# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1949 09 27_S317
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Der Lutheraner
God's Word and Luther's doctrine shall pass away now and nevermore.
And I saw an angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. Rev. 14:6-7.
Edited by the faculty of the theological Concordia Seminary in St. Louis through a committee:
J. T. Müller, J. H. C. Fritz, Theo. Hoyer, F. E. Mayer, A. W. C. Gübert, O. E. Sohn
Official Organ of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Published biweekly by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis 18, Mo. Subscription price, $1.50 per annum anywhere in the world, payable strictly in advance. Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., under the Act of March 3, 1879 Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 5, 1918
Volume 105  St. Louis, Mo., September 27, 1949  No. 20

Love of the Neighbor

If someone says, "I love God,"
And yet hates his brethren,
He makes a mockery of God's truth
And tears it down entirely.
God is love and wills that I
Love my neighbor as myself!

One salvation is the good of us all;
Should I hate brethren
Whom God through His Son's blood
Has bought at so high a price?
That God created me and reconciled me,
Have I deserved this more than they?

You forgive me so much debt each day,
You, Lord, of all my days;
And should I not bear patiently
With my brethren?
Not pardon him whom You forgive,
And not love him whom You love?

A judgment without mercy
Shall come upon the one
Who is not merciful, who does not
Rescue those who implore him.
Therefore give me, God, through Your Spirit
A heart that praises You by love!
Gellert, 1715—1769

The Service of God or the Service of Idols
Matt. 6:24-34
For the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Pet. 5:7.

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other," Matt. 6:24. There we have the Lord's either-or. When the prophet Elijah once inveighed against the gross idolatry of his people, he said: "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him," 1 Kings 18:21. And the people answered him not a word. Nothing could be said against it. This applies also to refined idolatry. The Lord says: "Ye cannot serve God and mammon," Matt. 6:24. Either God is Lord, or Mammon is lord. Either one follows the one or the other. Here too there is no halting between two sides.

Mammon is earthly riches, money and goods. Let us now note that the Lord does not reject mammon in and of itself. Abraham, the father of believers, was rich. To King Solomon God gave immeasurable riches. Christ Himself says: "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations," Luke 16:9. Mammon is a good entrusted by God to men, for which the stewards must give account to the Lord. The Lord requires faithfulness in its stewardship. He says: "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" Luke 16:11. But David points to the danger of riches when he warns: "If riches increase, set not your heart upon them," Ps. 62:11. Whoever does that makes his riches his idol. Therefore the Lord warns: "Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!" Mark 10:24. Solomon says: "He that trusteth in his riches shall fall," Prov. 11:28. Many, to be sure, will not believe this. When the Lord spoke the words about the service of mammon, the Pharisees also heard all these things, as Luke reports; "who were covetous, and they derided him," Luke 16:14. Whoever hangs his heart on riches or puts his trust in them is an idolater, for we should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. The covetous servant of mam-