Sermon -- Last Sunday of the Church Year (November 24, 2024)

JUDE 1:20-25

KEEP YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD.

In the name + of Jesus.

     When St. Paul wrote his letters, he usually sent them to specific congregations.  Those letters are named after the congregations to which they were sent—to the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, and so forth.  St. Jude did not.  He wrote to a general group of Christians.  He defined his audience as “those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:1).  Since this letter was preserved, copied, and read in public worship, it is intended by the Lord for his whole Church to read and to ponder.  While he was not specific about his original audience, St. Jude was specific about the intent of his letter.  He wrote, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).  

     One of the reasons for St. Jude’s plea was because of the false teachings which afflicted the Church.  While we are not surprised that the Church is attacked by unbelievers from outside the church, St. Jude warned of threats from within.  This included false teachers who promoted teachings contrary to God’s clear words, and it included the people in the church who were persuaded by these false teachings.  Both the false teachers and their followers produced rifts in the church.  They still do.  While false teachings and divisions in the church are sad, they are nothing new.  Therefore, St. Jude urges all Christians, “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 1:21).

     You will notice that St. Jude speaks of “you” in the plural.  We are all to be engaged in keeping ourselves in God’s love.  We will all be judged on the Last Day individually, but we are not isolated.  We are all joined together and rightly have concerns for each other.  St. Paul wrote about the Christian Church: “Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body … and each of us is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).  When one part of your body suffers, your whole body suffers.  Think about what happens when you are trying to make your way across a dark room and your little toe finds the leg of a coffee table.  Your whole body knows the pain.  Your mouth would not say, “I’m sure glad I’m not that little toe.  I’ll bet that hurt!”  No, all of you hurts.  We are to view each other with the same kind of connection. 

     If we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, then we all have a vested interest in one another.  When we notice that someone has been absent from God’s house or when someone is being ensnared in a particular sin, how can we sit idly by as if it has nothing to do with us?  What if you are the one who is drifting away or are embracing a sin?  Do you think it has no effect on others?  If you embrace sins, doesn’t that embolden others to do the same?  Would you expect your fellow Christians to mind their own business while you exchange your salvation for sins?  If we love one another, we will seek the eternal good of one another.  We all share a connection which is found in Jesus Christ.  We are all redeemed sinners.  We are all beloved by God.  We are all set apart as God’s people for godly living.  And we all share the same hope—life everlasting thanks to Jesus Christ.  So, St. Jude urges us all: “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 1:21).

     Even before St. Jude urges us to keep ourselves in the love of God, he wrote how that is done.  “Beloved, (build) yourselves up in your most holy faith and (pray) in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20).  And how are we built up in the faith?  It is actually the Lord who builds you up in the faith.  Just as the Lord created faith in you and brought you into his kingdom through his word, so also it is the Lord who sustains you in the faith through that word.  This morning Cassie was baptized.  The Holy Spirit was at work in the water with the word to create faith in her heart and to mark her as his very own.  When God’s word is preached and taught, the Holy Spirit enlightens you to see God’s goodness and the truth of his word.  He increases your delight in that word so that you continue in it and strive to live according to it.  When you partake in Holy Communion, the Holy Spirit is at work to strengthen and keep you in the true faith unto life everlasting.  If you’ve ever wondered why pastors make such a big deal out of church attendance, it is because this is where God’s people meet to hear the word and to receive the sacraments.  This is where God builds us up in the most holy faith.  To keep yourselves in the love of God, you must let God do the work which strengthens and keeps you in the one true faith. 

     Keep yourselves in the love of God, which is to say, keep yourselves in God’s word and pray to the Lord for strength and wisdom and courage.  You need God’s strength to withstand temptations.  You need courage from God to speak and act boldly according to God’s word.  And you need the wisdom of God to discern what is true from what is false and what is good from what is evil.  By persisting in God’s word, the Holy Spirit will provide the strength, wisdom, and courage you need.  This is how God will keep you in his love and preserve your faith into eternal life.

