"Cant Can't, Candor Can"

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Dear Fellow Christians:

The title of the sermon is not original. I read it many years ago and it stuck with me for three reasons. First, because it was rather clever. Second, because it represented a profound truth. Third, because it tended to do exactly what it condemned.

The title has to do with how we communicate, especially how we communicate the gospel. "Cant" as the word is used here, refers to communication that is either highly specialized and technical, or wording that is insincere, yet pious sounding. In both cases it refers to language that generally fails to communicate anything worthwhile. It is in that sense that "cant can't" – communicate, or get the job done.

Candor, on the other hand, is just the opposite. It is openness and clarity, and therefore always communicates.

The point is that although we live in an age of information, our society is also marred by a profound lack of clear communication. This is nowhere more evident than in the Christian churches of our day. There we find that church leaders have abandoned candor in favor of cant; that is, they have learned to marginalize and cloud the truth with words that actually say very little.

The devil could not be more pleased, for he knows full well that souls are not saved by confusion and misunderstanding, but by the sure and certain truths of God's Holy Word.

We turn again to that Word of God this morning, and there find the clarity and precision that we would expect to find. Our text for this morning is found in Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, the First Chapter:

1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. ¹² Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. ¹⁶ Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. ¹⁸ ¶ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

These are the very words of our God. That our God would use these words to clearly communicate his truths to our hearts and minds this morning, so we pray: “Sanctify us through your truth, O Lord. Your word is truth.” Amen.

While it is certainly altogether true that God gives different gifts to his children, that fact should never be used to justify sinful or unethical conduct. There is almost always a time and a place. I know some folks, for example, who are extraordinarily good at gently letting you know that you have done something amiss. One soul in particular is so very polished at this that he can dress me up one side and down the other, and yet he uses such flowery and gentle verbiage that when he is done I generally don't even realize that I've been reprimanded. That is both a skill and an art form, and the world would undoubtedly be a much better place if we could all learn to deal with our fellow human beings in such kind and gentle fashion.

That said, that is certainly not the sort of guy I want on the phone if I have to, oh, say, defuse a ticking nuclear bomb with only a minute or so left on the timer. At times like that I don't want to hear, "I was just thinking – and this is just my opinion, take it for what it is worth – that it might be advisable, at this particular point in time – given all of the circumstances as we have now come to know them – if one were to…"

I want someone who says, "Unscrew the panel on the front of the bomb and then cut the blue wire."

On the other hand, if there has been a sudden death in the family, you want the gentle guy who says, "Come, please, and sit down. Unfortunately I have some very difficult news that I have to share with you" rather than the guys who blurts out, "Hey, guess what. Your Uncle just died."

Most of us know instinctively which situations in life call for which approach. The problem that we address this morning is that we live in a world where tact has become more important than truth, especially in those critical spiritual areas where only the truth is acceptable.

Our text for this morning advocates agreement in the area of doctrine and practice. In plain English, that means that our God wants all of us to believe the same thing and to teach to others that same doctrine on which we have all agreed. Apparently that wasn't happening in Corinth at the time Paul wrote this letter. When it came to doctrine, they were all teaching something different, but they were defending their lack of harmony by claiming harmony with one of several different religious leaders – Paul, Apollos, Cephas, even Christ Jesus himself.

What they were saying amounted to nothing more than "cant" – pious sounding claims that were really nothing more than feeble attempts to justify false doctrines. Paul cuts to the heart of the issue when he asks, "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" His point was that Paul, Apollos, and Cephas all taught the same thing; and their doctrine all found its source and full agreement in Jesus Christ. There could therefore be no division among them if they were really following these men, for they all found perfect agreement in all that Christ taught.

