Is The Word Enough?
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
A royal official made the journey from Capernaum to Cana, about twenty miles uphill. But this was no routine trip. It wasn’t a trip for politics. He was not on a military journey either. Instead, we hear in our reading from the Gospel of Matthew that:
“When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to [Jesus] and asked Him to come down and heal his son, for [his son] was at the point of death.”
That official had nothing else to rely on. His son was dying. The physicians were helpless. So he went to Jesus.
And get this: Jesus doesn’t follow him home. Jesus doesn’t lay hands on the boy, and He doesn’t speak over the child’s body. He simply says to the official,
“Go; your son will live.”
That’s right; one sentence…five words… that is all He got.
But get this: the royal official believes.
“The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way.”
Dear friends, the royal official believed the Word. Not after he saw the healing. Not after he verified the result. He believed before he saw because the Word of Jesus was enough.
And so, this reading from the Gospel of John begs a question of us right now: is the Word enough?
Is the Word enough for the American Church?
Is the Word enough for St. Paul’s Lutheran?
Is the Word enough for you?
We ask these questions because we know the answer we want to give. We want to say, “Yes.” We want to say that the Word is enough for us at St. Paul’s Lutheran. We want to say that the Word is enough for our families and for our lives.
But truth be told, we often live as if the Word is not enough. Tragically, for many in the Church today, the Word is not enough. Or at least, it doesn’t feel like enough. We say we believe it, but we’re often tempted to reach for more.
You see, we want something we can measure. We want something we can feel; something we can brand - something that “works.” Churches feel pressured to do more than preach and administer the Sacraments. The Church today has become tempted to dress up the Word. To accessorize the Word. To improve upon it, as if the Word by itself cannot quite do the job. And so, in churches, programs have multiplied, marketing has intensified, and church buildings and structures have ballooned. We feel as though something more is needed to make the Church truly work because deep down many do not believe the Word is enough.
Please listen up; sit up in your pew and consider this: There was a time when a church was simply a sanctuary, a narthex, and maybe, if you were fortunate, a dark basement with a kitchen that barely worked. Also, there were typically only two boards—elders and trustees. That was it. All the other committees were virtually nonexistent. And the Word was preached, the Sacraments administered, the saints gathered, and that was enough.
Today, though, churches have multiple building wings, conference centers, vision teams, administrative staff, marketing committees, digital strategy groups, gyms, coffee kiosks, multiple layers of boards, mission statements, and an infrastructure that could rival a small college.
Let me be perfectly clear: these things are not evil, though. Christian freedom allows for all of these things. But the danger is when we begin to trust those things. For example, if we believe that “if we just get a gym or craft a perfect mission statement for the new church sign, or if we get an energetic youth worker… then the church will finally be strong, effective, and faithful,” well… if we believe that, we are not only deceived but we are also saying indirectly that the Word is not enough.
Dear friends, please keep in mind that the church of previous generations did not have many of these things that are deemed necessary today, and yet the Church stood. The Word was preached. The Sacraments were administered. Saints were fed. The Gospel went forth. The reason why? Because the Word is enough. And it still is.
Perhaps one of the reasons why the modern church does not trust the Word of God is due to the way pastors act and how pastors are often treated by the church. You know what I am talking about! Over the past 75 years, we have witnessed a shift in the expectations for how pastors are expected to work. Increasingly, pastors are being pulled into roles they were never called to fulfill. They are expected to lead like CEOs, grow the church like entrepreneurs, motivate people like motivational speakers, coordinate fellowship activities like travel agents, and manage committees like corporate executives. But if the pastor doesn’t do this – if the pastor simply sticks to the Word and Sacraments… if he simply teaches and preaches and visits and absolves, he is often viewed as being out of touch and lazy.
But here’s the truth: the tools given to the pastor are not CEO tools.
The Lord has given pastors - pastoral tools: the Word, the Sacraments, private confession and absolution, Law and Gospel visitation, Divine Service, prayer, and catechesis. And these tools are not weak. They are the only tools capable of doing the work of the Church – because they are tools of the Word.
Now, again, please keep in mind that CEO tools may be useful in managing a business, but they cannot deliver forgiveness. They are helpful for planning, but they cannot nourish faith. They cannot raise the dead.
And so, please don’t misunderstand me. Organizational tools and administrative help are not forbidden in the church. Order is good. Being efficient and effective is good. However, the point that is being made is that if a pastor were to implement and use CEO tools as his primary tools in the church, if the pastor spends more time writing a mission statement than writing a sermon, the pastor is indicating that the Word is not enough (that the Word is not important) – that something else is needed.
That is to say; if a pastor functions primarily like a CEO, the church will begin to think like a business. And before long, the Means of Grace are no longer central. The Word is no longer trusted. The Church forgets what she is. Alas, the Church is not a corporation; she is the Body of Christ. She operates under different rules. She lives by grace, not metrics. She lives by the cross, not by marketing.
Listen up; the pastor is not primarily called to demographic charts. He is primarily called to the Word. He is called to administer the Sacraments. He is called to be faithful. He is called to use the tools Christ has given because the Word is enough!
Let me give you a quick example.
Not long ago, I found myself trying to help out in our fellowship hall. I was measuring chairs and working out spacing for an event. I had my tape measure, a pencil behind my ear, and a notebook in my hand. I wanted to see how many chairs we could legally fit in our fellowship hall according to fire code. I thought I was being helpful.
One of our trustees, though, came up to me, looked me in the eye, and said,
“Knock it off, Pastor. Stay in your lane. We need you teaching the Word and administering the Sacraments. When you do trustee work, you are not doing pastor work. We need you doing pastor work. Go to your office and work on a sermon, I need to hear about Jesus on Sunday.”
Was he a bit harsh? Yes. Was he right? Absolutely! The Word is enough; it is what we truly need!
Let’s return to the Gospel.
The royal official believed the Word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he traveled home, he was met by a servant who told him that his child was alive – that his son was healed at the very hour Jesus had spoken.
Baptized Saints, the Word spoken by Jesus was enough! And hear this loud and clear right now, it is enough for you right now.
Each time you hear, “I forgive you all your sins,” The same voice that healed the official’s son is speaking into your ears.
Each time you eat His Body and drink His Blood, Christ is feeding you.
Each time the Scriptures are opened and read, you are hearing from Jesus.
Furthermore, the Word is not old or tired or weak. It is living and active. It creates faith. It delivers Christ. It sustains this Church. It is enough.
Dear Baptized Saints, when you are weary, when your faith falters, when your heart aches, when you are tempted to believe that the Church must become something else, something more – return to the simple Word of Jesus. Return and hear, that you are baptized – marked as one of the redeemed. This is enough.
Hear that you are forgiven; the cross is empty for you. This is enough.
Receive the medicine of immortality at this altar, as a member of Christ’s mighty church. This is enough.
Hear that the tomb is empty; that you are loved unto death and unto the resurrection. This is enough.
And finally, know this: you belong to Christ. Your conscience is clean – free – because the Word says so. And the Word – again – it is enough. It is always enough for you.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Comments