Which Way Shall We Go?
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Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Objectives
In Alice in Wonderland, at one point Alice says to the Cheshire Cat, “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here.”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
As with Alice, so with us and the church. Without objectives, we will have nowhere to go, and we’ll just keep wandering aimlessly.
Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
We have a choice - we can believe that, “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. ... DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.”
—Richard Dawkins
We can also believe what is revealed in the Holy Scriptures - that there is a God who loves us, created us, and redeemed us from our sins through the precious shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, who died on the cross for our sins and then rose again from the dead in fulfillment of the Scriptures. There is a “blessed hope” attached to that good news - we have eternal life!
Atheists say that we should be good to one another because it’s good for the community, but the Cosmos doesn’t care whether we do or not. It doesn’t reward good deeds or punish bad deeds. It doesn’t even define “good” or “bad.”
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Unlike the materialist view of history, the Christian view of history begins with a singular event, brought about by a singular Being. Contrary to Dawkins’ assertion of “no design, no purpose, no evil and no good,” the Bible declares that God created all that is, and that it was “good” when He created it. Behind all the arguments about the age of the earth or process by which the earth became populated, these are the two ultimate choices. The former takes us nowhere, because it has no sense of direction. The latter takes us into either a place of great joy, or deep anger - joy, if we listen to what God has revealed about Himself, or anger if we try to rebel against Him.
1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The Commandments reveal certain things about God, and about us. They reveal that we are not basically good, for we neither love God the way that we should nor do we love our neighbor as we ought to.
The Commandments reveal certain things about God, and about us.
Whether you want to admit it or not, you know that
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Most of us agree that certain things are bad, and yet we still find ourselves doing things that we admit are bad. There is not a culture, a civilization, or a tribe that has not grappled with this issue. We write laws, establish social codes, and establish governments, all in hopes of finding a way to break this cycle of sin. We also create rituals, whether they be religious or social, to deal with the effects of sin.
Even the rituals that the Lord gave to Israel failed in this respect: they could not actually make a person righteous.
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
The scribe in today’s Gospel text recognized this reality.
32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
These sacrifices were prescribed by God Almighty! He gave them to Israel to deal with the issues relating to sin, transgression, and iniquity, so that they could stay in a covenant relationship with Him. By themselves, however, those rites and rituals could not make Israel more godly, righteous, or loving. The Law could not either, but it did tell Israel what a godly, righteous, and loving Israelite would look like.
34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Not far from the Kingdom. This scribe had come as far as the Law could take a man. Without the Messiah, no one could go any further. The Kingdom of God could only be established by the presence of the King. The scribe looked at Jesus and saw a “Teacher,” but he did not recognize his King. Sadly, too many today make a similar mistake. They look at Jesus and see a Teacher, or a Healer, or a Miracle Worker. For that reason, they will not honor Him as God, the King of the Kingdom of God.
English Standard Version Chapter 53
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
The last part of describes Christ before the resurrection, as He walked in His vocation of being the Son of Man. Although “no man ever spoke like this Man,” on the cross, His glory was veiled, only recognized by Divine revelation.
Paul, in his opening paragraph of his epistle to the Romans,
2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today, we are called to serve the Lord in our vocations, making use of those opportunities to be His witnesses. Many of us are like Priscilla and Aquila in their relationship with Apollos:
Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus
24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
They were leaders, but not necessarily pastors. Nevertheless, they were able to build Apollos up in the Faith. You don’t need a seminary background to do that for someone, just know what you believe, teach and confess.
The Book of Concord Article 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
It’s nice that your friends know that “there is something about the name “Jesus,” or that “Jesus is my help.” That won’t protect them from the attacks of the Adversary to take away their security in Christ by deceiving them to looking to works of the Law for their justification, or when something claiming to be Christ speaks apart from the Scriptures. You need to be there, not condemning, but speaking the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. When they speak false doctrine, like “believers baptism as an act of obedience,” you need to be ready to give them “a reason for the hope that lies within you, with gentleness and respect” to be sure, but without hesitation.
If you feel that you need more information, that’s why we have Bible Study on Sundays and Monday evenings, and we can have more available. On our part, we need to make sure that our Bible Studies are, in fact, framed by our Confessions. I should not leave one of our studies without seeing the connection between the Scriptures and our Confessions. Otherwise, what is the difference between what we “believe, teach and confess,” and what the enthusiasts do?
Finally, notice that neither Jesus nor the scribe said that, on the basis of this Commandment, there was no need for the liturgy. Jesus never said, at any time, that people should not worship in the way that the Father had given them to worship.
God is still “not the author of confusion,” He still wants things to be done “decently and in order.” (concerning Communion) and are still in the Bible. Worship is still our response to God’s gifts, rather than our begging for His attention. God is not hiding from us, He has come to us in Word and Sacrament. Are you ashamed of God’s gifts?
We have been empowered by God to love Him and to love our neighbor. God has spoken in His Word to tell us what love is like (). We know that the ultimate expression of love is Christ crucified for you, not Christ risen. The Word of the Cross has power because it is God’s Word to us. I will not be ashamed of that Word, and I hope you won’t either.
(ESV)
Prayer for Spiritual Strength
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.