Mary's Message
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Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Regeneration
Many unregenerate men consider themselves to be God’s children, or “sons of God.” But being a product of God’s handiwork does not qualify one for a sonship relationship.
A cabinetmaker constructs a cabinet. But this does not make the cabinet a “child” of the cabinetmaker. A birth process would be necessary for this. The unregenerate man who claims sonship with God “because he made me” is basing his claim merely on the fact that he is a product of God’s handiwork. Like the cabinet, he lacks the new birth necessary for a sonship relationship.
Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
(ESV)
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
I Am the Light of the World
Mary Traylor’s Confirmation Verse, , is a beautiful, poetic declaration by Jesus Christ of His power to transform our bleak, sin-darkened existence into that of the glory which shall be revealed at the revelation of the children of God. As we look back at her life, and, through that lens, our own as well, we know that we cannot, without a feeling of despair, look at any life as of value if it is limited to this plane of existence. With this the Scriptures bear witness:
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
I Am the Light of the World
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Mary Traylor’s Confirmation Verse, , is a beautiful, poetic declaration by Jesus Christ of His power to transform our bleak, sin-darkened existence into that of the glory which shall be revealed at the revelation of the children of God. As we look back at her life, and, through that lens, our own as well, we know that we cannot, without a feeling of despair, look at any life as of value if it is limited to this plane of existence. With this the Scriptures bear witness:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
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Mary Traylor was a baptized child of God who was confirmed in her faith at St. John’s Lutheran Church on Christmas Eve, 1967. She has been a faithful member of the Body of Christ, and a Confessional Evangelical Christian who supported the Mission of God with her prayers, presence and encouragement, both verbal and financial. Mary did this, no tin hopes of winning God’s approval, but because she knew, based upon the Word of Christ, that she already had it:
I Am the Light of the World
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
The world does not understand the nature of God’s mercy and grace, and, based upon our experiences in the world, with good reason. Mercy must be purchased at a great price in the world, where men deal with one another, not according to the Law of God, but, it seems more often than not, the Law of the Jungle. People treat mercy like a bargaining chip, demanding a quid-pro-quo or placing the recipient in their debt.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
The message of the pure Gospel, the Gospel that Mary heard and believed as a member here at St. John’s is not like that. God is not a Shylock demanding His pound of flesh, neither from the righteous nor the wicked. Concerning the wicked, God declares,
“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Why Will You Die, Israel?
10 “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
and further,
But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Praise be to God, Mary Traylor did not harden her heart when she heard the message of God’s infinite love and mercy, demonstrated in that “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (). Nor did she take that treasure and bury it in the ground, like the foolish servant in Jesus’ parable of the Talents who said,
so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’
Instead, as a Confessional Christian, confirmed in the teachings of the Book of Concord, she shared the Gospel with her children and their children. These acts are also, not a reflecting of her zeal or goodness, but of God’s determination that we might know His desire for our salvation. As Dr. Luther wrote in Part III of the Smalcald Articles:
[4:] Concerning the Gospel
The Book of Concord Article 4: Concerning the Gospel
[4:] Concerning the Gospel
We now want to return to the gospel, which gives guidance and help against sin in more than one way, because God is extravagantly rich in his grace: first, through the spoken word, in which the forgiveness of sins is preached to the whole world (which is the proper function of the gospel); second, through baptism; third, through the holy Sacrament of the Altar; fourth, through the power of the keys and also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brothers and sisters. Matthew 18[:20*]: “Where two or three are gathered …”129
The Book of Concord Article 4: Concerning the Gospel
[4:] Concerning the Gospel
We now want to return to the gospel, which gives guidance and help against sin in more than one way, because God is extravagantly rich in his grace: first, through the spoken word, in which the forgiveness of sins is preached to the whole world (which is the proper function of the gospel); second, through baptism; third, through the holy Sacrament of the Altar; fourth, through the power of the keys and also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brothers and sisters. Matthew 18[:20*]: “Where two or three are gathered …”129
We now want to return to the gospel, which gives guidance and help against sin in more than one way, because God is extravagantly rich in his grace: first, through the spoken word, in which the forgiveness of sins is preached to the whole world (which is the proper function of the gospel); second, through baptism; third, through the holy Sacrament of the Altar; fourth, through the power of the keys and also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brothers and sisters. [:20*]: “Where two or three are gathered …”129
For Mary, that translates as seven children and one grandchild who were baptized here. Seven children and one grandchild who have been united to Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Seven Children and one Grandchild who can claim the same “exceeding great and precious promises” that Mary claimed as a baptized child of God.
As I look at this assembly, I see far more than eight people. Some of you are members of Mary’s natural family, while others , of her supernatural family. some of you are connected by DNA or legal ties, while others are connected by water and blood - the blood of Christ and the water of washing and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Those in the former group mourn, because for them, all hope is lost. All hope of hearing their beloved friend and family member have perished; all hope of enjoying her love, wisdom and encouragement are gone, save in their memories.
Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 319.
Those in the latter group mourn as well, but not as those who have no hope. For them, the promise of God remains sure: The one who believes and is baptized will be saved! For them, the words of Mary’s confirmation verse are joined to the words Jesus spoke concerning Lazarus regarding his death: “If anyone walks in the say, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world” (). They know that Mary’s story does not end “in death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (). Just as Jesus was able to bring Lazarus back from death by the Word of His Power, so He will raise us all at the last day.
In fact, the Scriptures tell us that all will be raised at the last day, but not all to everlasting life. In , Jesus talks about the last day, and tells us:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Let me be frank and clear with you friends, family, and guests: The separation that this teaching presents is not because of what they did. It is because of who they are. Sheep are sheep because they are born thus, likewise with the goats. Sheep behave as sheep, and goats behave as goats. The only way that one can be declared “righteous” before God is by faith in Jesus Christ, which comes by hearing the report of Christ. The only way that I can ensure that you will share Mary Traylor’s joy and peace, is by telling you today, that Christ died for you, to justify you from all that you could not be justified by your own acts. Christ came to save you, died to save you, and rose to save you. One day, He will return to awaken you, and either receive you into His eternal Kingdom, or execute the judgment of eternal punishment because you rejected His free gift of eternal life.
Mary heard that message, believed that message, was confirmed in that message, and walked in the light of that message. Now, she enjoys the fulfillment of the promise, and now, you have the opportunity to rejoice with her, or to join her in becoming an heir of that promise. You also have the opportunity to reject it, and to receive the wages that you will earn in due season. Today, as Mary enjoys the presence of the Lord, I set before you life and blessing, and death and cursing. Choose life, and not death. Choose the promise, and know peace with God. Choose to cling to the Gospel, and let go of your rebellion against God.
That’s what Mary did, that’s what energized her life, and comforted her at the hour of her departure. Today, that door is opened for you.
And may the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds though Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.