January 7, 2025
Dear Friends,
First, come along this week for Family Night starting at 5:30 pm on Wednesday. Lots of pizza and a lesson on Samuel for the kiddos!
Then, a word about church discipline.
We poor sinners are a wreck when it comes to thinking about sin. We get it all wrong, all the time. On the one hand, we tend to be busy with accusations when God is busy with mercy. On the other hand, we tend to downplay sin when God is warning against sin.
The problem is when we don’t say what God says, and when we instead say what we think or feel. The problem is made worse when we forget whose side we’re on.
It’s the devil who likes to downplay sin, to treat it as though it’s no big deal. It’s also the devil who likes to make accusations (that’s what Satan means – the accuser) in order to bring someone under judgment, to get someone in trouble.
The church is not here to do either of those things. The church is on God’s side, and God’s goal is always mercy, forgiveness, and salvation. That means that both God and the church are on the side of the sinner.
Imagine a courtroom, with any one of us poor sinners in the defense seat. God is the judge, and the devil is the prosecuting attorney. The devil wants a conviction. The devil wants us thrown into hell. The church is there with Jesus on the side of the defense.
Notice first that there are lots of poor defenses that won’t hold water. “It wasn’t so bad.” “Everyone sins.” “I meant well and I tried hard.” None of those defenses stick. There’s too much evidence, and the Law is too clear.
But there is one hope, one bit of testimony that changes everything. And that testimony is the blood of Jesus. That’s the sinner’s defense. No excuses, no explanations, just guilt covered by grace.
The church is charged with making sure that every poor sinner has access to that testimony, to the evidence that tips the scales, and to the freedom, forgiveness, and life that come through Jesus’s sacrifice.
That is why the church practices discipline. When someone is called to repentance or kept from Communion or excommunicated from the church, it is not a punishment. It’s never an effort to get someone in trouble or bring someone under judgment or obtain a guilty verdict. That’s what the devil does. Rather, it’s a hopeful attempt to save someone from the trouble they’re already in, the judgment they’re already under, and the guilt that they’re already bearing.
Without repentance, a person sits defenseless–without the blood of Christ to speak for them. When the church practices discipline, it is pleading with such a person to repent and be forgiven so that the blood of Jesus can save them from judgment! The goal is not that they would somehow make up for what they’ve done. No, the goal is that they would turn from their sin, receive forgiveness, and live!
The church is on God’s side and on the side of the sinner. It’s the devil who wants a conviction and judgment and eternal guilt. When the church follows God’s instructions in the Scriptures, she is doing everything in her power to show God’s love to sinners.
Matthew 18:15–17
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
1 Corinthians 5:4–5
When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man [who is unrepentant] to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
1 Timothy 5:20
As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.
Luke 15:10
I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Wednesday, January 8
9:30 am – Chapel
10:00 am – Bible Study
5:30 pm – Family Night
7:00 pm – Vespers
Sunday, January 12
9:00 am – Divine Service
10:30 am – Sunday School/Bible Study
11:30 am – Voters’ Meeting