Sermon

March 2, 2003
Transfiguration Sunday
1 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Pastor Robert Raasch

The Glory of Gospel Ministry

1. What it is
2. What it Means

As you know, today we celebrate the Lord's Transfiguration. In our gospel lesson we heard how Jesus took three of his disciples up on a mountain and there revealed his glory to them. The disciples' response? "Lord, it is good for us to be here." Almost makes you wish that you could have been there too, doesn't it? To be able to see the glory of the Lord like that. To be able to revel in that glory. Too bad we don't have something quite as glorious as a transfigured Lord here with us today. Or maybe we do. In our epistle reading, the Apostle Paul tells us that we do have something that is at least as glorious as Jesus' shining face. Here St. Paul speaks not about the glory of Jesus' person, but rather the glory of his work-the glory of his message, a message which God has now given us the privilege of sharing with the world. Today we turn our attention to what we might call,

The Glory of Gospel Ministry

This morning, I'd like to tackle this text in two steps. First, we'll consider what St. Paul is saying here (I. What is the Glory of Gospel Ministry) and then we'll consider what it means for us and for our congregation (II. What It Means). First, what is Paul saying? Well, in this section of 2nd Corinthians, Paul is focusing the reader's attention on the glory of the New Covenant. He is pointing out what an awesome thing it is that a holy God has come and made peace with a rebellious mankind, through the sacrifice of his Son. Paul is rejoicing in the fact that all mankind has been declared not guilty in God's eyes. By the blood of the Lamb, the gates of heaven are open to all. Eternal life is a free gift by God's grace. That's the glory of the New Covenant, the glory of the gospel.

In fact, to emphasize how glorious the gospel is, Paul compares the glory of the new covenant with the glory of the Old Covenant. Remember the Old Covenant? The one that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, the one that consisted of all God's rules and regulations regarding Israel's moral, civil and ceremonial lives? Was there glory in that OT covenant? Absolutely. Remember how Moses' face was radiant when he came down from the mountain and gave the people the Ten Commandments? There was glory in the Law. But that glory was fading. Paul explains how Moses covered his face with a veil "to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away." Unfortunately, many of the Israelites failed to recognize the glory of the Old Covenant was not a permanent glory. They didn't realize that those OT laws on sacrifices and circumcision were not the end-all, be-all for getting right with God. Paul says that "their minds were made dull." That is, they didn't get it. Even to this day, Paul writes, "When Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts." What does that mean? It means that even today when Jews hear the OT scriptures read, they think to themselves, "Yep, God says that we are his chosen nation. As long as we do what God demands, as long as we eat the right food, as long as we observe the Sabbath Day, as long as we retain our identity as the physical descendants of Abraham, then we've got it made."

My friends, you realize that the attitude displayed by the Jews in Paul's day is still being displayed by every unbeliever today. Think about it. When John Q Public hears the 10 commandments read, what does he think? He thinks, "Oh yeah, I'm keeping those. I haven't killed anybody. I'm no thief. I live by the golden rule: 'Do unto others as you would have them do to you.' I figure that's what God expects of me." But Paul would say, "Those people have a veil over their hearts." They aren't seeing that the law can't save them. All it can do it condemn them.

So, is there any way for that veil to be removed? Paul says, Yes, "whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." In other words, when God the Holy Spirit leads a person to say, "Wait a minute. I can't live up to God's standards. The more I study the 10 commandments, the more I realize how often I've disobeyed them. My actions, my words, my motives are more than just a little off the mark. I'm way over the edge. And according to God's law, I'm headed straight to hell. God, you've got to save me. Lord, have mercy on me. Please Jesus, rescue me from the punishment I deserve. Jesus, you're my only hope."

My friends, when God the Holy Spirit leads a person to say that, then the veil has been removed. That's the moment when a blind unbeliever becomes a seeing believer. And as Paul says a little later in this letter, that's when a person sees "the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).

But not only does God use the gospel to lead people to see God's glory. He also uses it to allow people to reflect God's glory in their lives. Paul writes, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory." In other words, the good news of God's love for us in Christ is what changes people. It gives people the desire and the ability to do what is right in God's eyes.

Friends, that's the power that God, in an act of pure mercy, has placed into our hands, by giving us the gospel. Is it any wonder that Paul says, "Since through God's mercy, we have this ministry, we do not lose heart"? No matter what happens, no matter how many problems we see in our lives or the lives of our fellow church members, no matter how many times it looks like the Devil is getting the upper hand, we still can have the confidence that God can and will continue to work miracles in peoples' hearts and lives through the good news of a Savior from sin.

And, because we know that God works through the gospel, we will therefore want to do nothing to hide, twist or distract people from the gospel. Instead, as Paul says, "by setting forth the truth plainly, we will commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." In other words, because we know that every guilty conscience desperately needs to hear that God has forgiven all sins in Christ, therefore we're going to boldly proclaim that good news for all to hear. That's the glory of gospel ministry, a ministry has graciously given you and me to carry out. Which leads to the 2nd question we need to think about today. And that is, how does the glory of a gospel ministry apply to our work as a congregation?

