Back To The Basics: The Gospel Must Predominate

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Dear friends, why do you come to church? Maybe you come for comfort in the chaos of life; maybe it's for direction in life; maybe it's because you feel the weight of your sin; maybe it's a habit; or maybe it's to obtain hope.

Now, regardless of all of those reasons, whether you are fully aware of it or not, you come to church because you need Jesus. You need His voice. You need His promises. You need to hear, again and again, that God is for you, that Christ has died for you, and that you are forgiven.

This is why Walther, the old Lutheran pastor and teacher, gave this simple but powerful warning in his XXV Thesis on Properly Distinguishing Law and Gospel: 

"God’s Word is not rightly taught when the Gospel does not predominate." 

In other words, if the Good News of Jesus is not the main thing — the central message, the loudest voice, the final word in this church — then something is deeply wrong.

I am sure you know what it feels like to hear sermons that are almost right. Sermons that sound Christian and moral but leave you with more weight, more guilt, more pressure. Maybe you have heard sermons that started with Jesus but somehow ended with you — what you need to do, how you need to change, how you’re not enough. And maybe you have walked out of church wondering if God was still pleased with you.  If so, that is not how it is supposed to be. The reason is: the Gospel is not a bonus.  Instead, the Gospel is the whole point, the central focus… the main thing!  

Let’s be clear. We do need to hear God’s Law. God’s Law tells us the truth. It shows us our sins. It confronts our selfishness. It reveals where we have wandered from God and where we have tried to live without Him.

But the Law cannot fix you. It cannot comfort your conscience. It cannot raise the dead. It does not have that power. That power belongs to the Gospel.  Remember that the Law does not create faith; the Law produces repentance.  The Gospel, though - the announcement that Jesus Christ has done everything necessary to save sinners – is what creates and strengthens faith.  

So, the Gospel is not something the church adds at the end of the service, like an extended warranty plan. It is not an appendix; it is the main thing. The Gospel is the beating heart of everything we believe.

You see, when Jesus was born, the angels did not say, 

“Get to work.” 

They didn’t say, 

“You’d better shape up because the Messiah is watching.” 

No, the angel said, 

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy.” 

Did you hear that?  No threats. No demands. Just news — good news. That is what the word “Gospel” means. The Gospel is the message that your sins have been forgiven, your death has been defeated, and your shame has been carried away — all by the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Dear friends, the Gospel does not wait until you have cleaned yourself up. It does not come to those who have finally gotten serious. It comes to sinners. It comes to the weary. It comes to the one who walked into this sanctuary hoping — just maybe — that God still has something to say to them. And God does have something to say. He says, 

“You are Mine. I have called you by name. I have bled for you. I forgive you in and through my beloved Son – Jesus Christ.”

But some people hear this and worry that if we talk about the Gospel too much, people will get lazy. Some believe that if we highlight the Gospel too much, some people will take advantage of it.

But here is the thing: the people who really take comfort in the Gospel are not saying, 

“The Gospel is so great; I am so glad that I have something in my life now that allows me to sin more.” 

No, my friends, they are saying, 

“Thank God there is mercy even for someone like me – a poor miserable sinner.”

You see, the Gospel doesn’t make people careless — it makes people alive. The Gospel makes you new. You will not find a single soul in heaven who got there by being guilted into better behavior. Every soul that stands before the throne will be there for one reason: the blood of Jesus.

So, the point is, do not be afraid of hearing the Gospel again and again. Do not let anyone convince you that you need to move on from the Gospel. Baptized Saints, you never graduate from needing to hear that Jesus died for you.

Here is the reality: you are already surrounded by Law. Every day, you are told to measure up, to work harder, to be better, to try again. At work, at school, even in your own head — you hear that voice: 

“Not enough. Not yet. Try harder.”

And if you are like me, that voice will kill you, spiritually speaking.  Indeed, if that is all you hear, that voice will sap you dry.  And so, that is why, when you come to this church, you need to hear a different voice — a voice that says, 

“It is finished.”

 A voice that says, 

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

A voice that says, 

“Your sins are forgiven.”

Again, keep in mind that the church is that one place that loudly proclaims the Law; however, the church also is that one place where the Gospel is proclaimed even louder – in fact, so loud that the Gospel drowns the Law.  The Gospel must predominate – it must have the final word - so that the blood of Christ drowns your sin and your guilt.

Keep in mind though, CFW Walther was not just talking to preachers in his Law and Gospel Theses. He was talking to the church — you, the people of God.  In other words, as parishioners, you have every right to expect that the Gospel will be central in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.  You can and should expect that when you come here, you will hear not just what’s wrong with the world, or even what is wrong with you but to hear what has been made right in Jesus.  And more than that – practically speaking – the Gospel needs to dominate in your own lives.  For example, when your conscience accuses you at work or at home — when the devil whispers, 

“God could never forgive someone like you”

You arise and answer the devil with the Gospel: 

“Christ died for me. I am baptized. I am forgiven. My Jesus has the final word.”

Or, when your heart grows cold and you wonder if you still belong to Christ, you don’t look inward for proof. You look to the cross, to the font, to the altar. Because there, God isn’t asking you to prove yourself. He’s giving you Jesus again.

Baptized Saints, let the Gospel predominate — not just in the pulpit, but in your own hearts.

And so, to conclude, as we heard in this evening’s Epistle reading and in Walther’s XXV Thesis, the Gospel must predominate in the church, and pastors are called to pass the Gospel on to the flock.  And so, again, it is because of the Gospel that your pastors preach. Not to control you. Not to impress you. Not to scare you. But to give you joy — the joy of sins forgiven, the joy of being God’s child, the joy of knowing that you belong to Jesus.

So, dear Christian, don’t settle for anything less.

Don’t settle for sermons that leave Jesus in the background.

Don’t settle for half-Gospels or conditional comfort.

You need the full thing. You need the Gospel to predominate.

And thanks be to God — it does.

In the name of Jesus, the One who is always enough. Amen.