We preach the Gospel that you may see Christ.

 

Sermon for Transfiguration, February 11, 2024

Grace, mercy, and peace to all of you who are in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6  ³But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing.  ⁴In the case of those people, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image.  ⁵Indeed, we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  ⁶For the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” is the same one who made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. (EHV)

We preach the Gospel that you may see Christ.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Our first verse refers back to Paul’s previous reference to Moses coming down from the mountain after meeting with God to receive the Law.  The Israelites were terrified at seeing God’s glory reflected off Moses’ face, so he covered himself with a veil until that shining countenance had faded away.  However, the Israelite people’s faith became dulled through time as though still shrouded with a veil, for they failed to see Christ in the Old Testament prophecies and worship.  Therefore, Paul helps us to understand why he preached the message God had sent him to proclaim.  In summary, Paul would say, We preach the Gospel that you may see Christ.

Before Paul wrote this letter, some of his opponents, apparently, accused Paul of preaching a message shrouded in confusion.  In response, Paul shows that the confusion was caused solely by the blindness of those walking in the darkness of pagan unbelief.  Naturally, the source of the confusion is the devil who at all times wants nothing more than to keep people from believing in Jesus.

There truly is nothing confusing or incoherent about the Gospel of our Lord.  Jesus came into this world to save sinners.  He came into this world for the purpose of reconciling all mankind with God.  Yet, even though Jesus accomplished His mission with His holy life and sacrifice on the cross, many people still do not believe.  To those of us who walk confidently in Christian faith, this can seem almost incomprehensible, so Paul explains, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing.”

Indeed, some might ask, so who is perishing?  The honest answer is that we all began in that condition.  No one is conceived believing.  We are born on a pathway to death.  However, we have the Holy Spirit’s assurance that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)  Our natural condition was unbelief deserving condemnation, but our God sends His messengers out into the world so that many might hear, believe, and be saved.

Of course, we recognize that even though the Gospel has been preached for nearly two thousand years, many still do not know Christ as their Savior.  Why?  Because, frankly, the devil, the world, and our own flesh fight against faith in Jesus.  None of those things want us to believe.  Again, Paul explains, “In the case of those people, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image.” 

The devil will do anything he can to interfere with people hearing the Gospel.  We can honestly say he works right here in congregations like ours.  All he has to do is trick people into thinking they don’t need to come hear God’s Word.  Or, he can whisper that someone in the Church has hurt us so why should we let them do that again.  Or, the devil will gladly tempt us with the things of this world.  Why waste time in church when there is money to be made?  Or needed sleep?  Or regular weekend vacations?  Or kids’ sports where we chase dreams of someday gaining college scholarships?

Of course, where the devil is truly at work is in the world around us.  Maybe it is in the politics of our land.  Perhaps, he can get us to doubt God’s authority if he manipulates us into thinking God’s law is too oppressive, too harsh, too demanding.  Satan tempts us to think, why shouldn’t we be able to do what we want, any time we want, to anyone we want?  It starts out so simple and minor, but as soon as consciences are dulled, people willingly accept any lie the devil wants to use to keep them from knowing Christ.

So many things can keep our spiritual eyesight blinded to the reality of Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and Satan.  For the person who was born outside of the Christian faith, the devil barely needs to raise a finger.  He already has them right there in his evil claws where he wants them.  We see this so much in our world where even the reality of God is denied, or mocked, and the whole universe is imagined to have created itself.  But, God doesn’t want anyone to be lost.  Therefore, through the preaching of men like St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. John, the Lord’s Gospel shines out on the world as a beacon of hope.  Their testimony about what Jesus did for you and me opens our eyes both to the truth of our sin, but especially, to see the glory of God in Christ Jesus.

You see, it is to God’s glory that Jesus came into this world to save sinners.  It is to God’s glory that Jesus, God’s own dear Son, became the sacrificial Lamb whose blood paid the eternal price to set all sinners free from the devil’s deceptions and chains.  It is to God’s glory that by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel melts away the dark film that covers a sinner’s eyes as the Word of God restores vision to the spiritually blind.  Therefore, We preach the Gospel that you may see Christ.

Because the only way anyone can believe and be saved is through hearing the message of Christ Jesus, Paul says, “Indeed, we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”  How many preachers have done their preaching just for the money, or the fame, or perhaps for the hope of an easy life?  I don’t know the answer, but certainly Paul wasn’t one of those type.  Paul and his fellow apostles suffered tremendously in their service of the Gospel.  Indeed, they served their Lord out of gladness for the salvation granted them through faith in Christ Jesus, yet there was something more to their service.

Those apostles and evangelists didn’t go out into the world risking life and limb to serve themselves.  Rather, they gladly served their Lord with the hope of serving the sinners they met throughout the world.  Paul said they preached “ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”  This is the hope and commitment of every faithful pastor, that we do our work, not for ourselves, but so that others may know and enjoy the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting that is promised to us who believe in Jesus.  This is also why faithful parents diligently lead their children to Jesus, why they make sure the Gospel is heard in their homes, as well as their church, and demonstrated also in their personal lives.  It is out of love for their children that parents do this, why pastors and teachers do so as well.  Again, We all preach the Gospel that you may see Christ.

Now, why does it take the Gospel to transform a sinner into a saint?  Because the Gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)  Here, Paul wrote, “For the God who said, ‘Light will shine out of darkness,’ is the same one who made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.”  Just as God brought light into existence at the creation by the power of His Word, so He brings faith to sinners by the power of His Gospel.  The Gospel lifts the veil that held sinners in the darkness of unbelief.  It rescues us out of the darkness of damnation that is the devil’s fate and brings us into the eternal light and life of Christ Jesus who is the Son of God and Ruler of heaven and earth.

Dear friends, you and I were rescued from the darkness of sin and death through the hearing of the Gospel sometime in our lives.  For most of us, it began when we were little babies as the Gospel was poured over us along with the water of Baptism.  Then, walking in the light of Christ, our parents led us to know Jesus and see His glory.  What do we want to continue to do as faithful Christians?  St, John wrote in his first letter to the Church, “If we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)  In other words, let us strive to avoid the darkness of the devil’s deceptions and keep the Good News of all Jesus has done for us shining in our lives and on our hearts, hearing again and again that we are forgiven for Jesus’s sake.

Looking around our world, today, it is easy to see how the devil’s darkness causes much trouble, both for us, but especially, for the world of those who do not yet know Jesus.  Frankly, on the last day, many will be found still wandering in darkness because they desire nothing better.  Still, as long as we are able, let us commit ourselves to working and walking with those like St. Paul, who willingly set aside worldly things so that the Gospel could be proclaimed both at home and across the far reaches of the planet.  Let us love others as Christ loved us and willingly do what we are given to do, so that we too can boldly say, We preach the Gospel that you may see Christ.  Amen.

For the LORD, our God, is good.  His mercy endures forever.  His faithfulness continues through all generations.  Amen.