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Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals Mysteries of the Kingdom of God Anabaptist Sermons by Eli Hofer The Writings of Ulrich Stadler |
Preface 24 Dear brothers and sisters, the purpose of our meeting is once again to call to mind those things in God’s Word and in the teaching of Jesus Christ, the apostles, and the prophets which will be of help to us and further our blessedness, provided we put into practice what we learn and speak of. For it will surely help no one, nor bear fruit, to talk much about God’s Word or make speeches about it without also living by it and putting it into practice. Paul teaches us: It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified (Rom. 2:13). And Christ said to his disciples: Now that you know these things, blessed are you if you do them (John 13:17). To be sure, to know these things is fine and glorious and a very good thing; it has to come first. It is a special grace if the Lord allows a person or a people to know his holy will. Baruch esteems this highly when he says: Blessed are we, Israel, since God has revealed his will to us (Baruch 4:4). Paul counts such a revelation of God’s will among the great blessings we have received through Christ. But unless we do what we know or have been taught, nothing is accomplished. Only if we do what Christ commands us will he call us his friends (John 15:14). Is there anything in the Old Testament that the heavenly Father stresses more often or impresses more emphatically upon his people, Israel, than the fulfillment of his commandments? In Deuteronomy chapters 4 through 14, Moses exhorts the people in the most faithful and decisive way to be obedient to the Law, both by powerful and glorious promises of blessings and by serious threats of horrible punishments and terrible curses. Innumerable passages can be quoted on this subject, for example: Know that the Lord your God is one God, a faithful God, who keeps his covenant and shows mercy for a thousand generations to those who love him and keep his commandments. But he repays with destruction those who defy him and show their hatred toward him. He will not be slow to requite any who hate him. Therefore, observe the commandments, statutes, and laws which I give you this day, and keep them. If you listen to them and are careful to observe them, the Lord your God will observe the sworn covenant he made with your forefathers and will keep faith with you. He will love you, bless you, and cause you to increase (Deut. 7:9-13). We need not, however, spend much time and effort to support by the Holy Scripture our assurance that it is necessary to obey God’s will. David confirms this clearly when he says to the Lord: You have laid down your precepts for men to keep them faithfully (Ps. 119:4). To this day the New Testament shows us no other door or entrance into the kingdom of heaven except through keeping God’s commands; this is the conclusion and seal of the New Testament: Blessed are those who keep his commandments so that they may have the right to the tree of life and go through the gates into the city (Rev. 22:14). Indeed, Christ says: Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father in heaven (Matt. 7:21). We can draw a definite conclusion on this matter from the story of Christ’s dialogue with the rich young man, which the evangelist reports: There was a man who came to Jesus and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to possess eternal life?” Jesus answered, “If you want to gain eternal life, keep the commandments.” “What commandments?” the young man asked. Jesus replied, “Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false witness; honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man answered, “All that I have done from my youth; what more do I need to do?” (Matt. 19:16-20) This young man has many descendants among so-called Christians and false brotherhoods, who think that if they are not harlots, adulterers, murderers, thieves, or false witnesses, that is enough and all is well. They pride themselves in being good Christians, but no! Unless they uphold and put into practice the following teaching, which Christ gave the rich young man, their claim cannot stand. The young man explained to Christ that from his youth he kept the Law devoutly and never transgressed it; he was not an adulterer, a murderer, a thief, or a liar; he did not give false witness or look down on his parents. Mark reports: Jesus looked at him and loved him, but he did not stop there. He did not say, “You have not kept the commandments,” but he led the young man to a higher school of righteousness than the Old Testament and Law required him to achieve. Neither did Christ say, “It is enough if you have kept them all.” No, rather he said to him, “You still lack one thing,” as if to say that much, indeed everything depended on it. Christ continued: The commandments of the Old Testament, which you have