28 June 2017
Text: Luke 11:33-36 (Amos 3:1-9, 4:11-12, John 2:18-25)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
We
like to name our children after heroes. Some from our own families, others from the
history of our country or the world, or simply other people in our lives whom we
admire. For Christians, it became common
to name our children after one of the saints, because our heroic brothers and
sisters in the faith are the greatest role models of all.
And
it is a shame that I’ve never met a boy named Irenaeus – the saint whom we
honor and celebrate today. St. Irenaeus
was born in the early one hundreds, and died in the year 202. His pastor was the martyr Polycarp, whose
pastor was, in turn, the apostle John. Irenaeus
heard the truth of the Gospel of Jesus from one who heard it from the last living
apostle of our Lord in the flesh.
Irenaeus
grew up to become a priest and bishop of what is now the city of Lyon in what
is today France. Bishop Irenaeus not
only lived in a day and age when confessing Christ was dangerous, he was
willing to put his faith in writing to argue against heresies. He did this because he was committed to the
truth, no matter the consequences. For
truth matters to Christians, and it matters what we believe: “No one lighting a
lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who
enter may see the light.”
We
Christians are lighst on lampstands, illuminating the truth – for we confess
with Irenaeus and all of our fellow saints and confessors that Jesus Christ is
the way, the truth, and the life.
St.
Irenaeus used his gifts as a writer and thinker and communicator to place the
truth of the Gospel on a lampstand, and never put it under a bushel for the
sake of safety or politeness or political correctness.
We
live in times where it isn’t fashionable to speak about politics or religion –
and in some cases, it is dangerous to do so. In the interest of being nice and not
offending anyone, how often we hear people assert: “We all worship the same God…
All religions teach the same thing… and it doesn’t matter what you believe as
long as you’re sincere.”
But,
dear friends, it does matter. What you
believe matters. The Lord revealed His prophetic Word to us in the Bible, not
the Koran. The Lord took human flesh in
Jesus of Nazareth, not the Buddha. The
Lord gathers His people around Word and Sacrament, not philosophy and politics.
Indeed,
it matters what we believe. It matters
that we believe that the Word of God is infallible. It matters that we believe that we were
created in God’s image, but fell through sin. It matters that we believe that God the Son
took human flesh in Jesus. It matters
that Jesus died for us on the cross, that He forgives our sins, and that He gives
us the free gift of eternal life. It
matters that He rose again from the grave.
It matters that His true church continues to send men in the train of
the apostles, who following behind bishops like Irenaeus, men who preach and
teach, baptize, absolve, and distribute the Lord’s Supper.
For
as Irenaeus’s pastor’s pastor teaches us again through His written and
inscripturated Word: “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that
antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come… Who is the liar but he
who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This
is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.”
Yes
indeed, dear friends, Irenaeus teaches what Polycarp teaches, what John teaches,
and what Jesus teaches: it matters what you believe, teach, and confess about
Jesus. We don’t get to pick and choose
what beliefs we like, what doctrines are comfortable, what supposed truths make
us feel good, as if we were “cafeteria Christians.” No indeed, we are people of the Truth, the
whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. As the prophet Amos teaches: “For the Lord God
does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.” Truth
is a matter of revelation, and that revelation is one of the marks of the
Church.
Now,
more than ever, we need Christian people: pastors and laymen, men and women,
confessors of all ages and from every background to stand firmly and unshakably
upon the truth. It may offend some, and
it may make many angry, but it will also save many from hell.
Indeed,
it is fitting that the church throughout the world honors St. Irenaeus on this
date. For he is a hero to be admired, a
Christian brother to be embraced, a bishop to be revered, a preacher to be
heard, and a Christian who teaches us by word and deed to let our light shine
before men and glorify our Father in heaven – for the sake of the truth, for
the sake of the lost, for the sake of Christ.
Amen.
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