Trinity 19
Today’s Gospel and Old Testament readings have a theme of government in them. And that is quite fitting for us to reflect on with our elections upcoming in a few weeks. Our OT reading is fascinating because it is a prophecy. It is not a prophecy of Jesus but of a Persian king, Cyrus. Persia had conquered the Babylonian empire. The Babylonians are the ones who had conquered Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and brought the Israelites into captivity in Babylon. But here, 200 years before the fact, through the prophet St. Isaiah, the Lord prophesies by name—Cyrus—that He would raise him up as His instrument. This King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return to their land and to rebuild the Temple. This is important because, why? –So that the stage would be set for Jesus’ coming into the world, according to prophecy, to be our Savior.
But our OT reading is also important because it fleshes out St. Paul’s words about the governing authorities [Rm. 13.1]: For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Notice what the Lord says about King Cyrus of Persia: He calls him “His anointed”; that He will “subdue nations before” Cyrus; that He will “go before” Cyrus “and level the exalted places…[and] break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.” In other words, Cyrus is king and conqueror because of God; He established Cyrus and his empire. Is Cyrus some sort of great and faithful believer? Hardly! The Lord says in our text about the Persian king, Cyrus who would come on the scene 200 years later: I call you by name…though you do not know Me….I equip you, though you do not know Me. The rise and fall of empires and governments are by God’s hands; those governing authorities that are, are there because of God—and, yes, sometimes in blessing and sometimes for punishment. But ultimately why are the governments there that are there? –Because they have to serve God’s purposes, for He is the One ruling all things according to His plans and for the salvation of the world. I equip you, though you do not know Me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides Me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.
In the Gospel, we hear of Jesus’ enemies trying to trick Him: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Of course, if Jesus would say that it is lawful then He would show Himself as being pro-Roman and a friend of Rome and an enemy of the rights and privileges of God’s people; but if Jesus would say that it is not lawful then He would set Himself up as an enemy of Rome and the Jews would have a reason to hand Jesus over to the Roman authorities as some sort of enemy of the state. But notice: Jesus doesn’t fall into their trap. But He’s not some sort of smooth politician who simply talks His way out of the situation. Instead, He teaches with authority; He rightly places everything into its proper order. He says: “Show Me the coin for the tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. A denarius was a Roman coin—it had Caesar’s image and inscription on it; and by using it, the Jews were acknowledging that Rome had authority over them. Then Jesus says His famous words: Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. Here Jesus makes a distinction: in civil matters about money, possessions, property, laws, etc. Christians are to obey the civil government; give it its proper due. But, we dare not forget also what Jesus says: and to God the things that are God’s. We must give God the honor and obedience He is rightly owed. We must from our hearts fear, love and trust Him above all things. The “rendering” to Caesar is the easy part; the hard part is giving God what He is rightly due.
As Christians, we, like all people, live under the governing authorities that God has established. But there is something different about the Christian. That’s what St. Paul writes in the epistle. After introducing who is writing this letter, he writes to whom the letter is written: to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what he says of these Christians, and all Christians: we are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That means that there is more than some sort of outward connection that we Christians have with God. Being a Christian is not like being a member of a country club or the garden club. It means that we are wholly and completely different. Since we are in Him, that means that we are new creatures; although we are still in the world, we have been separated from the world and consecrated to the Lord. That happened to us in Holy Baptism. There as the waters of Holy Baptism washed over us, we were united with Jesus in His death and resurrection. We were given the Holy Spirit. We were brought into communion with the holy Triune God. After baptism, by the Holy Spirit’s work, we are now in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, in a glorious communion and fellowship with the holy Triune God.
And what does/ should that mean? It means that our lives will be different. The life of a Christian will be marked/ different from the unbelieving world that surrounds us—because we are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And that’s what St. Paul thanks God for in our epistle—these Christians in Thessalonica are different from the world: We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Their lives are marked by, filled with the Spirit-worked virtues of faith, love and hope. Notice, it’s not just the great, super-Christians that have these virtues but all of you. And why? –Because they were all in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And the same thing applies to us. We, dear Christian, have all encountered Christ; we have been united with the Holy Triune God in baptism; we all have Him indwelling in us. To be sure, because of sin, these virtues—faith, hope and love—may be weaker or stronger in some than others and so we all keep pursuing them, yet they are present in us just as they were in these Christians in Thessalonica, and that’s what St. Paul thanks God for.
