Text: Ephesians 4:17–24; Romans 7:21–25; Luke 18:9–14
Facebook live: God’s Stewards: Saints and Sinners!
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Eph. 4:22-24
You’ve all heard the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
It’s the story of a man who is really two people: an ingenious scientist and a menacing monster that constantly lurks inside.
At one moment, the world sees the good doctor; the next, the murderer. As the plot thickens, Jekyll becomes more and more desperate in his struggle to suppress the wicked Hyde. But the point of the story is that the one man is truly both men—at the same time good and evil. It’s not the chemicals that cause the evil; it’s the man’s very nature.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde might be a graphic way of representing the third stewardship principle of our series, which we explore today:
God’s Stewards: Are Saints and Sinners.
Our synod’s stewardship task force elaborates on this principle like this:
“God’s stewards rejoice in and live out what God has declared them to be through the cross. At the same time, his stewards recognize they are sinners who fight sin and its consequences each day.”
When Adam and Eve first sinned, an integral part of them died immediately; that is, they died spiritually to God. And that death left them with a very different nature. Ever since, all their descendants are born no longer in the likeness of God—the likeness in which Adam and Eve were originally created—but rather in the likeness of Adam and Eve after their sin and spiritual transformation.
That’s death to God and his ways. And not only are all of Adam and Eve’s descendants conceived in sin and born with that nature infecting then spiritually, but it also lives in their bodies. All of this includes you and me.
That’s the problem Jesus revealed to a Pharisee named Nicodemus when he once came to Jesus under the cover of darkness:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the [Holy] Spirit is spirit”
John 3:3, 5–6
The truth is, man’s situation is impossible for him to change—or even influence in any real manner. How can any creature change its inborn character or its flesh by itself? That’s why Jesus told his disciples, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” Mt 19:26
God did do the impossible when he became one of us. Not only the miracle of the incarnation but God actually dying—on a cross. And perhaps those “impossible” seem less unlikely than the fact that he would do this for his sinful creatures—we who had so squandered the blessedness he’d given us.
We know from the Book of Genesis that God spoke creation into existence from nothing. Ps 33:9 says, “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, saying, “God . . . gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” Rom 4:17
Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “my word . . . that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” Is 55:11
Through those means, people are given faith that apprehends God in Jesus.
Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” 2 Cor 5:17
And the new spiritually reborn person, which includes you and me, is re-created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
But while God regenerates us spiritually through Baptism and his Gospel Word, our flesh remains utterly infected with sin. We are saint and sinner simultaneously.
St. Paul writes again, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” Rom 7:18
And in our second reading this morning, Paul goes on to say, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” Rom 7:21–25
You and I and all Christians are saints and sinners simultaneously.
We are both bound in sin and forgiven in Christ.
That’s why Paul exhorts us “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” Eph 4:22–24
As Christians, we live a daily life of struggle and warfare, just as Paul says of himself in the seventh chapter of his Letter to the Romans.
[Do, do Verses]
It’s our flesh that’s selfish and self-centered.
The Spirit fights against that.
Thanks be to God, then, that we are fully and completely forgiven in Christ Jesus. Christ and the Holy Spirit working through God’s Law and Gospel do that for us. Fortunately, we aren’t alone in this struggle. In Galatians chap. 5, Paul speaks to us as stewards of God saying:
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal 5:19–23
The fact that you experience a constant struggle between your two natures doesn’t indicate that you’ve fallen from grace, but rather the opposite, for it is proof that you’re living in a state of grace.
If you desire to live a more Godly life that is proof that God is working in you!
It’s crucial that we continue to fight this battle, putting to death the desires of our sinful flesh, for to stop, to no longer care or feel the struggle, means we’re sliding down a slippery slope back toward spiritual death.
Fortunately, we don’t face our life as God’s stewards alone, by our own power. For God’s Gospel Word, his Holy Absolution, and the Sacraments strengthen our faith and assure us that the victory Jesus won by his cross.
For Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing”
John 15:4–5
Similarly, in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, Paul encourages us by writing,
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” Eph 6:16–18
And in the eighth chapter of Romans, the apostle assures us:
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” Rom 8:37–39
Christian stewardship includes our whole life as saints who are simultaneously sinners.
It means being in God’s Word regularly through church and Bible study attendance so that you can be equipped to meet your day’s challenges.
It means walking according to the Holy Spirit with the truth in your mind, in your heart, and on your lips as Jesus did when in battle with Satan in the desert.
And good stewardship means having an active and prayer life.
As St. Paul says, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” 2 Cor 4:16
“God’s stewards are saints and sinners,” At the same time, his stewards recognize they are sinners who fight sin and its consequences each day.”
“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Cor 15:57
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
Sermon Rev. Rexford E. Umbenhaur III, pastor, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, California Modified
John 3:3, 5–6
The truth is, man’s situation is impossible for him to change—or even influence in any real manner. How can any creature change its inborn character or its flesh by itself? That’s why Jesus told his disciples, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” Mt 19:26
God did do the impossible when he became one of us. Not only the miracle of the incarnation but God actually dying—on a cross. And perhaps those “impossible” seem less unlikely than the fact that he would do this for his sinful creatures—we who had so squandered the blessedness he’d given us.
We know from the Book of Genesis that God spoke creation into existence from nothing. Ps 33:9 says, “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, saying, “God . . . gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” Rom 4:17
Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “my word . . . that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” Is 55:11
Through those means, people are given faith that apprehends God in Jesus.
Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” 2 Cor 5:17
And the new spiritually reborn person, which includes you and me, is re-created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
But while God regenerates us spiritually through Baptism and his Gospel Word, our flesh remains utterly infected with sin. We are saint and sinner simultaneously.
St. Paul writes again, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” Rom 7:18
And in our second reading this morning, Paul goes on to say, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” Rom 7:21–25
You and I and all Christians are saints and sinners simultaneously.
We are both bound in sin and forgiven in Christ.
That’s why Paul exhorts us “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” Eph 4:22–24
As Christians, we live a daily life of struggle and warfare, just as Paul says of himself in the seventh chapter of his Letter to the Romans.
[Do, do Verses]
It’s our flesh that’s selfish and self-centered.
The Spirit fights against that.
Thanks be to God, then, that we are fully and completely forgiven in Christ Jesus. Christ and the Holy Spirit working through God’s Law and Gospel do that for us. Fortunately, we aren’t alone in this struggle. In Galatians chap. 5, Paul speaks to us as stewards of God saying:
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal 5:19–23
The fact that you experience a constant struggle between your two natures doesn’t indicate that you’ve fallen from grace, but rather the opposite, for it is proof that you’re living in a state of grace.
If you desire to live a more Godly life that is proof that God is working in you!
It’s crucial that we continue to fight this battle, putting to death the desires of our sinful flesh, for to stop, to no longer care or feel the struggle, means we’re sliding down a slippery slope back toward spiritual death.
Fortunately, we don’t face our life as God’s stewards alone, by our own power. For God’s Gospel Word, his Holy Absolution, and the Sacraments strengthen our faith and assure us that the victory Jesus won by his cross.
For Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing”
John 15:4–5
Similarly, in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, Paul encourages us by writing,
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” Eph 6:16–18
And in the eighth chapter of Romans, the apostle assures us:
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” Rom 8:37–39
Christian stewardship includes our whole life as saints who are simultaneously sinners.
It means being in God’s Word regularly through church and Bible study attendance so that you can be equipped to meet your day’s challenges.
It means walking according to the Holy Spirit with the truth in your mind, in your heart, and on your lips as Jesus did when in battle with Satan in the desert.
And good stewardship means having an active and prayer life.
As St. Paul says, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” 2 Cor 4:16
“God’s stewards are saints and sinners,” At the same time, his stewards recognize they are sinners who fight sin and its consequences each day.”
“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Cor 15:57
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
Sermon Rev. Rexford E. Umbenhaur III, pastor, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, California Modified
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