A Year of Grace, Volume 1: Collected Sermons of Advent through Pentecost

By Bo Giertz

These sermons are taken from various stages in Bo Giertz pastoral career, from his time as a parish pastor, his time as a bishop, and his time in retirement. He adapted the homiletical style of Henric Schartau (whose homiletical style informs the novel “The Hammer of God”). Schartau would preach in a manner that expounded on the text

• Language: English
• Publisher: 1517 Publishing
• Release date: Jun 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781948969178

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A Year of Grace: Volume 1, Collected Sermons of Advent through Pentecost

© 2019 Bror Erickson, for the English translation

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at the address below.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Published by:

1517 Publishing

PO Box 54032

Irvine, CA 92619-4032

Publisher’s Cataloging-In-Publication Data

(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

Names: Giertz, Bo, 1905–1998, author. | Erickson, Bror, translator.

Title: A year of grace. Volume 1, Collected sermons of Advent through Pentecost / by Bo Giertz ; translated by Bror Erickson.

Other Titles: Söndagsboken. Advent-pingst. English

Description: Irvine, CA : 1517 Publishing, [2019] | Translation of: Söndagsboken. Advent-pingst. Göteborg : Församlingsförlaget, 2006. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: ISBN 9781948969185 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781948969192 (softcover) | ISBN 9781948969178 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Giertz, Bo, 1905–1998—Sermons. | Church year sermons. | LCGFT: Sermons.

Classification: LCC BV4254.2 .G5413 2019 (print) | LCC BV4254.2 (ebook) | DDC 252.6—dc23

Cover art by Brenton Clarke Little

Contents

Translator’s Preface

First Sunday in Advent: Matthew 21:1–9

Second Sunday in Advent: Luke 21:25–36

Third Sunday in Advent: Matthew 11:2–11

Fourth Sunday in Advent: Luke 1:39–45

Christmas Day: Luke 2:1–20

Second Day of Christmas: Luke 12:49–53

Sunday after Christmas: Matthew 2:19–23

New Year’s Day: Luke 2:21

Sunday after New Year’s Day: Luke 2:42–52

Epiphany: Matthew 2:1–12

First Sunday after Epiphany: Matthew 3:13–17

Second Sunday after Epiphany: John 2:1–11

Third Sunday after Epiphany: John 4:27–42

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany: John 5:1–14

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany: Luke 13:22–30

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany: John 5:19–21

Transfiguration Sunday: Matthew 17:1–8

Septuagesima: Luke 17:7–10

Sexagesima: Luke 8:4–15

Quinquagesima: Luke 18:31–43

First Sunday in Lent: Matthew 16:21–23

Second Sunday in Lent: Matthew 15:21–28

Third Sunday in Lent: Luke 11:14–28

Fourth Sunday in Lent: John 6:52–66

Fifth Sunday in Lent: John 3:16–21

Palm Sunday: John 12:1–16

Good Friday

Easter: Luke 24:1–12

Second Day of Easter: Luke 24:13–35

Second Sunday of Easter: John 21:15–23

Third Sunday of Easter: John 10:11–16

Fourth Sunday of Easter: John 16:16–22

Fifth Sunday of Easter: John 16:5–11

Prayer Sunday: Matthew 6:5–8

Ascension Day: Luke 24:49–53

Sunday before Pentecost: John 16:12–15

Pentecost: John 14:25–29

Candlemass Day: Malachi 3:1–4

Annunciation of the Virgin Mary: Luke 1:26–38

Translator’s Preface

In the introduction to his work Homiletics, J. M. Reu says of the preacher who takes his job seriously,

He will rather strive with all that is in him to apprehend ever more completely the laws that govern the sermon and make them the basis of his own preaching, until he is ruled and directed by them as though they were his second nature. He will endeavor to learn from the God-gifted preachers of the church’s past the secret of their power, the rules and directions that they followed. He will ponder the nature and purpose of the sermon, he will seek out whatever directions have been laid down concerning its subject matter and its structure. In other words he will give himself to a thorough and painstaking study of the science of Homiletics.¹

It was with this in mind that, as a young pastor, I set out not only to read Reu’s incredible book on the subject (a book I cannot recommend highly enough to those who make their living from the gospel) but also to do an in-depth study of the sermons and homiletical style of Bo Giertz, and I resolved to do this by translating these sermons into English.