We have exactly the same problems today. "I am Catholic" or "I am Methodist" or "I am Baptist" should all mean exactly the same thing – "I am a Christian, and I teach and believe everything (and only those things) that Christ himself taught." But that is not really what they mean, is it? They mean that they believe what they want to believe, and justify it on the basis that there are others who believe the same thing. Most often their position has nothing whatsoever to do with what Jesus himself taught. A man cannot rightly claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ and still believe that he can be saved by good works. Not when Jesus himself proclaimed that "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." A man cannot rightly claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ and still believe that the elements in Holy Communion simply represent or symbolize Christ's body and blood. Not when Jesus himself said "This is my body… this is my blood." A man cannot rightly claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ and still believe that Christians essentially save themselves by making their decision to accept Jesus. Not when Jesus himself said that Christians "are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

For Christians today to believe that there is anything even close to the sort of agreement that Paul advocated in our text, they have to serve up a big old helping of cant, while candor has to be as scarce as yeast at a Jewish Passover. In other words, they have to use language that sounds all devout and religious, but that really only disguises the discord and falsehood that truly exists.

The problem, of course, is that Jesus Christ is diminished whenever and wherever doctrinal division exists. If man is saved, even in part, by his own actions – rather than through faith in the actions of Jesus Christ – then that same Lord Jesus obviously becomes less important, if not altogether unimportant. If man is saved only when he makes the decision to be saved, again, Jesus and what he accomplished for us becomes that much less critical.

The Bible never presents us with ambiguity. There we will find not even a hint that we are saved by anything other than by God's underserved love through faith in Jesus Christ. And that doesn't mean faith that Jesus was a good guy and a good example that we now need to follow. It means trusting that the perfect life that Jesus led, which he then sacrificed in an innocent death on Calvary's cross, represents the sum total payment for all sins of all mankind. Trusting in Jesus means that we simply point to him on Judgment Day and say, "I bring nothing but sin and failure, but I'm with him."

This, fellow Christians, is the gospel. It is the good news of sins forgiven in Jesus Christ. Here, again, there is no cant, no indecisiveness or confusion. In fact nothing on earth could ever be more clear or more simple. You want to go to heaven? "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."

Yet while the gospel is clear and simple, life in a sinful world is not. We have enemies that not only surround us; we have an enemy that lives within us. That old Adam within us still wholeheartedly supports cant. That sinful part of each of us remains in league with the devil himself, and as an ally of Satan our sinful flesh forever longs to compromise with evil, and recognizes cant as the best way to accomplish that goal.

We need some practical examples for clarity. We live, for example, in an age of vanishing modesty and ever increasing sensuality, and it has found its way into countless Christian homes. Yet no one seems to want to speak the truth with any sort of clarity. The plain fact is immodest clothing causes fellow human beings to sin; and sin, if allowed to fester in the human soul, will eventually destroy saving faith and condemn that human being to an eternity in hell. Parents who want their sons and daughters to be "hot" in the eyes of the world would be well served by using more precise language, such as, "I want others to think sexual thoughts about my children." That's exactly what "hot" means in today's usage, and parents simply enable sin whenever and wherever they allow God's lambs to play that deadly game.

Plain language means that we no longer call it "colorful" when we use foul, unchristian language. We call it sin. It means that we don't beat around the bush when we encounter sin and immorality in our day to day lives – both in ourselves and in others. We condemn it in a spirit of gentleness, love, and humility – but we do so clearly.

The bottom line is that we are to employ perfect clarity in our presentation and application of both law and gospel. In this area in particular, cant can't, candor can. In fact it is only in first clearly identifying sin, together with the resulting condemnation of the law, that the gospel – no matter how clearly presented – will do any good at all. This is our goal, and we are confident that God the Holy Spirit will do all of the truly heavy lifting. What he expects from us is clarity.

These are indeed immoral and desperate times, and they call for desperate measures from God's people. Thanks be to God that he has already supplied the most desperate and radical solution to our sin problem. He sacrificed his own Son to wash us spotless. The road to heaven has been cleared. Clearly point it out to others. Amen.

