Redeemer Lutheran Church

Dear friends in Christ,

I. Man of Zeal
Consider the man of zeal and the credentials he carries with him: This is the sort of resume that comes along only once in a great while. His knowledge of doctrine is extensive. Rather than content himself with the B.A. of his peers, he’s gone for the Ph.D. just because he wants to.

His pedigree shows that he is no Johnny-come-lately, but he’s been training from his youth. As far as aptitude goes, he’s hardly one-dimensional: Everyone agrees that he’s the whole package. As far as respect, everyone knows who he is and what he does; and people rarely get in his way. As far as zeal, look at both the nobility and the self-motivation: This man earnestly desires to devote himself to the service of God. Whatever it takes, from his deep heart for ministry he zealously and sincerely intends to live his life for the Lord. This is the kind of guy that you want serving on a church committee or two; maybe all of them.

Behold the man of zeal and his credentials; and now behold his plan. This is his rationale: “What I have been taught to believe must be defended at all costs, for what I believe is sacred. There are people out there who disagree with what I believe, and so they urge others to turn away. Such people endanger what I believe and offend by what they do. Out of love for God, and in an earnest desire to serve Him, I will therefore do my best to hurt them, persecute them, imprison them, even kill them.

“Out of my love for God, and in an earnest desire to serve Him, I will do my best to hurt Christians, persecute Christians, imprison Christians, even kill Christians.” Suddenly, getting this man to serve on a church council isn’t such a good idea, for we refer to Saul the persecutor. All that we have said is true about him: He has extensive knowledge, an excellent pedigree, remarkable aptitude, and widespread respect. Furthermore, he has unparalleled zeal, an unmatched desire to serve God.

But he lacks one thing: Faith. He rejects Jesus, the Son of God who has died on the cross to redeem him. No matter how much he wants to follow God-and no matter how much he thinks he is following God-he is actually doing his best to thwart God’s plan of salvation. He is not doing what the Lord desires. He is doing what he wants the Lord to want him to do.

Look how dangerous it becomes, this zeal apart from faith. Sincerely desiring to serve God, Saul seeks to destroy the Church.

II. Man of Grace
Behold now the Man of grace, and the credentials He carries with Him. As far as knowledge, He is all-knowing. As far as pedigree, He is the Son of God. As far as aptitude, He is all-powerful. As far as respect, He is worshiped even by cherubim and seraphim. So far, you can’t do any better than that. As far as zeal, He is zealous-but the zeal is harnessed by faith. The Man of grace zealously desires to do His Father’s will. Time and time again in Scripture, the Man of grace declares that He is not there by His own volition; He is there because He has been sent there by His Father. The all-powerful Son of God comes in humility; rather than come to promote Himself, He simply goes about fulfilling His Father’s will in service to sinful man.

Behold the Man of grace and His credentials; and now behold His plan. Sent by the Father, He takes on human flesh-there is no glory in that for Him, but humiliation. Called by the Father, He seeks the salvation of sinful man; and He is rejected by zealous men who sincerely believe it best to crucify Him. He dies on that cross-not because such zeal defeats Him, but because He desires their salvation. He dies so that they might not rely on zeal, but believe in Him by faith.
Jesus Christ, Man of grace (and more than man!) dies on the cross for the sins of the world-for all.

Therefore, He dies for the sins of Saul the persecutor, man of zeal. Risen from the dead, Jesus still desires the salvation of Saul: So He knocks Saul to the ground on the way to Damascus, then sends Pastor Ananias to baptize him. Saul the persecutor is made Paul the Christian. This is not by his own choosing or zeal. Rather, he declares:

“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.”

Saul the persecutor is made Paul the Christian by the work of Jesus. Paul the Christian is made Paul the Apostle-not because he decides that it is his calling, but because the Lord calls him to be an apostle. Thus he goes because Jesus sends him and preaches the Gospel which Jesus has given him to preach.

As Paul continues on his missionary journeys, it is quite likely that a lot of the zeal wears off over time: He is beaten, shipwrecked, snakebit, stoned and imprisoned, all of which have a way of blunting enthusiasm. Does Paul have regrets? Hear him also from Philippians 3:4-11:

“If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I
may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

All glory be to Jesus, the One who saves and the One who sends.

III. People of God
It is always wise for the people of God to be wary of zeal, for it is often an opponent of faith. Consider last Sunday’s Gospel, where Jesus praises Peter for declaring Him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. Just a few verses later, when Jesus predicts His death by crucifixion; and Peter quickly reacts, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” How does Jesus reply to Peter? “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Mt. 16:23).

