Worship the God who is worthy of praise.

 

Sermon for Trinity 2, June 6, 2021

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.  All who do his precepts have good understanding.  Amen.

Romans 1:18-25  ¹⁸Indeed, God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who try to suppress the truth by unrighteousness.  ¹⁹This happens because what can be known about God is evident among them, because God made it evident among them.  ²⁰In fact, his invisible characteristics—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, because they are understood from the things he made.  As a result, people are without excuse, ²¹because, even though they knew God, they did not honor him or give him thanks as God.  Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless heart was darkened.  ²²Although they claim to be wise, they have become fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human, or like birds, four-footed animals, and crawling things.  ²⁴So, as they followed the sinful desires of their hearts, God handed them over to the impurity of degrading their own bodies among themselves.  ²⁵Such people have traded the truth about God for the lie, worshipping and serving the creation rather than the Creator, who is worthy of praise forever.  Amen. (EHV)

Worship the God who is worthy of praise.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            When reading Paul’s words here, you get a feeling of the condemnation and self-degradation God poured upon the pagans surrounding the Christians in Rome.  However, Paul wasn’t writing specifically about the pagans in Rome.  Rather, he is writing about the history of mankind as a whole. 

Ever since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, the things Paul writes about are evident pretty much everywhere.  Cain is a prime example of one who turned against the Creator and suffered from the ills of sin because of it.  Do not be misled, therefore, into thinking this warning doesn’t apply to us.  Because whenever the truth is rejected, God’s wrath is displayed in the wickedness people pursue.  The exhortation for us is to Worship the God who is worthy of praise.

Paul wrote, “God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who try to suppress the truth by unrighteousness.”  We don’t like to think of God punishing people for sin, and indeed, we know that God punished His Son for the sins of the world.  Therefore, this wrath isn’t God’s true retribution for ungodliness.  What it is, however, is God withdrawing His mercy and kindness from those who reject Him, and in turning His face against those who reject Him, God allows the selfish, lustful, greedy, wicked, perverted desires of the sinful nature to become the controlling force in their lives.  Apart from God’s intervention, no one will be saved, so when God turns His back on the wicked, their eternal future is in serious jeopardy.

Here is where it gets rather scary for our times.  Paul said, “This happens because what can be known about God is evident among them, because God made it evident among them.  In fact, his invisible characteristics—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, because they are understood from the things he made.”  We live in a time when the vast majority of scholars have rejected the idea of God creating the world and everything in it. 

Our children are daily subjected to the false teachings of evolution and other ideas claimed to be scientific that are not based on reasonable research or assumptions.  No reasonable person can look at the world and not see the hand of a creative power.  In spite of what is widely assumed in our times, it is unreasonable to reject God creating the world out of nothing in order to believe that nothing created everything out of itself.  Yet, that is the current mindset of our world.  And, that is pretty much what Paul writes against.  The creation makes it obvious that there is a Creator.  Any other belief is pure foolishness.

Now, just knowing that God exists doesn’t tell us much about Him, but unlike the pagans of ancient history, we have clear knowledge of the true God handed down to us through the writings of the prophets and apostles through whom God revealed Himself to the world and through whom God revealed His plans to reconcile the world to Himself in His Son, Christ Jesus.  “As a result, people are without excuse, because, even though they knew God, they did not honor him or give him thanks as God.  Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless heart was darkened.”

Today, all people are without excuse.  Through His Word, and through countless generations of messengers God has sent throughout the world, the knowledge of His grace has been widely revealed.  There is no place on earth the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus has not reached at some point in time.  Yes, I grant you that because God’s truth has been rejected in so many places, there are generations and whole populations that do not know the saving message of God’s truth.  However, that merely confirms Moses’ warning that while “The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in mercy, forgiving guilt and rebellion.  He certainly does not leave the guilty unpunished, following up on the guilt of the fathers with the children unto the third and the fourth generation.” (Numbers 14:18)  When God is rejected by even one generation, salvation is lost to the generations that follow.  This also confirms what Paul writes as he tells us that God’s wrath is revealed against the godless.