     Since we are joined together for each other’s benefit, St. Jude tells us how we watch over one another.  First he says, “have mercy on those who doubt” (Jude 1:22).  It is common for Christians to have doubts.  It could be about your place in the kingdom of God, especially if you have a checkered past.  It could be about a teaching of God’s word.  It could be about the way God lets things go on in this world.  We all have had moments when we have struggled.  Now, if people are struggling in their faith, they don’t need to be yelled at.  They need mercy and encouragement.  Think of the mercy that Jesus showed to his own disciples.  Several times Jesus expressed his frustration with them: “You of little faith.  Do you still not understand?”  But Jesus did not fire them.  He continued to patiently teach, encourage them, and pray for them.  St. Jude urges us to be merciful so that those who are struggling are kept in God’s love.

     Then Jude urges us to “save others by snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 1:23).  The fire refers to the judgment that comes upon people who embrace their sins.  Such people need a blunt warning.  Think about Lot, the nephew of Abraham.  Lot and his family had moved inside the city of Sodom.  It was probably to find safety within the walls rather than being defenseless out in the fields.  But since Sodom was so wicked, the Lord was going to destroy it.  In mercy, he sent angels to rescue Lot and his family.  The angels told him to flee the city immediately.  Do you know what Lot did?  He went to bed.  He got up early the next morning.  The angels again told him to leave the city immediately or he would be swept away in its destruction.  Do you know what Lot did?  He dragged his feet.  Finally, the angels grabbed him by the hand and pulled him out of the city.  They snatched him from the fiery judgment that was coming.  Lot did not need tender mercy; he needed a kick in the pants.  This is what we may have to do for our loved ones.  We love them too much to stand by silently while they are heading toward a fiery judgment.  Perhaps you are afraid that your loved ones will cut you out of their lives for doing this.  You might be tempted to keep the peace by saying nothing.  But will you find any comfort if you are cut off from them for eternity?  Our goal remains the same: Keep yourselves in the love of God.

     The third group seems to refer to unbelievers.  “To others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 1:23).  It should be easy to show mercy to those who are lost.  We should not recoil at them if they have made a mess of their lives.  They are lost.  They don’t follow God’s word.  They don’t know the way of righteousness.  That is the definition of being lost.  They live in darkness; they have not been enlightened to know the truth.  While we can show mercy to them, we should be careful that we are not drawn into their sins.  We cannot make excuses for their sins.  We still must call sins what they are so that people will repent.  A friend of mine was talking with a woman who had made some poor choices in her life.  They did not bring the happiness that she thought they would.  They resulted in disappointment and shame.  My friend tried to comfort her and told her, “It’s okay.”  She replied, “No, it’s not.”  Even though my friend tried to soft-pedal her sins, she knew they were wrong.  She did not need to have excuses; she needed forgiveness.

     This is what it means to show mercy and yet to hate the garment stained by the flesh.  Perhaps the more common way of saying it is to hate the sin but to love the sinner.  We know that this is a person for whom Jesus died.  There was a great cost paid to atone for sins.  If we make the sins of little significance, we make Jesus’ sufferings and death of little significance.  Jesus was forsaken by his Father when he paid for our sins.  That was the pain and penalty of hell that Jesus suffered.  It is what sins deserve because they are evil.  But Jesus endured it so that sinners could be pardoned and spared. 

     And you have been pardoned of all guilt and spared of all punishment through Jesus Christ.  He is the one “who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory” (Jude 1:24).  As long as you remain in God’s word and receive his sacraments, you will be kept safe.  There will always be people outside the Church who will coax you into giving yourself over to the sins they enjoy.  And you will always have a sinful nature in you which finds these invitations attractive.  There will be teachers who distort God’s word, often for their own gain or their own ego.  Many are led astray because they are enamored with the teacher and do not turn to God’s word to fact check him. 

     Jesus will keep you from stumbling in your faith or drifting into wickedness.  He is your refuge in every attack.  By devoting yourselves to God’s word and prayer, the Lord God will preserve you in the most holy faith.  He will keep you cloaked in his own righteousness so that you are blameless before God the Father.  He has joined you to fellow Christians who are united in the same goal of salvation.  Let’s be devoted to one another so that we keep each other in the love of God.  Let’s be devoted to the word and sacraments so that the Lord will bless you and keep as his own through this life and into life everlasting. 

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