“Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

[This sermon is an updated version of a sermon that was preached in 2021. It could as well have been preached in 2018 or 2015. Some things haven’t changed, and some have become much worse.]

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

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“And so, we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence…  So, we do not lose heart… [whatever happens] … For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…”. This is most certainly true.

And all of that is ours not because of our goodness, but because God so loved the world; despite the fact that it was our rebellion and foolishness that left the Son of God hanging naked on the cross.

How encouraging, how comforting, how uplifting are these words of Paul the apostle. Paul knows what he is talking about: he had been taken to the third heavens, he had seen the glory of God’s presence, more, He had experienced it. He also had lived through challenges, conflicts, dangers and betrayals more than we can imagine.

Paul’s words strengthen us to endure in every situation, keeping our eyes on the wonderful hope, on the certain promises that we have in Jesus; and we all need this. Especially now as we again enter that season in our church’s life.

What season? The season of divisions, suspicions, accusations, scheming, gossiping and the lack of love and grace in our relationships. The season which comes upon the LCA every three years. Synodical season.

The truth is – quoting Jesus words from today’s Gospel reading – we are house divided. I say this with sadness, because I have no pleasure in engaging in the same arguments again, and again, and again.

On the one hand, this is nothing surprising, for the Church in this age is called the Church Militant. Why? Because the true Church is always under attack, always battling to keep the life-giving Gospel free from false teachings.

But the house divided cannot stand. That is not just a proverbial truth. We witness it with our own eyes. Our house is collapsing faster than we realize. With current trends, in 10 years-time we will have less than half of our active pastors left and, I don’t know, maybe half of our members. Meanwhile… We focus on the ordination debate.

I do not know what you think about this. Many are so tired from this arguing and just want this issue to go away. You probably were hoping for that already in 2000, and then again in 2006. I was hoping that it would go away after 2015, and then again after 2018.

How much is enough? Just imagine, we spent the 2015-2018 synodical term bringing together our brightest minds, holding more than 30 presentations LCA-wide, asking the entire church for constructive feedback.

All of that in an effort to make a case from the Scripture that it is okay to abandon our current teaching and to replace it with something new. The result was… a very poor document, so poor that it wasn’t even presented to the Synod 2018. Why? For it was impossible to make that case based on the Word of God.

So, we kept praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that He would help us, would hear our prayers and would give us His answer, and now for five times the answer has been… the same. “Stay with what the Lord Jesus has commanded. He knows better.”

In the 2018 synod, after we had voted “no” for the 4^th time, I asked a lady at our table – how is this not enough, we have prayed as the church for the guidance of the Holy Spirit four times, and four times [now already 5!] the answer has been the same.  

Do you know what she said? It was almost funny. Almost. She said exactly what the Pharisees who accused Jesus said: “That was not from the Holy Spirit, that was… from Satan.” How do you even respond to such a ‘bold’ statement?!

Today I invite you to reflect on something that may help us to shed some light on where and why exactly we are so divided. This house is divided. It is not the roof. It is not the walls. It is the very foundation on which our church either stands, or falls. The cracks are in how we think about, and what we believe about the Word of God, about the Bible.

There is this idea, you probably have lately heard it not just once – “the Scripture is not clear.” That is what our Bishop Paul hinted to in one of his recent writings to the LCA. This is what I want to reflect on together with you today – is the Bible clear or not, and what would that mean very practically?

Now, this has been the teaching of the Lutheran Church since the beginning and it is the official teaching of the LCA – that the Scripture is essentially clear (TA 8.10). A few clarifications are needed. The clarity of the Scripture is not something that can be proven.

It is an article of faith. It does not mean that the Scripture is clear to everyone and all the time, and it does not mean that there are no obscure passages in the Bible. What it does mean is this – that with the help of the Holy Spirit, and with diligent studies the Scripture is clear on all the doctrines that are needed for our salvation. This is what the Lutheran Church has believed since the beginning. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Ps 119:105) Now let’s try to look at this issue from another side.

Let’s do a little thought experiment. Can you, please, tell me – what is our central and the most precious teaching? We could say – the Gospel – that we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone. Amen!

But let me ask you – are you sure that you are saved by grace alone and through faith alone? Yes? Great! But how can we be so sure? Five centuries ago, there was another debate that lasted for several decades and divided the Church.

On this very question – how are we saved? The majority were convinced that, first, the Scripture wasn’t clear and, second, that we are not saved by grace alone through faith alone. They even cursed the teaching that we believe to be the very heart of God’s message. Isn’t that interesting?!

