Sermon for 10/3/23: Southern Illinois District Pastors Conference

This was the sermon I preached for Matins yesterday at the Southern Illinois District Pastors Conference. I've been a pastor for over 23 years; this was the first time I've served in this capacity. Interesting sensation, to bring the Word to your peers. But I guess that's what I get for volunteering, for trying to get more involved in things that I had to say no to before. 

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

Faithful Preaching for the Narrow Gate
Matthew 7:15-22

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you’ve ever seen the Halloween special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” you may recall that Linus Van Pelt believes in the Great Pumpkin. On Halloween, as Linus believes, the Great Pumpkin rises from the pumpkin patch he deems to be “the most sincere,” and he flies around, bringing toys to all the good little boys and girls in the world. In hopes of luring the Great Pumpkin to his local pumpkin patch, Linus cries out, “Just look! Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see!” Linus may be sincere, but ultimately he is a false prophet: the Great Pumpkin does not exist, no matter how sincere Linus may be.

Our text is a firm warning for our parishioners to heed the voice of the Good Shepherd, to flee from false teachers, to refuse to partake of the bad fruit of their lies and deceit. I remind my congregations that it’s their job to keep me faithful, to test what I preach and teach against what our Lord says in His Word; and if I should preach contrary to the Word of God, it is their duty to point out my error to me and even to drive me out if I remain an unfaithful prophet. A false teacher may tell people what they want to hear, but false preaching is neither edifying nor fruitful for their salvation; false preaching is the wide path that leads to the inviting and beautifully-adorned gates of Hell.

In that way, this text is also a warning to us who are called to preach the Gospel that we must not be false teachers, that we must not tickle the ears of our hearers with pleasant but false teachings. We know that the Church is built on the solid rock of Peter’s faithful confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Naturally we all strive to be faithful to the Word of God, to the confession that Jesus is our Savior, as we preach and teach; in fact, we promise to do so with the help of God in our Ordination vows. We know we must answer before the righteous Judge on the Last Day for the souls placed in our care.

And yet…we know how sinful mankind measures success. We know that a church where the attendance is shrinking is seen as a failing congregation and the pastor of that shrinking congregation is viewed as a failure. There is a little false prophet whispering in your ear, trying to convince you that you could be a success, that you could have a growing congregation with a growing general fund, if only you would tone things down a bit. Perhaps the church would not shrink quite so quickly—or maybe even grow—if you would be a little less blunt in your preaching against sin. Oh, you can still preach against sin, but maybe be more generic; don’t call out sins by their names. The abortion industry, for example, is growing quickly here in Southern Illinois. With people flocking in by the trainload to murder their God-given children, maybe you could stop calling it murder. With cohabitation being the norm instead of the exception these days, maybe you could let it slide. Do you really need to preach against gossip when you know it will upset the group that meets in the parking lot after the Divine Service? Would it not possibly help the bottom line in your parish if you’d be a little more tolerant? “Lord, Lord, did we not make the attendance numbers rise in your name? Did we not increase the congregation’s budget in your name?”

That might be the case, but such preaching is negligent; it is not faithful to the Word of God. The truth of the matter is that the Gospel is an offense. Man may judge you by the size of your parish and the number of digits in your general fund, but our Lord does not judge the way man judges. The Lord knows well the difficulties presented by His teaching, but He never compromised the truth of what He said. On the contrary, Jesus at times said things that were so difficult to accept that He lost many of His followers. While that may have troubled His loving heart, it never moved Him to change what He said. He explained how the world would receive those who claim Christ as Master by faith: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” You must preach the offensive Gospel, even if it means your congregation doesn’t grow; even if it means your congregation shrinks or even closes; even if it means the Lord’s enemies cast you out. You cannot compromise for the sake of self-preservation. Bureaucracy exists to protect itself, but the Church exists so that people will die to sin and rise to new life in the waters of Holy Baptism. The Church exists so that sheep will walk through the narrow gate that leads to eternal life.

It is a difficult path. You enter the kingdom of God only by following Jesus through the narrow gate. The true prophets speak the Word of God; false prophets would pass off their own words as God’s Word. What is the Christian to do? Does God leave you to try and sort out all of this yourself, to distinguish the true from the false? St. Paul tells us, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” The Holy Spirit bears witness to you, so that you may cry out, “Lord, Lord!”—not in fear or doubt or deception, but in the boldness of faith.

Our Father in heaven does not forsake His children. He gives His Holy Spirit to you so you may know that you belong to Him, so that you may know that it’s truly the voice of Christ you hear and preach. He gives His Holy Spirit to you to keep you on the narrow way. He set you on that narrow path in Holy Baptism. But He does not leave you to take that path alone; Jesus walked that narrow road to His death for you so that, having been baptized into His death, you would also share in His life. He speaks His word of forgiveness to you when the temptation to compromise overtakes you. He gives you food in His own body and blood to sustain you for the difficult journey. On the Last Day, there will be no need to convince Jesus that you were faithful to Him, for Christ Himself will be your boast, your confidence, your certain entrance through the narrow gate. Covered by the Lamb Himself and bearing the good fruit of His cross, you have eternal life. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.