For those desiring a scholarly study of Bo Giertz’s preaching style, development, and influences, I might recommend my article in the Eastertide 2018 issue of Logia, Applying the Gospel: The Influence and Interpretation of Henric Schartau in Bo Giertz’s Homiletic. Here, I would only like to highlight a few things that might catch a reader’s attention concerning these sermons of Bo Giertz. They originally appeared in a collection selected and edited by Stig Andersson and were published eight years after the death of the beloved bishop of Gothenburg in 2006 by the Församlingsförlaget (the publishing house of the free seminary in Gothenburg). Their title is Söndagsboken, Advent-Pingst (The Sunday Book, Advent-Pentecost); the second volume, which will also be published shortly, has the same title but deals with the season of Trinity (Trefaldighetstiden).

Bishop Giertz was known for his preaching. As a young man, he served the youth movement in the church of Sweden as a sought-after speaker who made it his business to visit every high school in Sweden. He preached to a minimum of five hundred, and up to five thousand, youth per event, and many remembered his sermons long afterward. Yet it was not until serving his first parish that he realized his sermons had neglected the gospel and the atonement of Christ. Influenced by the Oxford Movement, they had been much too focused on the moral behavior of the audience in question to have any lasting effect. This was not a mistake he would make again, as these sermons show. His main influences in preaching became two men who are often pitted against each other in his homeland of Sweden, Rosenius and Schartau. He liked the emphasis on atonement found in Rosenius and the importance Schartau laid on the means of grace and life of the church. He also liked Schartau’s ordo salutis, though Giertz was quick to say that it was the grace, or salutis, that mattered and not the ordo, or order. Indeed, it is the grace that matters.

One will notice this ordo salutis in these two volumes—especially in the sermons from early in his career, where Giertz follows Schartau in rather starkly demarking his summary addresses to the unbelievers, the awakened, and believers. Here there is perhaps a question as to whom the awakened are if they are not Christians. This controversy is at the heart of the dispute between those who follow Rosenius and those who lean toward Schartau. Yet terms and labels aside, there is overlap between each of these three categories and the three different schools of the law that Luther speaks about in his introduction to the Old Testament: The first hear and despise the law. They lead a reckless life without fear. . . . The second grab hold of the law with their own strength and try to fulfill it without grace. Thus they lead hypocritical lives with external works of the law. The third understand the true meaning of the law and how impossible it is to fulfill. They abandon the law altogether and recognizing their sin hold fast to Christ alone.² Though Bo Giertz addresses these three audiences rather directly only in his earlier sermons, he never gives up his attempts to address them in the more subtle nuances of his later style of preaching. The purpose here is to distinguish law and gospel in such a way as to reach all who might be hearing him and impress upon them the need for Christ’s salvation.

It has been a joy to translate these sermons, which are strong in the simplicity of the straightforward structure with which he addresses the people he loved, the members of his congregation in Torpa and of his diocese in Gothenburg—as well as all the people for whom Christ died wherever he might encounter them. His preaching of the law is almost always directed at sins of the soul rather than outward behavior, sins such as inherent selfishness, malice, lust, and envy. He was not interested in whitewashing tombs. That is to say, he did not go after outward behaviors that could easily be amended by the Old Adam so as to deceive a person into thinking he was a good Christian because he had given up such habits as even the unbeliever can desist with. His preaching of the law was then always followed up with the word of the cross that is the power of God (1 Cor 1:18—a verse that became a motto for him and graces his tombstone today). He knew how to apply the gospel so that it would heal the wounds the law had created in the soul and bring it back to life so that those who heard could once again walk in the newness of life.

I hope you enjoy reading these sermons as much as I have enjoyed translating them. I would like to thank the people at 1517 Publishing for all their hard work in preparing this manuscript for publication, especially Steve Byrnes, Sam Leanza, and Samantha Martin. It is humbling to work with such dedicated people, and it has become a point of great pride for me to be associated with them and all who work behind the scenes and in front at 1517. I am indebted also to Stig Andersson for originally compiling and editing these sermons in Swedish, and I am grateful to the Giertz estate for continuing to support my efforts to translate Bishop Giertz’s work.

Your Brother in Christ,

Bror Erickson

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¹M. Reu, Homeletics: A Manual of the Theory and Practice of Preaching (St. Louis: Concordia, 1977), 19.