Besides they made their case from the Bible. Just listen: “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” See! (Mt 19:16-17) Or even better: “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:14) By works! Now, how can you say that you are sure that you are saved by faith alone? What makes you so sure?

I don’t want to confuse you. The point I am making is this – if we believe that the Scripture is not clear, worse – if we spend years and decades trying to show that you can understand this or that verse differently, that this or that teaching is not clear enough, no teaching of the Scripture will stand.

Not the teaching on the Trinity. Not the teaching on Jesus’ divinity and humanity. Not the teaching that we are saved by grace alone and through faith alone. For each one of these teachings, which we today assume to be clear, the Church has fought lengthy battles, many times faithful minority standing against majority: it was so in the 4th and 5th centuries, it was so in the 16th century.

If we say that the Scripture is not clear, nothing will stand! Do not just take my word, see it for yourselves! For this is exactly what has already happened in many churches. They had stepped on that road, and the house has fallen.

Thus, for example, the ELCA have been ordaining people practicing homosexual lifestyle since 2009, and just recently proudly ordained their first transgender bishop, that person prefers to be addressed as “they or them, or their”. [“Them” was fired a year later.]

We are house divided… You can witness it in Pastors Conferences; some believe that the Word of God is very specific in matters of ordination, as is our teaching in the LCA. Others believe that you can ordain whoever you want – male, female, heterosexual, homosexual, etc. Some believe in creation; others believe in evolution. Some believe that Biblical teaching on human sexuality is beautiful and wise, others believe that it is oppressive and outdated, and we need to learn from the surrounding culture.

Some believe that the key message of the Bible is – repent and receive the forgiveness of your sins, because of what Jesus did on the cross. Others believe that the Gospel means everyone is welcomed and there is no need for repentance.

O wait, remember what Paul the apostle said? There is no other Gospel, the other gospel is no gospel at all… We are house divided. It is so sad. How can we experience genuine Christian unity while being so divided? What about making the disciples of all nations?

How could we do that? Which beliefs will we share, if we disagree on so many? So… we often keep silent. Or better, we settle on works of service, at least that won’t hurt anyone. It is not surprising that our situation is what it is. Just think – why would someone want to join a church that is so confused and doesn’t even know what she believes?

We should not grieve the Holy Spirit accusing Him that the Scripture is not clear. The Holy Spirit brings peace and truth, He does not lead us into confusion or division. That is another spirit at work. The Holy Spirit creates trust in the Word, it creates true unity in the body of Christ, and this unity enables us to love one another.

The spirit who is at work to confuse and divide us is not the Spirit of Jesus. That spirit saws discord in the family of Christ, it tricks us to look with suspicion to one another, to gossip, to blame, regardless on which side of the debate we are.

That spirit brings the worst out of us. Instead of brotherly love there is anger and bitterness, and desire to triumph over our opponents, who happen to be – our brothers and sisters. This spirit of confusion, the father of all lies, does everything to divide the house of God and he rejoices when he sees us at one another’s throat, knives out, gloves off, or worse – worn out and indifferent to what is happening.

Therefore, we can and should take great comfort in the words of Paul: “So, we do not lose heart… For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…”. That is most certainly true.

And you know, this situation too shall pass. But remember Jesus’ words: “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”.

Every sin, every failure, every error, every mistake, every false teaching, every misplaced loyalty, every offence will be forgiven to us… as soon as we turn to our gracious Lord in repentance. But let us not grieve the Holy Spirit!

I pray that the Holy Spirit would help us to take this to the heart and to always remember what is at stake. If God’s Word is not clear, we have no hope, there is no Good News. But when the Spirit of truth dwells with us, the Word of God becomes for us as a bright light shining in darkness and a great joy for our hearts.

May the Holy Spirit always help us to see one another as children of the same Father, as brothers and sisters of Jesus. He did not spare His life, but gave it up for us, for each one of you – not so that we may be confused or bitter or apathetic, but that we may wholeheartedly rejoice in the wonderful and unshakable certainty of God’s promises.

This trying season is here again. It seems this time more forcefully than ever. What shall we do? Let’s study the Scriptures like there is not tomorrow, let’s rejoice in God’s message, let’s do it as people chosen for eternal glory, slow to anger and rich in grace and forgiveness, as beloved children after the Father’s own heart, glorifying Him with everything we say and do, and He will lead us through. He will.

Amen.