Epiphany 7A Sermon: Hearsay
Preached on Matthew 5:38-48
The Seventh Sunday After the Epiphany
18 February AD 2017
Title: Click to hear the MP3 of Hearsay.
Summary: Do good works save? Throughout Scripture, God commands them and often attaches promises to our doing them. Some will say that this is possible, but Jesus says differently: Without Him the promise is never realized, for none of us can attain the perfection of our heavenly Father though our deeds.
Yet we know that good works do save — that is, Jesus’ good works done on our behalf. The Father credits us with the Son’s keeping of the Law and counts us holy through them. We have, in Christ, already fulfilled the Law.
Now, the Holy Spirit leads us “sons of [our] Father who is in heaven” to live in love in thankful response for our salvation. And when our hearts and minds grow weary or we choose to do less than all we can, the Lord still loves us and forgives us once again ... and again ... and again.
Text: [Jesus said,] “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:38-48
Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Hearsay.
NB: A few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio with Windows Media Player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.
Other Readings: Psalm 119:33-40; Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18; 1 Corinthians 3:10-23
The Seventh Sunday After the Epiphany
18 February AD 2017
Title: Click to hear the MP3 of Hearsay.
Summary: Do good works save? Throughout Scripture, God commands them and often attaches promises to our doing them. Some will say that this is possible, but Jesus says differently: Without Him the promise is never realized, for none of us can attain the perfection of our heavenly Father though our deeds.Yet we know that good works do save — that is, Jesus’ good works done on our behalf. The Father credits us with the Son’s keeping of the Law and counts us holy through them. We have, in Christ, already fulfilled the Law.
Now, the Holy Spirit leads us “sons of [our] Father who is in heaven” to live in love in thankful response for our salvation. And when our hearts and minds grow weary or we choose to do less than all we can, the Lord still loves us and forgives us once again ... and again ... and again.
Text: [Jesus said,] “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:38-48
Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Hearsay.
NB: A few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio with Windows Media Player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.
Other Readings: Psalm 119:33-40; Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18; 1 Corinthians 3:10-23
Labels: christ, enemy, epiphany 7, forgiveness, Gospel, hate, holiness, jesus, Law, love, matthew 5, neighbor, perfection, revenge, series a, sermon on the mount, sin
posted by Xrysostom | 18:00
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home