Now, no one doubts that Peter is sincere in his concern for the Lord’s well-being. No one questions that Peter zealously wants to defend Jesus from harm. But in such sincerity and zeal, Peter attempts to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. In other words: Peter is doing his best to thwart God’s plan for your salvation.

Beware of zeal, for it is often an opponent to faith. The examples in Scripture are many, as are the applications in our present day. This is why congregations rightly look with suspicion at a pastor who promotes himself, seeking to be called as their pastor. It is also why we regard with great skepticism the traveling evangelist who waltzes into town uninvited, promising to set local churches on fire with his powerful, emotionally-charged zealous message; and who then takes off for the next town, failing to care for those to whom he has preached.

It is why, as well, that while credentials are nice, a doctorate in theology isn’t necessarily all that meaningful; if one has no faith, he will not teach the faith but will teach something instead of and against it. Tons of false teachers have doctorates; it is no mark of godliness or orthodoxy.

It is also why, contrary to the approach of many, we don’t spend time challenging our youth to “do something for Jesus,” nor do we attempt to psyche them up until they are zealous to serve the Lord. Rather, we tell them what Christ has done for them, so that He might bless them and use them as His instruments wherever they find themselves.

In our world today, sincerity is declared the only necessary qualification and zeal is championed as a prize virtue. Regarding sincerity: Sincerity appears to be more important than truth and error, right and wrong. One time I read an excerpt from a teacher’s guide to teaching elementary math. It declared that teachers shouldn’t be so concerned as to whether or not the student finds the right answer. What matters is that the student can give a good explanation for the answer they have given, whether or not the answer is actually correct. In other words, the correct answer doesn’t matter; what matters is that the student sincerely believes that his answer is correct. So here’s a happy thought: These students will be building bridges, designing skyscrapers and handling your retirement funds in just a few years’ time. But don’t worry: They mean well.

Now, if sincerity rules in an objective, scientific field like math, imagine the havoc it creates when it comes to doctrine. We are not at all safe when the spirit of the times declares, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe it.” If you sincerely believe in truth, you’ll be saved. If you sincerely believe in error, you’ll be saved as well. Therefore, it is not truth that saves you, but your work of sincerity.

Beware of making sincerity a god, and remember this: Heretics don’t start out intending to be heretics. In other words, no one ever declares to others, “Follow me, because what I teach is absolutely false!” False teachers sincerely believe that what they teach is true. No church has ever been formed to proclaim, “We teach error and will lead you to your condemnation;” churches that practice error do so because they sincerely believe the error to be correct and the truth to be in error. Beware of sincerity becoming a god.

Regarding zeal: Unfettered zeal is a virtue of the day as the world teaches us to follow whatever we desire. It emerges into the open with such statements as, “If I have the ability and the heart to do something, then I have the right to do it.” Or, dressed up in “holy” language to sound more Christian, “If I perceive I have a ‘spiritual gift,’ then I have the right to exercise it; and no one dare stand in my way.” So zeal leads quickly to talk about rights and power.

But this is not the way of the Lord. The way of the Lord is not one of rights, but of servanthood. It is not one of self-promotion, but of self-denial. It is not a way of putting oneself forward, but of being sent. It is not a way of finding glory for oneself, but of glorifying Jesus Christ, who has died for the sins of the world.

So what is the lesson for us today? Let us hear and learn from the wisdom God grants to St. Paul. Do not make zeal or sincerity into a false god, for they do not save. The truth of the Gospel, which our Lord freely proclaims to us-that is our salvation.

For this is true: The Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed you from sin, death and the devil. He has purchased you with His own blood, by His death on the cross. He has called you to be His own, sanctifying and separating you from the world in the waters of Holy Baptism. He has revealed Himself to you by His Word, that you might know of His salvation for you. He gives to you His own body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, serving you even now so that you might be forgiven.

This is salvation — the objective, absolutely true work of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not our good intentions that save us, nor does our sincerity do anything for our redemption. Zeal has no way to deliver us, either. Christ does, for He is our deliverance-this is absolutely sure.

Does this mean that there is no place for sincerity or zeal-should we then endeavor to be insincere and apathetic? Certainly not. But rather than believe that our sincerity and zeal are our salvation, our sincerity and zeal results from our salvation. Because we have been saved by Christ, we zealously preserve His truth and proclaim it to all who will hear. Because Christ has redeemed us, we sincerely defend His Gospel and declare it to the nations. Sincerity and zeal apart from the faith are worthless; when we are sincere and zealous apart from the Word, we repent. Sanctified by the Gospel, sincerity and zeal are God-given fruits.

Rejoice, dear friends: The Lord has declared this Gospel to all nations, and so He has declared it to you. He is true, He is faithful, and He absolves you this day. Therefore, you are forgiven for all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.