Those who are trapped in the darkness of unbelief live in ways that the Godfearing find abhorrent, and yet strangely, those wicked things have an undeniable draw to the sinner within each one of us.  Therefore, we need God’s help on a daily, and even moment by moment, basis.  We never want to be left subject to Satan’s whims, because as Paul wrote here, “Although they claim to be wise, they have become fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human, or like birds, four-footed animals, and crawling things.  So, as they followed the sinful desires of their hearts, God handed them over to the impurity of degrading their own bodies among themselves.”

As Christians look around the world in our times, it is clear that God has allowed the cravings of the natural man to proliferate in society.  Degrading sins are flaunted, even promoted, here, there, and everywhere.  The sad truth is that this is evident even among many who claim to be Christian believers and in places that pretend to worship the Triune God.  Yet, where sin is so prominent, accepted, or even praised as something wholesome, God’s judgment is being clearly demonstrated on idol worshippers who have elevated themselves into the position of gods—by allowing them to chase after wicked desires rather than to live according to God’s commands.

Now, maybe you firmly believe that you could never be drawn into worshipping an idol of wood or stone, but idols can be a wide variety of things.  Giving glory to idols happens whenever we do not have complete trust in the God who made us, who sacrificed His Son for us, and who gave us life through the power of His Spirit in Baptism and the preaching of His Word.  Who among us can honestly say that he or she has never worried about the future?  Who among us can honestly claim they don’t worry about the political realms of our times, the chance of disease taking them out of this life, or of persecution (however minor) for our confession of faith?  Who among us hasn’t been tempted by the constant barrage of pornographic images in media and advertising, the continual encouragement of society to follow your own desires and understanding, or been tempted by neighbors dangling unscriptural teachings in the place of God’s revealed truth?

The Israelites of the Old Testament often fell into the trap of thinking they could participate in the idolatrous celebrations of their neighbors and still worship the true God of their fathers.  Similarly, many in our day believe themselves Christians but still desire to follow the tempting ways of some who have abandoned portions of God’s instructions for our lives.  Why not follow the worship practices of our neighbors?  We’re all Christians, right?  Well, the answer is maybe not so much. 

Jesus said, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)  Nowhere does Jesus say, “You can follow any teaching you like as long as you say it came from me.”  No!  We need to preach and teach the full counsel of God.  We need to adhere to all of what God has given us, and we need to do so boldly and gladly for the gift of eternal life, for Jesus declared, “The Spirit is the one who gives life.  The flesh does not help at all.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63)

Concerning the pagans among us in every era of history, St. Paul was inspired to write, “Such people have traded the truth about God for the lie, worshipping and serving the creation rather than the Creator, who is worthy of praise forever.  Amen.”  With sin handed down from parent to child, it became natural for people to reject God for the lie.  However, that is never what God wants for us, for as Paul wrote to Timothy, “God our Savior,…wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4)  And as we already heard from Moses, “The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in mercy, forgiving guilt and rebellion.” 

In His great mercy for mankind, God does not quickly destroy even those who reject Him.  At the same time, His judgment is at work in them for it is God’s desire that they come to their senses and seek His mercy through repentance.  God’s mercy and kindness is why His followers praise the Creator of all things.  God’s mercy delivered His word of peace among us.  God’s mercy sent His Son to earth to live perfect righteousness on our behalf and to take the penalty of death and separation from God in our place.  Jeremiah rejoiced, “By the mercies of the Lord we are not consumed, for his compassions do not fail.  They are new every morning.  Great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Dear friends, we have indeed been given the benefit of God’s mercy.  In most cases, we were born into Christian families that desired for us to hear the God News of all that Jesus has done for us, families that brought us to church and to the baptismal font where God claimed us as His own dear children.  What joy is ours to come and hear all that Jesus has done for us, and to partake of the very flesh and blood Jesus sacrificed to God on our behalf, as we eat and drink of Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of our sins.  What great joys is ours to know that all our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake, and that we have peace with God through faith in Christ. 

These things should never be taken for granted, for it is through God’s kindness to us that we can recognize the wickedness of the world for what it is, but it is especially through God’s kindness to us that we recognize the love Jesus has demonstrated for us with His life and sacrifice.  “He himself carried our sins in his body on the tree so that we would be dead to sins and alive to righteousness.  By his wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)  This is God’s truth, the message that gives life and peace to you and me.  “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” (Psalms 150:6)  Worship the God who is worthy of praise.  Amen.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.  Blessed be his glorious name forever.  May the whole earth be filled with his glory.  Amen.