by most, just like He was when the 5000 He fed all, except for the 12, deserted Him. But the things of God have a different standard—God’s standard. Is what I am hearing and being taught in accord with the word of God? Do I judge all things by God’s word? May we be proper “wise fools”—fools according to the world and its standards but ones who by God’s grace have been made wise by the Holy Spirit and judging all according His standards—faithfulness to the His word alone. INJ Amen.