²Summary and paraphrase from Die Luther Bibel Von 1534 Vollständiger Nachdruck I. Vorrhede Auff das Alte Testamente (Cologne: Taschen, 2016), 7; translation mine.

First Sunday in Advent

Matthew 21:1–9

Kungsbacka 1966

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once. This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (Matt 21:1–9)

Let the field exult, and everything in it! / Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy / before the LORD, / for he comes, for he comes (Ps 96:12–13). Israel knew this—He comes—and that the day that He comes would be the great day of celebration. The Jews merely called it The Day or The Lord’s Day. God would visit His people, forgive their sins, heal everyone who was sick and crippled, and let the whole world burst out in joy. This is why everyone broke out in joy on the Mount of Olives. One thought that it was the Lord who visited His people, He who would come. So they cried, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes. It is this that gives this day something of the incomparable beauty, this light in the midst of the November darkness. He comes. Christ is here. Let us go out and meet Him. Blessed is He who comes.

Why? On what is our joy based? Three answers:

He comes.

He who comes—it is only one of the names for the Christ, for the Messiah. Essentially, there lies a great seriousness in this name. We have been reminded of this during the last two Sundays. Christ is He who shall come. When we least expect it. Like a thief in the night. And sitting on His glorious throne, as a judge of the people. In that moment, we will not hear any hosanna. Rather, we can imagine a deep tense silence, an endless expectation of judgment from His lips.

How strange! If His arrival is so, how can we then rejoice today and say, Blessed is He who comes? How can this day be so bright and so dear to us that it attracts men who have not been to church for a long time? It is because of the manner in which He comes. He who comes does not always come in the same way. He is called the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He was there already at creation, and He has followed humanity through all its destinies and will do so until history ends on the great day. Therefore He comes in very different ways. Once He came to His people as a child in a crib. Another time as a wandering prophet. Now He comes as a king, not in armor on a horse, but humble, riding on a donkey.

Today He comes in like manner, not visible but still easy to recognize. He comes to His church as the Lord of the gospel, whom we already knew as children. And we are gripped again by childlike joy and cry, Blessed is He who comes! It is almost as if He came down the aisle greeted by children and us elders, who are a little shy and fumbling because we are no longer children, and yet in our hearts we still sing, Blessed is He who comes.

What is remarkable about this arrival? Just this:

He comes to you.

See how your King comes to you: This is something that applies to me, something that happens for my sake. There is something He wants to help me with, invite me to, let me receive. It is not the last day today, not the hour when His work is finished and it is said, There is no more time. No, He continues in the midst of His work and allows it to continue. Now He comes to me. This happens for my sake. God has not given up hope for me. I am still among those He keeps in His hand and considers it worthwhile to work with. See, your King comes to you.

Your King. This word has a particular meaning. In biblical times, the king was someone who kept justice with might, who protected his subjects against violence and abuse, who cared for everyone and took on their causes. At this time in Jerusalem, Jesus would go to death rather than judge any of those who betrayed Him and cried for His crucifixion. He took the guilt of His wretched and cowardly disciples upon Himself. He died for us all. And He has not forgotten us. He knows precisely how bad it can be. He alone knows all our broken resolutions, all our failed attempts to do good. He alone knows how much is lacking even when we try our best. Still He commits Himself to us. He supports and defends us against all accusations and all the condemnation we deserve. Now He comes to you. It is the help you need. For this reason, the church begins another liturgical year. He Himself calls it a year of grace. He knows what He will do, and only He can do it: forgive you once again, forgive every day anew, forgive though we do not deserve it and can hardly believe it possible.

For this reason, we can say, Blessed is He who comes. Blessed is He who still allows a day of grace to dawn and lets the sun of grace shine, though He has every reason to draw the line, be done, and ascend to the clouds of heaven. It is really true that God visits His people. So it is that Christ now comes to us. Blessed is He who comes.

But one more thing remains:

He comes to you with a task.

He needs you. There is much the Lord needs when He passes through the land. You hear of how He once sent His disciples before Him. He needed their service. They did as He said and went to a little village. There they found a donkey and a colt, just as He said they would. They obeyed His command and untied the animals. If the people were stunned or angry, His disciples knew what to say to them: The Lord needs them.

