Dear Christian friends:

The problem of the policeman is crime. The problem of the teacher is ignorance. The problem of the doctor is sickness. But what is the problem of the minister and the ministers helpers? Many ministers often and their members often forget what their real problem is and so they try to do teacher's work or doctor's work or psychiatrist's work and police work, and forget the true and precious work of the minister and the church.

The problem of the minister is not crime or ignorance or sickness, no not even death. Yes, we must know how to die, and the minister can help us die, but that is not his chief problem. What is the problem of the minister? His problem is man's guilt or sin. He must prove to man that he is guilty before God and then tell him the Good News that God has taken away his guilt.

This is exactly what we should try to do during our P.T.R. Mission. We are not having our P.T.R. to get more members. We could get more members and not once talk about sin and forgiveness of sins like many churches do. They talk about about schools, and crime and delinquent teenagers or just have socials and they get many new members. We don't want members like that. We must do the real work of the church and help man with his worst problem, guilt, and tell him the best news in the world: God forgives guilt.

In order to impress this upon our minds and hearts let us ask ourselves:


Is man guilty before God? Does God really forgive guilty man? Our text answers these two questions.

Is man really guilty before God? Many people say no or they say a little bit or sometimes. But not much, they all agree. That's because they don't know the strict demands of God's law. In our text Jesus shows the strict demands of God's law when he says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." "Love God with all your heart." Can you? Do you?

That means church first, Pray, Praise, give thanks! With all your strength. Serve God gladly and cheerfully. And love your neighbor as yourself share your money with him if he is in trouble or need. Risk your life to save his life. Be glad with him when he has success and weep with him when he weeps.

But we don't love God gladly or serve Him cheerfully. If we go to church we often feel, "O shucks, I have to go to church again today. And often we think up false, weak excuses. If we give money to church we give it and then grumble about it. Or we nudge one another about God's laws and think Church every Sunday? Better once a month.

Give 10% of our money for church? Preacher's crazy. My beer money! My bowling money! My new car! I can't give 10% better go down to 5% or 2%. Preachers a fanatic, crazy. See! You don't really love God with all your heart. You love yourself!

Same with our neighbor. Hands off. His responsibility. Let him help himself. If he is glad we are mad; if he cries we laugh! We don't care about our neighbor and we don't really love God. And so we are guilty and deserve His wrath and displeasure, troubles now and condemnation eternally.

It is the ministers problem and our problem to impress that on ourselves and others. Also now in our P.T.R. Mission.

But we have a very wonderful solution to our problem, the Good News that God pities the guilty and has given His own Son to suffer the punishment for the guilty. Preaching the Good News of Jesus is the chief work of the minister and the members.

This we learn also from Jesus here in our text. The Jews had asked him the question: "What is the great commandment in the law? And we read they asked Him that to trap Him or find fault with Him. Acting like they themselves were perfect and without sin. But Jesus answered them wisely to prove their own sin and then He also showed Himself their mighty Savior. He asked them: "What do you think of Christ? Whose son is He?" They said, "David." They thought the promised Christ was only a man. They studied and knew the prophecies about the Messiah who would save Israel.

But they misunderstood about the Christ. They thought he would be a great military hero who would free them from the enemy Rome and give them good times again as in David's kingdom.

But now Jesus proves to them that the Christ is not a soldier savior or worldly king, but the Son of God who came down from heaven to take away man's sin and guilt. Jesus says to them: "You say Christ is the son of David, but David himself in the psalms calls Christ His Lord. If David calls Christ Lord, how can He be His son?"

The Jews could not answer that question, because they didn't want a Savior from heaven for their sins. They wanted good times, money, worldly power and honor. But if we believe that Christ is the Son of God and Son of David, then we have a mighty Savior for sinners.

No matter how bad or wicked our sin, we have a mighty Savior, the Son of God. His blood is enough to satisfy God His holy life becomes mine through faith. "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow."

This is the sweet good news we should tell guilty men. Let us make that good news very interesting and very, very good! We have a wonderful opportunity this week and next week. Let us not fail to use it.

Amen.