kept, are yet imperfect. For you have been able to keep your possessions; you have not had to surrender and deny your own will. However, since you have kept to the Old Testament so blamelessly~ go forward now and follow the New Testament, which is the way of perfection. In the New Testament it says thus: If you wish to be perfect and have eternal life, go and sell all you have and give it to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven; come and follow me (Matt. 19:21). That is, renounce all that is temporal, all avarice and possessions, and surrender yourself to Christian community with all believers. Lest anyone should think Christ had not meant this so seriously as to set it down as a command, elsewhere in the gospel he speaks of selling. He likens the kingdom of heaven to a priceless treasure in a field and to a merchant looking for a precious pearl (Matt. 13:44-45). The believers in the first apostolic church at Jerusalem understood this and acted according to these words (Acts 2, 4). Why does he speak of selling? Because, as he says in another place, one cannot serve both God and mammon (Matt. 6:24). Good seed cannot thrive among thorns and bear fruit; the thorns will choke it. If one leaves a knife in a child’s hand, he will cut himself or fall on it. No amount of caution is too great. Yet the rich young man should not have imagined that in giving away his wealth he might waste it, casting it into the mire, or down a pit. On the contrary, he would have obtained a far greater treasure in exchange for his possessions. Therefore Christ speaks of the supreme reward in the world to come, saying: You will have treasure in heaven. Certainly there can be no greater treasure than the heavenly one. It is thus a wonderful exchange when in place of one’s present earthly possessions one finds eternal treasure. For it is an inexpressibly precious treasure, one no human tongue can describe, one better than anything found in this world. But Christ adds one requirement, namely, “Come and follow me.” That is the ultimate, indispensable condition for eternal life. Thus the way we have to take is clearly shown. Whoever wants to be a disciple or follower of Jesus has to come and follow him on that way. Then he will be filled with power and life. Even if someone were to give all his possessions to the poor and let his body be burned, yet had neither love nor the obedience necessary to follow Christ, it would be of no avail. But whoever comes now, Christ will call him on the Last Day also, saying: Come unto me, blessed of my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world (Matt.25:34). When the young man heard Christ’s teaching and realized that the way to the kingdom of heaven is one of self-denial—that it meant sacrificing one’s temporal goods for love’s sake—he was sad and turned away, for he was rich and had many possessions. He was not able to overcome himself; the ties of wealth, property, and self-will held him prisoner. Though he had come joyfully to Christ, he left him sorrowfully, for it is bitter medicine for the flesh to deny itself and give up everything. Therefore the worldly, earthly-minded person holds on to his material possessions, willing to leave heaven to God. Had Christ told the young man to sell a half or even a third of his possessions and give his wealth to the poor, perhaps he would have done it. If Christ had told him to give just a few pennies to the poor now and then, keeping the rest for himself, it would have suited him even better. But Christ told him to sell everything, and that pierced him to the heart. It was as if eternal life were not worth this sacrifice to him. Christ says elsewhere: I tell you, many will struggle to get in but will not be able to, for they cling to their wealth. That is what prevented the rich merchants who were invited to the wedding feast from attending the banquet (Matt. 22:2-5). All of this shows how dangerous it is to let one’s heart become attached to mammon and possessions and to make them one’s god. People like to have it their own way, but this hinders them greatly from following Christ and finding blessedness. And even if such people are disposed to seek what is eternal, the temporal holds them back again and again, blinding and deluding them. When Jesus saw that the young man was sad and left him, he said to his disciples: Truly, I tell you, it will be very hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 19:23). It was as if he wanted to say: How hard and painful it will be for a rich man to find his way into the true community of believers and to find the true surrender befitting a genuine member of Christ’s church. How hard it will be for him to overcome himself, and what struggle it will cost him to leave his temporal things and surrender himself to true community. Thousands, therefore, give up the attempt. Of course, Christ would not have needed to use all these words, had he allowed the man to keep his possessions. Had that been the case, it would be much easier for the rich than for the poor. Someone might say, “I am not rich; I do not have much,” but Christ says clearly in the gospel that whoever loves anything more than he loves God is not worthy of Him (Matt. 10:37-38). His possessions serve him only to take him to hell. Indeed, possessions are such a hindrance to blessedness and to entrance into the heavenly kingdom that great fire and heavy punishment will come down on those who once gave up their riches but now want to claim it again, thus taking from the devout what rightly belongs to the church. Christ said: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:24). And this after he had already said: It will be hard for a rich man to come into the kingdom of heaven. Christ, therefore, deems it all but impossible and gives us to understand that the rich will be strange guests in the kingdom of heaven. For it is a narrow gate and a narrow way on which, as Christ says, few walk because it is hard on the flesh. Thus we can see that it is a profound grace from God if he grants to some the strength to give up all they have and follow the Lord in true community and surrender. Christ said: I tell you truly, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:3). Now, if we want to become like children, who neither have nor want anything for themselves, we must be ready to give up just as much as the rich man whose heart clings to his wealth; we must be prepared to lose as much as a camel would have to lose to pass through the eye of a needle. Some may think that this is hard counsel. It certainly is for those who are rich and selfish. But for those who have completely cleansed their hearts of earthly, creaturely love—who have surrendered everything to follow the Lord—it is a delight and joy. Dear brothers and sisters, even Christ’s disciples, who were already living in the poverty of Christ, were astonished at this sharp statement about the rich, as if to say, “But the whole world clings to wealth and property, and many a poor man holds as firmly to the little he has as does the rich man to his plenty.” But as there is no other way than to give up everything, only very few will enter into eternal life and the kingdom of heaven. Christ will have few followers. And he did not contradict them when they said that only a few would find the way. Christ did, however, give them a wonderful promise: What is impossible with men is possible with God, by whom all things are possible (Matt. 19:26). Indeed, though it is impossible for the flesh (which is not surprising), God will grant it to those who seek the eternal more than the temporal and the human. It is not a human achievement but God’s doing. If someone has true zeal and a godly mind, he will do it gladly and even carry heavy burdens with joy. As Christ pointed out, we must request it from God. He exhorted and encouraged the disciples to be stouthearted and trust God completely. Peter, understanding this, took heart and was encouraged, since he and his companions had already in part fulfilled this teaching of Christ by leaving everything and following him. That is why he wanted to have a thorough explanation from Christ what their reward would be. Jesus said: Truly I tell you, when the Son of Man is seated on his glorious throne in the world that is to be, you will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And whoever leaves houses, brothers and sisters, father or mother, wife or child or fields for my Name’s sake will receive it a hundredfold and inherit eternal life (Matt. 19:28-30). Here are words of assurance from Christ: What we give up in faith for his sake shall be abundantly repaid in eternity. This promise is a thousand times stronger than one with the seals of all the emperors on it. Anyone who cannot fulfill it or trust in it is beyond help or counsel. Christ first tells the young man to sell his possessions; then he speaks of leaving everything behind for his sake. That is to say, what we cannot sell must be left behind. All this teaches us that nothing on this earth should hinder or stop us from following Christ. The Lord gave the devout Job a twofold return, but to us Jesus promises a hundredfold on this earth. That happened to the apostles: they left their homes for Christ’s sake but were later taken into the homes of believers such as Lydia (Acts 16:14) and the jailer (Acts 16:34). In conclusion: Already on this earth the believers receive brothers and sisters in the Lord who are more faithful and loving than their natural brothers, sisters, and parents. But in the world beyond there will be eternal joy and glory, blessings beyond number, and a heritage that will not perish, such as human words cannot describe. Amen. Amen. Psalm 133: "For there [in brotherly community] the Lord has commanded the blessing, life for evermore." Hutterite Sermon Prefaces: #1-1:
Concerning the Great Profit and Blessing of the Word of
God (This page was last updated on 06/20/2008.) |