I think you realize that Mount Olive is in the process of reevaluating what God would have us be and do in the coming years. Last Sunday many of you participated in the Listening Sunday sessions in which you brainstormed ideas about what Mount Olive's current and future ministry. Others will have the chance to do the same thing next Monday night. Now, I don't know about you, but any time people start throwing around ideas about what we might change at Mount Olive, I get a little nervous. "Are people going to change things that I'd like to see stay the same? In an attempt to "improve" Mount Olive's ministry, are we going to lose the things that God says are really important? How are we going to decide what to keep and what not to keep?

My friends, as I look at the text before us, I believe that the Apostle Paul offers a number of key principles to keep in mind as we wrestle with how can Mount Olive most effectively carry out the mission God has given us to do. Principle #1: The gospel is Mount Olive's greatest treasure. The gospel is the power of God and therefore it should be the glory of our congregation. Our glory is not in a beautiful facility, a gifted staff or a dynamic program. Our glory must always be in a clear proclamation of law and gospel. Why? Because that's where God's power is. If our mission is to move people from the path to hell to the path to heaven, then there's only one way to do it-and it's not going to be by offering a different worship style or friendlier congregation or a larger parking lot. There is only one way that God creates Christians. It's by the gospel in word and sacrament. And there's only one tool that God will use to strengthen faith and reshape human lives. It's the gospel. If our goal as a congregation is to help people become honest citizens, God-fearing teen-agers, devoted family members, then we need to find more ways to put people in touch with the gospel, whether it be in worship, small groups, seminars, websites or whatever. We've got to allow the gospel to do the work only God can do.

And that leads us to Paul's 2nd principle: And that is, we dare not distort the gospel. In our day and age, as we seek to reach out to the unchurched, there is always the temptation to kind of water down our doctrine, try to make our message more palatable, easier for people to accept. You know, you wouldn't want to offend people by telling them that they're sinners who need to repent. Better not talk about hell or damnation, or the fact that without Jesus people will be separated from God forever. But the fact is, that's what the Law and Gospel say. The law says that sinners are damned in spite of their best efforts. The gospel says that sinners are forgiven in spite of worst offenses. If we're going to be faithful to God, we need to share both messages, clearly and confidently. That's what people need to hear.

The trouble is-and here is the real key-the majority of people out there don't realize that they need to hear those things. You see, the unbeliever, by nature, doesn't understand what he truly needs. Remember what Paul said about unbelievers having a veil over their hearts? By nature the unbeliever doesn't understand what his real problem is-and therefore can't appreciate or even desire what God's real solution is. Nor can we expect them to. Now, what does all that mean? Let me give you an example.

Very often when an unchurched person starts looking for a church, it's because he feels a particular need in his life. Maybe he's having trouble in his marriage, or his children are out of control, or he's suffering from low self-esteem. Maybe she's grieving the loss of a loved one, or is buried under a pile of credit card debt. All of these things may have people looking to God for help.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of churches that will try to address those felt needs without identifying the real problem. For example, you're having trouble parenting? Here's a list of 10 rules to follow to be a better parent. Feeling lonely and separated from God? We got a group of people who will be happy to spend time with you. Are you struggling with an addiction of one kind or another? We've got A.A. and Gamblers Anonymous to get your life on track.

In many cases, these kinds of felt needs ministries never identify that the little problems in life are all a result of the Big Problem. And the Big Problem is that by nature we're all lost and condemned sinners. We're hopeless and helpless. And therefore the only real Solution to our real Problem is a Savior from sin. It's not until God fixes this (vertical) relationship that we will have any hope of fixing all these (horizontal) relationships. Or to put it another way, the path to better parenting, a more fulfilling marriage, a drug-free life, or whatever other goal you have must always begin at the cross.

Now the challenge that we face as Christians (and therefore as a Christian congregation) is getting people to the cross. You see, oftentimes, there are a lot of obstacles in a person's way. Some of the roadblocks are put there by the unbeliever himself; other times, we're the ones who have erected the roadblocks. The point is: these are not roadblocks set up by God. So our job, in love for the lost, is to get them out of the way. For example, years ago, we realized that people having a hard time understanding German. So what did we do? We stopped preaching sermons in German. Maybe today we realize that a single parent coming to church for the very first time, is having a hard time concentrating on the sermon while holding a squirming child. So maybe we provide a staffed nursery or some kind of education hour for that child. Maybe there are people who would prefer listening to music accompanied by a piano or a guitar, rather than singing hymns accompanied by an organ. So maybe we offer them a little different style of worship.

Do we think that by offering people contemporary worship, or a staffed nursery or a fully air conditioned church, that we're going to grow the church? No, only God can truly grow his church. And he'll do it just one way. And that's with the gospel, the good news that in Christ, sinners like you and me are forgiven and restored to life a new life in the image of God. May that glorious gospel message ever be what keeps you and me, saying in the words of the apostles of old, "Lord, it is good for us to be here." In Jesus' name. Amen.

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