The Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity
Hymns: 246, 395, 391, 473
Philippians 1:3-1 — “Being Filled with Fruits of Righteousness”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Epistle reading appointed for the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity is Philippians 1:3-11:
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Introduction
“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you!” Wow! Is this not a wonderful way to begin a letter? Every remembrance of this congregation causes the apostle to give thanks to God! He further explains that this is on account of their communion into the Gospel from the first day until now. These people heard the Gospel and were joined into the Gospel to be fully partaking of all that the Gospel is and gives. Every time that the apostle remembers this his heart is moved to give thanks to God. God is the one who has brought them into this holy communion and has established them in this holy communion. He has begun this good work in them and He will continue fulfilling it until the day of Jesus Christ. Wow! What confidence St. Paul has for these people. What joy he has concerning the perfect unity that God is working in them, a communion that will endure until the day of Jesus Christ!
I. Being Filled with Fruits of Righteousness
How can this be? How can the apostle have such confidence concerning the hearts and minds of other people? Is this really possible? St. Paul goes on record saying that it is not only possible, but that concerning this God Himself is the witness who verifies what he says. St. Paul knows them in this fullness because of his connection with them in the bowels of Jesus Christ. They are bonded in the holy communion of the guts of Jesus. Thus the apostles says that he knows them and prays over them. He knows them as those having been filled with fruits of righteousness.
What does this mean? He says “I pray that the love of you-all yet more and more should superabound in over-knowledge and all perception into the to test you-all the differings in order that you-all should be genuine (sun-judged) and nonstricken (unfallen/uninjured) into day of Christ.”
This then is further explained as “having been filled of fruits of righteousness.” If we listen carefully we will hear that this is actually the opposite of what we think. These fruits of righteousness are not our good works. These are the fruits of righteousness with which we are to be filled, and in fact have been filled and continue being filled. This is why in the preceding sentence the apostle says: “I pray that the love of you-all yet more and more should superabound in over-knowledge and all perception.”
Is he speaking of love that we produce or of love that we receive? This is agape. St. John reminds us that agape is of God. This is why St. Paul says that he prays that the love yet more and more should superabound. This love is God’s love for us. Again, as St. John informs us: we love God because He first loved us. This is why St. Paul has such confidence concerning the communion of the Philippians. He knows that they are not seeking so much to be loving as they are to live in the continual reception of God’s love of them. St. Paul is not speaking of what we commonly call fellowship. He is speaking of communion into the Gospel. God’s love for us joins us into the Gospel so that we live in the Gospel, completely clothed with the Gospel that was poured over us with the water in our baptism. With this washing of regeneration we also are renewed of the Holy Spirit, who fills us with God’s love of us. He fills us with this love so that it superabounds in over-knowledge and all perception so that the things that differ from what is genuine and pure are recognized so that they are excluded so as not to injure us. When God’s love of us superabounds in true knowledge and perception of what is and is not pure, then we are kept in His communion and we do not become conjoined to impurity. Rather, we continue as having been filled of fruits of righteousness.
II. Those through Jesus Christ
These fruits of righteousness with which we have been filled and continue to be filled are “those through Jesus Christ.” This is the key to God’s love of us superabounding in perfect knowledge and perception. These fruits of righteousness are not fruits that we must produce. These are those through Jesus Christ.
How then do are we filled of these fruits of righteousness? We are filled with these fruits of righteousness through the means of grace that our Lord Jesus ordained for this purpose. We first are brought into the kingdom of God through Baptism. Through this marvelous joining of God’s promise to simple water, God pours His grace over us and into us to fill us with His love of us that superabounds in perfect knowledge and perception through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who is poured out to us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. This is what St. Paul explains in Titus 3. Isn’t it amazing how the communion of the Trinity is at work in perfect union to bring this to effect? The Word of promise, Jesus, is joined to the water, and through Him the Holy Spirit is poured out to us abundantly so that God’s love of us superabounds in perfect knowledge and perception and we are filled with fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ. He purchased these for us with His holy life, suffering, and death. He guaranteed them for us through the resurrection. He enacted them for us through His ascension to the right hand of God. These are the fruits of righteousness of which we are filled. These are the fruits of His righteousness into which we have been conjoined in His perfect communion.
