Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
October 5, 2025
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
Pentecost 17
Know The Score
And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that there should be no temptations to sin! But woe! to the person through whom they come. It would be better for that person that a millstone be tied around his neck and he be thrown into the sea. Better that than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Be on guard! (Lk 17:1-4)
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They say that to be forewarned is to be forearmed!
Of the many blessings we gain from our Lutheran theology is a clear understanding of sin, and how utterly it has corrupted the human person. It is not a doctrine that Lutherans invented, but rather the consistent teaching of Holy Scripture. Deny it if you will, but to your own loss. Because life is so much easier when you know the score. So that you are not mystified, befuddled or stopped dead in your tracks when people do what people do.
What the Lord teaches us in Luke 17:1 is priceless: “It is impossible that there should be no temptations to sin!” He speaks here in a double negative and so it takes a moment to comprehend. But the conclusion is that: temptations to sin will and must come. It is inevitable. Ineluctable. Unavoidable. But why is this the case?
In a word: Original Sin. The sin that resides in our DNA from our first parents and has been passed down through the ages; because of which every man wallows in unreserved darkness until he is delivered by the Light of Christ through baptism and Christian instruction; and kept in the one true faith by this Divine Liturgy.
Many people say that: man is basically good and that any sin is but a minor flaw that can be easily overcome. Saint Paul begs to differ. He writes in Romans Chapter Three:
there is none that is righteous no not one
no one who understands
no one who seeks for God
all have turned aside
together they have become worthless
no one does good not even one
their throat is an open grave
they use their tongues to deceive
the venom of asps is under their lips
their mouth is full of curses and bitterness
their feet are swift to shed blood
in their paths are ruin and misery
the way of peace they have not known.
there is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:10-18)
This is why when Lutherans watch a murder mystery and someone says to the police that the prime suspect is: “incapable of murder,” they can hardly contain their uproarious laughter.
No the Lord does not speak idly here when he says that: It is impossible that there should be no temptations to sin! And so rather than object to the Lord’s words psychologists, social workers and other progressive influencers would do well to cease their denial, and devote their precious time to pondering and testing to see if his words are accurate on not.
Zooming in we find in this dominical saying that the word for temptation is the Greek word “skandalon” from which we get our English word: scandal.
Scandal is a bit different than the garden variety temptation of the devil, world and flesh against which we daily pray, “lead us into temptation.”
This is more personal. More devious. To scandalize means to know a person’s weakness and to exploit it. To scandalize means to offer an chilly beer to the recovering alcoholic on a hot day. To hold out drugs to the addict. To scandalize means to entrap a person in need of money with the offer of a payday to do something immoral or illegal. Many young ladies scandalize young men, or vice versa, with the promise of previously unknown pleasures by the way the walk, talk or dress. Jesus has a message for both scandalizer and scandalee today.
To the scandalee he says: be certain that targeted temptations to disobey God will come your way, and it cannot be otherwise. And so do not be naïve. Do not be deceived. Do not think otherwise. But be sober and vigilant for your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the faith.
And to scandalizer, the person who leads another into sin, or even encourages or justifies the sin of another person Jesus has one word. Woe! Which in bible speak means: you’re dead; cut off from every blessing; and left on your own to rot on the vine, and die in the gutter. And you would be no worse off if a millstone were tied around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.
Now that is hardly the word anyone should want to hear from the Lord of Life. The One who came to save sinners from themselves, and from the wrath of God that is sure to come to both the scandalizer and the scandalee alike.
We could say a great deal more but let us consider the implications of today’s gospel. Because scandal is inevitable we need more than any other thing a Savior. One who is stronger than sin: because He lived with the same temptations we do, but never once gave in; and moreover, Christ be praised, He deposits His righteousness into our account. We need One who is stronger than the devil who is the source of all scandal. Shortly before his glorious death on the cross Jesus says of the devil: “The prince of this world is now judged.” And Jesus is also stronger than death because as the righteous Son of God, the Father raised him from the tomb, “bringing life and immortality to light by the gospel.”
This is why Saint Paul doesn’t only talk about “the testimony of Jesus” which is the message of Christ crucified and raised again for our justification. But makes clear that God has appointed him a: preacher, apostle and teacher of the faith. Said another way God established a delivery system to bring the benefits of the cross to those who need constant cleansing; because of the constant barrage of scandal coming our way.
This is why Saint Paul says even of himself: “The good that I want to do I don’t do, and the evil that I don’t want to do, I do. O wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death. And then concludes: But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Christ.
And so take heart today because the Lord has increased your faith by his instruction so that you can continue your earthly pilgrimage in safety until: the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.