Scripture Readings and Sunday Bulletin for January 27, 2008

^NKJ Isaiah 9:1-7 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first He lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles. ² The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. ³ You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. ⁴ For You have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. ⁵ For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle, and garments rolled in blood, will be used for burning and fuel of fire. ⁶ For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

^NKJ Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ¹⁵ "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: ¹⁶ The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned." ¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. ²⁴ Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. ²⁵ Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

^NKJ 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. ¹² Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. ¹⁶ Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. ¹⁸ ¶ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

ST. PAUL EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

2510 E. Divide Ave.

Bismarck, ND 58501 (701) 223-4885 Cell: (701) 425-5483

Website – www.bismarcklutheran.org

Mr. Mark Johnson, President (222-1855) Mrs. Eileen McEnroe, Organist

Michael Roehl, Pastor

The Third Sunday after Epiphany – January 27, 2008

The Opening Prayer by the Pastor

The Opening Hymn ‑#705- (Brown Hymnal)

"Come, O Long-Expected Jesus"

The Order of Service – Supplement page 12ff. (Brown Hymnal)

The Scripture Lessons: (Printed on the back page of this bulletin)

The First Lesson: (Isaiah 9:1-7) We read the Old Testament not just as an assortment of writings about someone else at some other time. We read it with the understanding that the prophecies found there refer to Christ Jesus, Who is also our Savior. The good things that are there promised are therefore promised to believers of all ages, including Christians in our own day.

Psalm 51 (Supplement page 31) (Brown Hymnal)

The Gospel Lesson: (Matthew 14:12-17, 23-25) Our belief that the words of the Old Testament refer to Jesus Christ, and therefore have relevance to all Christians of every age is often contested and denied – especially by the Jews. They, of course, acknowledge no reference to Jesus in the Old Testament. We therefore find it most helpful that the Bible itself confirms our belief concerning Old Testament prophecies, as also our New Testament reading verifies that the prophecy in our Old Testament reading was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The Confession of Faith ‑

The Apostolic Creed – page 15. (Brown Hymnal)

The Pre-Sermon Hymn ‑#767 (Brown Hymnal)

"Church of God, Elect and Glorious"

The Sermon – Text: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 (Printed on the back page)

"Cant Can't, Candor Can"

The Offertory – (Supplement page 16 insert)

The Post-Sermon Hymn ‑#769 (Brown Hymnal)

"Lift High the Cross"

The Offering Hymn ‑#788- (Verses 1 & 3) (Brown Hymnal)

"Lord You Love the Cheerful Giver"

The Prayers of the Day followed by the Lord's Prayer

The Benediction

The Closing Hymn -#784- (Verses 1 & 3) (Brown Hymnal)

"Lord Take My Hand and Lead Me"

Silent Prayer

Attendance ‑ Last Sunday (40) 2008 Average (48)

This Week at St. Paul:

Today -10:00 a.m. – Worship Service

-11:00 a.m. – Fellowship Hour

Wednesday -6:00 p.m. – Confirmation & Bible History

-7:00 p.m. – Midweek Bible Study

Next Sunday -8:45 a.m. – Sunday School and Bible Class

-10:00 a.m. – Worship Service w/ Holy Communion

-11:15 a.m. – Fellowship Hour

Church Council Notes – The Church Council met on January 22. Full minutes are available from Sec. Fred Adams. Treasurer Weiss reported a checkbook balance of $1,559. It was also noted that the last two offerings in January were extremely low. Trustee Coordinator Baumgarten constructed a counter-weight for the snow blower that solved the traction problem. A list of past memorial has been collected and will be entered by Gary Miller into the new Memorial Book. The Council discussed the need and possible design of a laminated order of service folder and fellowship hall acoustic problems. An automatic (electronic) Church Contribution plan is being investigated for those who might find such a system helpful. The plan will be discussed with the congregation after a Sunday church service. Keith Mantz and Randy Johnson have been asked to serve as this year's Audit Committee. A request from Mapleton congregation to share in the cost of basketball jerseys for the annual grade school tournament was discussed. It was decided to solicit donations from individual families, rather than spend money from the General Fund. St. Paul will try to raise $125 for our share of the cost. The Council felt it wise, at this point, to make no changes regarding our reserve CEF notes. The next Council meeting is scheduled for February 19^th at 7 p.m.

Family Game Night – Thanks to those who organized an enjoyable evening. Another Family Game Night is scheduled for the end of February.

Basketball Jerseys – Those interested in helping to pay for basketball jerseys that will be used by our young people in the annual Eau Claire tournament are encouraged to do so by check or envelope in the weekly offering. Please mark your contribution "BB Jerseys" to make sure the money is distributed according to your wishes. The jerseys will be stored in Mapleton and used each year for the North Dakota team.