Moreover, these fruits of righteousness are given to us again and again as we are congregated into the name of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. He joins us in the perfect unity of the body of Jesus and renews us in the true faith through the forgiveness of the blood of Jesus. We are united in the communion into the Gospel again and again and again. We are refreshed by the forgiveness that we drink in the communion of Christ’s blood and we are renewed in the faith by which His righteousness is made to be ours. Then, we begin to see more and more how His fruits of righteousness are manifested in fruits of repentance in our lives.
III. Into the Glory and Praise of God
And so St. Paul describes this as “into the glory and praise of God.” Notice the way that St. Paul phrases this. He literally describes us as “Being filled of fruits of righteousness, those through Jesus Christ, into glory and praise of God.”
We tend to think of worship as something that we do toward God. But St. Paul says that we are brought into glory and praise of God. This is why St. Paul speaks of his joy that is over the communion of the saints into the Gospel. We are empowered through this Holy Communion into which God joins us so that having been brought into the glory and praise of God we then glorify and praise God.
Perhaps this is hard to hear. The Holy Communion of the Saints into which we are united, having been filled of fruits of righteousness, those through Jesus Christ, is the glory and praise of God into which we are joined. God does not expect us to give Him glory and praise. He brings us into His glory and praise so that our communion with Him generates in us this overflow of His glory and praise. What we do is simply the overflow of the superabundance of His love of us. The more that His love fills us the more that we know the purity of His Holy Communion and perceive His Kingdom having come to us in the body of Jesus so that we overflow with His glory and praise. The glory and praise are already His, but He makes us to be partakers in them.
Conclusion
The Church is God’s creation. Righteousness is what He produces in the Church. He fills us with His fruits of righteousness so that we are incorporated into His glory and praise. From beginning to end God shows Himself to be our loving Father who works good for us and brings to be that which needs to be. His Communion is pure, even after washing us into it. He does not call us to make ourselves righteous. He fills us with His fruits of righteousness which work in us and produce true faith in us. Because of this we joyfully gather to receive His pure gifts as He gives them. His doctrine is preached. His Sacraments are administered. True unity is enjoyed, even as St. Paul declares in our text for this day. Moreover, the joy continues as we rest securely in the faithfulness of God, who has begun or established this good work in us and is bringing it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ. Because of God’s faithfulness, we will not be surprised at the Last Day. We will hear the same declaration that we have heard every time that we have been gathered together into His holy name. Having been gathered to the pure preaching of the Gospel and administration of the Sacraments, we shall be kept pure and undefiled until the glorious return of our Lord Jesus to complete all that has been begun in us. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus forever. Amen.
The Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity
Hymns: 246, 395, 391, 473
The Introit (Ps.130:1-4)
P: If Thou, Lord, should mark iniquities:
C: O Lord, who shall stand?
P: But there is forgiveness with Thee:
C: that thou may be feared, O God of Israel.
P: Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord:
C: Lord, hear my voice.
The Collect
O God, our Refuge and Strength, who art the Author of all godliness, be ready, we beseech Thee, to hear the devout prayers of Thy Church, and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
The First Lesson Deuteronomy 7:9-11
Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
The Gradual (Ps.133:1,3;147:3)
P: Behold how good and how pleasant it is:
C: for brethren to dwell together in unity!
P: The Lord commanded blessing:
C: even life forevermore. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
P: The Lord healeth the broken in heart:
C: and bindeth up their wounds. Hallelujah!
The Epistle Philippians 1:3-11
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
The SENTENCE for the Season (Ps. 119:124)
P: Hallelujah! O Lord, deal with Thy servant according unto Thy mercy and teach me Thy statutes. I am Thy servant, give me understanding:
C: that I may know Thy testimonies. Hallelujah!
The Holy Gospel St. Matthew 18:23-35
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Philippians 1:3-1 — “Being Filled with Fruits of Righteousness”
Introduction
I. Being Filled with Fruits of Righteousness
II. Those through Jesus Christ
III. Into the Glory and Praise of God
Conclusion
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