Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (2024)

Eph 4:1-6

Our Epistle lesson picks up where it left off last week. For this love that Christ has actively binds us together as the Church and unites us. For we all receive the same love that comes from Christ our Lord. It is the love that Christ has for us, that unites us and brings us together as the body of Christ. To be united in our walk together as those called out of darkness and into the light of Christ our Lord.

Only Two Ways

If we have been called by God, then we seek God’s will.

Just as Christ has told us, we cannot serve both God and mammon, we cannot be of the world and of the Kingdom of God. So we are encouraged to live according to the Calling that we have received through Christ Jesus our Lord, that is not of the flesh, but rather in love to one another.

We love because God first loved us.

Without this love that God has given there is nothing that flows forth from our hearts, there is nothing good in there for Christ tells us out our hearts flows all manner of sin and vice, but if it is filled with the Father’s love for you, and Christ’s love for you then it overflows to nourish and support your neighbor. This is contrasted with sin

To walk in sin is to leave God.

One cannot go both left and right at the same time, we cannot both ascend to heaven and descend into hell. The world tries to seek a 3rd way that they might both indulge their sins and remain in God’s grace, but this way does not exist. The Scriptures make it clear there is no 3rd way.

This doesn’t mean Christian’s don’t slip.

I wish to be clear on this, Christians do fall, they do stumble, they end up in the ditch or even roll back down the hill a bit. The Christian life is not perfected on this side of heaven, and the reason that all of us need to be here, is because the Old Adam is persistent and active in our flesh, and He is only destroyed by the gifts of God that cleanse us from sin, set us back on our feet, and take our hand to lead us forward.

The Calling of the Lord

We were called out of the world.

We are still in it of course, but we are not to be of it, that is we are not to let it guide our lives and reign over us. For the way of the world is death, but Christ has set us on the path of immortality and life. We want to keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus

For there is only one hope.

The world has sought hope in many different things, in riches, in healthy living, stress-free or at least stress reduced lives, in family, in friends, in fame, accomplishment but all of these mean nothing before the throne of God. For our most proud accomplishments mean nothing before the throne of God, for there is only one name under heaven by which men must be saved. That’s why

There’s no salvation outside of Jesus.

In our world that is not well received, but its important. For to pretend that other religions, offer a way to salvation or are compatible with Christianity is to deceive them and to let them think they are safe without Christ. Jesus came to earth because there is no other way for us to be saved, and shed is blood for us.

Jesus’s Love is Needed

How can we share what we don’t know?

How can you tell people what the Lord has said, if you haven’t studied the word. I talked with the kids last week, about what would school be like if we could just donwload it. They thought that sounded good, till they found out that would mean more time for chores :D. We have to learn the word for it is easy to misunderstand it.

The Law doesn’t change the heart.

The Law can reveal our hearts, and show the sin that dwells therein. It can convict us and make us feel guilty and ashamed and realize that we have not lived as we ought. That we are sinners, but it does not offer the means to change or cleanse our heart from sin. That’s why the Law is not enough, and it won’t save you.

It is the Gospel that changes it.

For it is the Gospel that brings sinners dead in their trespasses to life. For there the spirit restores to us the joy of our salvation and shares the good and wonderful news, that even though we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that Jesus died for you and me. He was willing to shed his blood for our sake all of out love.

We are urged to walk the path that Jesus walked for you.

Especially as we meet our neighbors in this life, that we are not to walk in the ways of this world, but rather see the Love with which Christ loved us.

Christ’s Abundant Love

Jesus came not to be served but to serve.

So when we are urged to walk in a manner worthy of our calling we look at Christ who came with great humilty, and gentleness. Now both words humilty and gentleness are connected and touch upon how you deal with your neighbor. The word “gentleness” means the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance, and it also means courtesy, considerateness, and meekness. This is not how the world works, we are encouraged to be proud, assertive, and to get what we are owed, which sounds good, but how often do we trample over someone else to get what we wanted? How often did we make sure that our point was heard? How often do we interrupt, or get impatient with our neighbor because we just don’t have the time?

Consider Christ’s patience with sinners.

Now Jesus did move to swift action several times throughout his ministry, when things had to be addressed as people, but how did he go about it? Did He whom angels not only adored, but stood at his command, call them down to strike dead those who laid a hand on him? Did He terrify into submission those pharisees and scribes who not only rejected Him to his face, but made a mockery of God’s Holy Word? Did He wipe out the Romans who abused him? No. He prayed for their forgiveness.

This was to keep us unified in the bond of peace.

For Christ won peace with the God the Father and saved us from His wrath by sacrificing His own body and blood on the Cross. When My God, My God, why have you foraken me? Jesus is suffering for your sins, and being forsaken by God so that you might have peace.

Christ’s Love Overflows

You share the love Christ showed you.

Christ didn’t shun you for the sins that you brought before Him this morning, but Jesus humbled Himself and took your sins and gave to His own righteousness. How many times have you confessed that same sin? Lust, pride, cursing, a heart that is cold toward your neighbor’s need, and yet Jesus takes them from you that you might have peace with the Father. This is how

We are able to bear each others failings.

For how has Jesus dealt with my sins, where I have fallen short of the glory of God? He suffered and pleaded with God for your forgiveness. Not because you were good or worthy, but because Jesus loves you. This is what gives us strength and shows us what love really is. The gentiles love those who love them and are kind to them, or give them gifts, but as Christians we are to have love even for those who don’t love us.

We look to serve our neighbor.

It doesn’t matter who they are or where they come from, for Christ died for all, not just for a single group of people, but all people, and desired that they might have peace with the Father in heaven. But Salvation is found only in Him and.

We are United in Jesus

Jesus is Lord of all.

Whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female. Christ is Lord of all people, there are folks who reject Him, but that doesn’t change the fact there is only one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and if they seek salvation in any religion other than the Christian faith they will perish.

We all received the same spirit.

Who called each Christian to the one hope that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. For it is the Spirit that proceeds from the Father and the Son that holds fast to the promises, and the love that has been shown to us by Jesus. That is why

There is one faith that unites us.

There is not your faith, my faith, their faith to say that is to tear apart the body of Christ. There is one faith it is the faith that is laid out and rooted in the Word of God anyone or anything that builds on any other foundation finds themselves in trouble, but we are to be one, rooted and built upon the Word and bound together in Love.

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, see the great love that Jesus has shown to us while we were yet still sinners who were hostile to God and His enemy, but Jesus humbled himself and came into this world to lay down HIs life for us while we were yet still His enemies that we might have peace with God. It is Jesus’ love that fills our hearts and saves us. This Love is what we then share with our neighbors whenever we find them in need, no matter who they are, for that is the love that Christ has shown to us. For there is only one Lord, One God and One faith and if we cling to anything else, we will not find salvation. So let us proclaim and share that love with everyone. In Jesus name. Amen.