St Catharines Homily for Ember Wednesday in the First Week of Lent
My new colleague Dr James Kellerman, a Chicago parish pastor for more than three decades, is a delight to have around and a great asset to our faculty, a teacher you would want to send men to learn from. He is, by the way, an expert on the intricacies of the historic lectionary, and I am sure a pondering of his homily on the historic epistle for Lent I will persuade you to go and hear him preach if he is doing so in your area.
Sermon preached at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, St. Catharines, Ontario
Invocabit (1 March), 2023 Jesu, juva!
Beloved in Christ, historically pastors were ordained on one of four Saturdays evenly spread throughout the year. One of those Saturdays was the Saturday in the first full week of Lent. That is why today’s epistle was appointed: to help soon-to-be pastors understand the role they would assume in six days.
Now I know what you are thinking right now. “Oh, great. Today we are going to hear a preacher preach about preaching. It will be as boring and obnoxious as actors in a movie acting out what it is like to be an actor in a movie. Actors make such movies because they want us to know just how much they are suffering for their art, and that is why it is okay that they are on their seventh marriage, have had two arrests for drunken driving, and are always spouting off some nonsense about politics and culture”.
But that is not how Paul preaches about preaching in 2 Corinthians 6, and it is not how I am going to present things today. The whole purpose for preaching about preaching is the exact opposite of why actors have movies about acting. Instead of exalting himself, Paul simply says that he and fellow pastors are servants of God. We try to present no obstacles, but merely present the message that God wants to be delivered. In effect, Paul is saying, “Look, I have got nothing up my sleeves. I have no hidden agenda”. The same Word of God blesses both preachers and their hearers. The difference between the two is simply that the preacher gets an advanced copy of the good news that will be proclaimed in the sermon. Thus, whether you are the one delivering a sermon or the one hearing it, preaching is always a great thing. And that is doubly true in Lent.
For one thing, during Lent God is steeping us in his grace and salvation. At other times of the year we also remember Christ’s death on our behalf, but during the Lenten season we are especially mindful of it. God directs our eyes toward Christ and the grace and salvation he brings. That is why Paul says that today “is the day of salvation”, and “now is the favourable time” for God to hear you.
Now, of course, yesterday God helped us. We were tempted, and God guided us. We fell into some sin, and God forgave us. We realized our feebleness and weakness and asked for God’s strength, which he gave. But today we have new temptations, new sins, and new weaknesses that we will have to deal with. God does not say, “You have yesterday’s grace”. Instead, he gives us a new dollop of fresh grace. Of course, he will do the same tomorrow. But right now we are not talking about tomorrow or yesterday. We are talking about today, and today is a “favourable time”; today is a “day of salvation”. Because God keeps dishing out his grace and salvation, it is great to either preach or to hear preaching, especially during Lent.
But there is another reason Lenten preaching is so good. God is also moulding us into a new creation. If you look at the verses preceding today’s Epistle, Paul states that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Moreover, those who are outside of Christ right now can also become new creations, Paul notes. That is why he was appointed an ambassador of reconciliation. This is why God continues to ordain pastors. It is so that we can say, “Be reconciled to God” and “Do not receive the grace of God in vain”.
Now it is true that we are a new creation the very moment that we were brought to faith in Christ, but every creature needs to grow. Eduardo and Daniela expect their daughter to be born today, but she will not receive her university diploma tomorrow. It takes time for the new life to unfold and develop. The same is true with us as new creations in Christ.
To describe how this new creation unfolds, Paul uses several prepositional phrases. He begins with the most important one: “by great endurance”. The key quality in the growth of this new creation of life is endurance. That seems a bit strange. If you want to build up your body or shed some weight, you go to the gym, where the folks say, “Lift these weights and run this distance every day, and your body will become fit”. But that is not the way it works with the new creation. Mark Seifrid helpfully observes that “the apostle ‘suffers’ rather than accomplishes God’s work”. Paul was not following a regimen but was letting God squeeze and mould him like clay being fashioned by the Master Potter. Since God does the work, the greatest virtue is endurance—letting God be God and doing what he will with us.
Paul lists nine things he endured. First of all, afflictions, hardships, and calamities. These are things that believers and unbelievers alike experience. We all have our troubles. Next, beatings, imprisonments, and riots. Paul experienced them because he was a faithful preacher of the gospel. So, too, we may face opposition and ostracism. Finally, labours, sleepless nights, and hunger. Other vocations may experience these difficulties, but pastors certainly do. They may have to work extra hours because two members have decided to up and die during Holy Week. Pastors get emergency calls at 2:00 am or right before mealtime. Sleep and food have to wait.
Now enduring all these things does not by itself make us grow as new creations. In fact we know that many people who suffer become bitter, not better. Hence, Paul adds that in this growing process we are guided by “the Holy Spirit”, “the truthful Word”, and “the power of God”. In other words, growth occurs through the presence of the Holy Trinity, here spelled out in reverse order: the Holy Spirit, the Word (that is, the Son), and God, namely, the Father. Because we see that God is with us amid all of these troubles, we are able to endure and be marked by certain virtues: purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, and genuine love. Because God is with us amid our pain, the world’s pleasures lose their attraction, and so we grow in purity. We also grow in patience, kindness, and love because we realize that just because we are in pain, we do not have to become one, for God is with us.
As God is sculpting us into this new creation, we find ourselves fully equipped “with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left”. “Weapons” in ancient Greek referred to everything a soldier brought into warfare—including the sword in the right hand (for offence) and the shield in the left hand (for defence). Of course, we know that the sword is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. God’s Word is the only way that we can make any progress against evil in this world. Meanwhile, we are also protected by the shield of faith from the fiery darts of the evil one.
While God is fostering this new creation, we see one more reason Lent is a wonderful time to preach or to hear preaching. Especially in Lent, God reveals to us the hidden life. We are new creations in Christ, but this truth is something hidden from the world. Paul had earlier stated, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh”. At one time Paul had viewed Christ according to the flesh and despised him, but now of course he knew who Christ really was. In the same way, he no longer despised believers in Christ and began to see in them and in himself what the world could not see.
The new creation is hidden to those outside. We are like caterpillars wrapped in a cocoon. From the outside, the cocoon is not all that glamorous, but something glorious is happening inside, as the caterpillar is being transformed into a butterfly. The world looks at us from the outside and sees us as impostors or nobodies. In truth, we are the real deal and are well known to God and his holy angels. The world thinks we are dead or as good as dead; at the very least, we are a bunch of sad sacks. But the truth is that we are fully alive and shall never die and thus are filled with constant joy. Even Lent is a time of joy—muted joy, but joy nonetheless, for we delight in thinking more about our Saviour Jesus Christ. The world sees us as poor and destitute. But the truth is that we have priceless treasures: God’s love and favour; baptism that has united us with Christ; the Lord’s Supper as our viaticum to strengthen us on our earthly pilgrimage; eternal life; fellowship with God; an elder brother (Jesus Christ) who is the best kind of elder brother for weak siblings; and brothers and sisters in Christ. We can share all these riches and still not be impoverished, for we keep all these gifts even when we share them with others.
And so, beloved in Christ, it is always a great time to preach or to hear preaching, but it is doubly so in the season of Lent. For Lent is not forty days of torture but forty days to spend more time with Christ. What could be better than that? In Jesus’ name. Amen.
SOLI T DEO GLORIA