First, St. Paul mentions your work of faith. Scripture is very clear: faith is a gift of God; it is a work of God. By the Holy Spirit He creates the right and true faith in us. We do not and cannot conjure up the true faith in ourselves. In our text St. Paul writes: our gospel came to you not only in word but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. The word/ Gospel comes with power. You, dear Christian, did not just hear the word but through the word the Holy Spirit worked faith mightily. It is a divine word—the Holy Spirit Himself is in the word and uses the word—and so it is a powerful word. It exerts its strength on hearts; it penetrates the stony, hard hearts and makes them soft, living hearts.
And now by the faith that the Holy Spirit worked in us, we recognize God’s word for what it really is—a divine word and thus truth! By the work of the Holy Spirit there is no doubt and uncertainty. To be sure the devil, the world and our sinful self will all work together to try to get us to doubt the word. So when that happens, let us go back to the word and hear the Lord speaking to us in and through that word. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to work to strengthen that faith and be refreshed and strengthened in the truth by the word.
That’s why although faith is God’s gift, St. Paul calls it your work of faith. To remain in the faith against such powerful enemies like devil, world and self is such a difficult work! That’s why we need that same word that brought us to faith. That’s why God has given us His holy word—so that we can keep going back to it and be refreshed in its truths. That’s why He has given us Holy Communion so that He can come to us, unite with us most intimately since with the bread and wine He literally gives us His body and blood, and so strengthen our faith as we are in Him and He is in us.
Although faith is a gift of God, it is definitely also a work: your work of faith. Faith is not idle. It is busy and active in two ways. First, faith is always at work grasping at and holding on to God’s word and promise and the work of Jesus. And second, faith is a work, a mighty and powerful work because it is a busy and active thing always doing the will of the Lord. And it does so out of love of the Lord. This virtue of faith that marks the Christian’s life then flows into the other virtue that marks the Christian’s life: love. And as St. Paul thanks God for it in our text: and labor of love. This love for God that the Christian has first comes only after faith. Only by faith do we know God rightly as our loving God and Savior. It was His love for us first that led Him to be our Savior and to save us from our sin. St. Paul writes in our text: For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you. He has loved us from all eternity and has in grace and love chosen to save us and has done everything to save us. When we have experienced this love, when we have the gift of faith to know and believe this, how our hearts are filled with love for our gracious God and Savior! How everything pales in comparison! And how we then, as did the Thessalonians in our text, turn to God to serve the living and true God! This serving the one true God is faith and love at work! We love the Lord and as we are in Him and are led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, that love shows itself as we strive to do His will/ strive to live a holy life; and it shows itself as we love and serve our neighbor. This love is clear to all around us---both our love and serving God and also/ especially as we love those around us, not just in their physical needs but especially as we share the good news about Jesus with them. We proclaim by our life and words that good news about Jesus. The love of God toward us and the faith that He has worked in us makes an impact on us and that is shown by our lives. God’s transforming love works love in our hearts.
Finally, our lives as Christians are marked by faith, love and also by the steadfastness of hope. Our text: We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Hope gives form and focus to our lives. Our lives as Christians are marked by the virtue of hope and because of hope we can patiently endure whatever comes our way/ whatever we must suffer. Only with our future heavenly glory with Christ in view, can we steadfastly endure suffering and affliction. We see from a heavenly perspective that what we suffer and all the things that cause us grief, the Lord is using them—somehow, someway—for our spiritual and eternal good. Without this hope, how senseless/ pointless our sufferings and sorrows here in this life would be! It is this hope of the return of Jesus, heaven, eternity that allowed these Christians and believers down through the ages to endure persecutions and attacks on the faith. We wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Is it all worth it to live the Christian life, to endure steadfast in the faith, to love God in midst of so much hatred and opposition? Absolutely!—In light of Jesus’ return we can. Dear Christian, because we are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our lives will be marked by the virtues of faith, love and hope. Throughout our lives, as we remain in Him, the Lord in grace is continually at work to increase these virtues in us. He is faithful! He will do it. INJ