The Lord needs them. That can be said of so much on earth, not least of all men. But when the command comes to a man—The Lord needs you—then the Lord is used to hearing something like the answers the Bible so often tells us of: Who am I that I should go? Lord, I don’t know how to speak. I am too young. Lord, I have heard what dangerous enemies those men are. Lord, I don’t have time. I have bought a field and have to go see it. I just got married. Even today, it is said, I can’t come. I cannot. I’m not good enough.

But there is a powerful phrase that the word sets up against all of these answers: The Lord needs you. Before this, the people of Bethpage bowed. Was it so that He who comes, He who visits His people, the King, needed their donkey? Then He can take it. And even if I know myself to be a balky and obstinate ass and have no concept of how the Lord would be able to use me, I can let the matter rest with Him and let Him direct the matter. When He says, I need you, go, then I can quit equivocating. I can be thankful instead and say, Blessed is He who comes with such a remarkable request of me.

When we say, I can’t do it, we don’t recognize how much there still is that we can do. We have all received some gifts and ought to use them in the Lord’s service. He needs them for His great work on earth. Many can sing, and their voices are needed in the choir—possibly needed so badly that the choir will need to disband if they don’t come. Another can tell stories and would be a remarkable Sunday school teacher. Yet another is useful with his hands and good with children and thus perfectly suited to take charge of a youth group. Others can write notes and keep the list of baptized children current, or they can knock on doors and leave donation boxes with handwritten notes. To speak not just of coming to God’s house yourself but about your church among your friends and to take them there when there is an opportunity—these are matters for which the Lord needs people, normal simple people of the type who represent the greatest part of our congregations.

The Bible says that these gifts in which the Spirit reveals Himself are given to everyone so that they can be used. We have all received such gifts. It is part of the Lord’s great mercy to us that He comes in order to pick up our gifts, remind us of what we have received, set them and us in motion, and let us become the blessings He meant us to be. It is a great grace that the Lord comes to you with a task.

Therefore we can say again: Blessed is He who comes in the Lord’s name. Blessed are you, Lord who has use of me, who will count on me and give me a task among all the others, who comes here and rejoices with gladness in your disciple. Amen.

Second Sunday in Advent

Luke 21:25–36

Berghem 1951

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

And he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:25–36)

Lift up your heads, O gates! / And be lifted up, O ancient doors! / That the King of glory may come in! So sang Israel as the Lord entered His temple (Ps 24:7). God has promised to fulfil this Advent prayer of ours. But it is not certain that the fulfillment is such as we have thought. The prophet Malachi writes, But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver (Mal 3:2). Our people have just celebrated the First Sunday in Advent and sung hosanna. But if Christ had come in the manner we know He comes in His great Advent? Maybe then one would have reason to remember the word of the prophet Amos: Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? (Amos 5:18). In today’s gospel, Christ has reminded us of everything that will happen in His last Advent. Maybe we understand why, in the Bible, this day is called the Lord’s day, the great and fearful day. But we have also heard that this day, which seems so daunting, will be one of joy for others, when man will lift up his head with gladness. It will be the end of difficult times, the season of spring for God’s kingdom, when the summer is near.

God speaks to us today about the Lord’s last Advent, which is so terrifying and blessed. He has something to tell us about the Advent that we now celebrate.

We will talk about the similarities between the Lord’s last Advent and the Advent that we now celebrate.

The first similarity is this:

The sign shall happen.

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves. Christ also speaks about other signs that must come first: you will hear of wars and tumults, nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places. Such signs will occur.

As with all God’s signs, everyone will take note of them, but only a few will understand.

Amidst extreme tribulation, people will cling to their old lives. They will say, This will pass. You just have to keep your cool. Let us carry on as usual and hope for the best.

Therefore Jesus also says this about the end days: And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold (Matt 24:12). Lawlessness will grow. Everyone will think of saving only themselves. Each man will cut out for himself what he can get. All will become envy, distrust, and fraud. One will hide, lying to his neighbor and deceiving his relatives. Then everyone will begin to war against each other. Almost everyone will express hate and ill will toward those who do good, believe, and speak right: You shall be hated by all for my name’s sake. You shall be betrayed even by parents and friends. Everyone will think only about saving themselves. And precisely for this reason, they will perish! They will use their last days to add to their sin. They will not have understood the signs. But he who endures to the end shall be saved: But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth (Luke 21:34–35).

There are also those who will understand the signs. They will recognize them because they keep God’s word. They hear it and take it to heart. They expect their Lord. They think about His word: