Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Dec 5, 2023

5 Dec 2023

Text: 2 Pet 2:1-22

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

St. Peter warns us against “false prophets” and “false teachers… even denying the Master who bought them.”  Of course, we expect as much from the world, but Peter warns us that these will come “among you.”  The only way the church can be led astray by false prophets and teachers, dear friends, is if you allow it to happen.  Such wolves in sheep’s clothing rely on your ignorance and your sensuality – and in their greed, “they will exploit you with false words.”

For the response to the false prophets and teachers is either to recognize and reject them, or be fooled by them, lured by them, and follow them. 

We often hear about people being scammed – whether in person, on the phone, or over the internet.  The scammer tells a lie in order to get access to the victim’s money.  The lie will either prey on the victim’s foolishness or his sensuality, that is, his greed.  So the scammer will either tell the victim that a relative is in need of money right now – maybe in a Mexican jail – and there is no time to waste on thinking this through and going through normal channels.  And if the victim is fooled, he will foolishly cooperate with the scammer.  Another technique is for the scammer to appeal to the person’s greed, that if he plays along with the scammer, he will get rich.  If the victim is greedy, he will greedily cooperate with the scammer.

But, dear friends, we have scammers in the church as well.  We saw it in the days of the apostles, with Simon Magus, a grifter who wanted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit.  We heirs of the Reformation are familiar with the old saying: “When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs.”  And we have all seen the way certain TV preachers have amassed vast wealth by lying about the Word of God, preaching a get-rich-quick style “gospel” that is not the gospel, but just another scam.

However, there are other false teachers who are not so obvious, dear friends.  They are not on TV.  They are not getting rich.  But they are “denying the Master who bought them” in favor of their own heresies and sensuality.  They have corrupted entire church bodies, universities, and seminaries.  They depend upon your ignorance and sensuality to be believed and followed.  They tell you that Jesus is a myth, that scripture is unreliable, that God (if he or she even exists) accepts alternate forms of sexuality, and that if you don’t agree with them, you are the one who is wrong.  St. Peter has warned us, dear friends.  But if Christians do not read his words, if they are not prepared by being well-catechized, if they are focused on their own greed and sensuality instead of a desire to know the truth – they too will be led astray.

And in time, the pupil begins to resemble his master: acting like “irrational animals,” pontificating blasphemously “about matters of which they are ignorant,” “reveling in their deceptions,” “eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin.”  For these false teachers “entice unsteady souls.  They have hearts trained in greed.” 

Dear friends, let us heed the words of St. Peter and of all of scripture.  We cannot heed them unless we read them – and in the words of the ancient prayer: “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” them.  The Word of God not only equips us to recognize and emulate “the Master who bought [us],” but also prepares us to recognize false prophets and teachers when they show up to scam us right into hell. We are not “irrational animals,” but rational image-bearers whom the Master has bought with His own blood.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.