Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
August 23, 2026
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
Pentecost 13
Ineffable
Oh depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and inscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor. Or who has first given to him that he might be repaid. Because from him and through him and to him are all things! To him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. I exhort you therefore, brothers, by the tender mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice; holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable worship. Rom 11:33 – 12:1 (DKV)
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One of the hardest parts of being a pastor is that pastors are tasked with explaining the inexplicable. Now we know from Scripture that God has a number of “attributes”. We know that he is eternal, all powerful, all knowing, that he is good, faithful, just merciful and most of all that “God is love.”
These are things we could never suss out in a thousand years except that God should open himself up to us in this Liturgy that we call: the Bible. Such qualities also mean that God is ineffable. Yes, that is the word. Ineffable.
Ineffable means that something is, “so great, intense, or sacred that it cannot be expressed or described in words.” And yet God’s prophets and apostles are commanded to do the impossible.
An 8 year old girl may know a thing or two about computers, but imagine if she tried to explain them to her 6 month old little brother. It is because of this that theologians are great fans of “apophatics.” Which means describing things by what they are NOT.
We do this in our prayers each week when we say that God is in-comparable; and that is glory in-comprehensible; his mercy im-measurable and his love for mankind in-expressible. That is why apophatic language is the friend of the Christian preacher.
But even speaking apophatically we have said something! We have put the language of God into men’s ears so they might hear. And while on the subject please be sure to know that divinity has a language all its own. In First Corinthians Saint Paul references, “The language of men and of angels,” indicating that angelic language is different than ours, because angels talk in God-speak.
Yes, in some miraculous way God is able to put God-speak into human language – which is why the sensible Christian preacher will not talk about his own opinions or experiences, but will explain only God’s Words from the Bible. This is why people marveled at Jesus. And why they exclaimed that: unlike the Scribes and Pharisees that Jesus speaks with authority.
Even the temple guards who were sent out to arrest him at the Feast of the Ingathering in John Chapter Seven, came back to their bosses empty-handed and all they could say was: “never man spake like this.” (Jn 7:46)
Consider the things we learn from the Bible that we can learn nowhere else:
In the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us.
Oh give thanks unto the LORD for he is good, and his mercy endures forever!
Behold! God’s Lamb
that takes away the sin of the world.
Husbands love your wives
as Christ loved the church
and gave himself for her.
Whoever believes in me
will never die!
Yes! Divine words one and all! By which we are filled with the fullness of God, even if our understanding is dim for the moment.
But why does Saint Paul exclaim as the does in today’s epistle
“Oh depth of the riches and
wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments
and inscrutable his ways.
To make a very long story very short this piece of First Century Roman Liturgy covers all that Saint Paul has said so far in his Sermon to the Romans. But let us further assert that they especially apply to what comes next, which is the Roman church’s Service of the Sacrament.
We don’t have time to develop this idea today but let us at least introduce the notion that:
Liturgy IS Scripture.
Said another way our prayers, praise and thanksgiving are composed of NOTHING ELSE than the words of the Bible which are God’s own words – either by direct quotes, or clear allusions.
Said another way, then, Lutheran Liturgy comes directly from the Bible, and so we assert and affirm that Liturgy is Scripture.
But if liturgy is Scripture, can it also be said that: Scripture is liturgy. The answer is yes, because the Bible is not mere narrative, storytelling, or a history text book though it teaches history and does so accurately.
Note too MOST ESPECIALLY that the Bible is not poetry. Please get that notion out of your mind. What “biblical scholars” call poetry is in fact full-blown Divine Liturgy. Ready-to-use prayers that were prayed by the Old Testament church, and are still prayed today, such as in our Introit.
Nor are Saint Paul’s epistles “letters” in the usual sense of the word – those things that people used to write to one another to keep in touch before the age of social media
What are commonly known as the letters of Saint Paul are not a patchwork of miscellaneous religious information. But they are sermons.
Homilies that were read aloud to the receiving congregation, studied and re-read every Sunday and passed around to other churches.
In the church’s infancy St. Paul’s “letters” comprised what we call, “the Liturgy of the Word.” Which as we know is always followed by the “Liturgy of the Sacrament.” And so once Paul’s message was coming to a conclusion he segues the congregation into her Eucharistic liturgy.
Such is today’s epistle.
And so as we said above we should not consider verses 11:33-36 as general words of praise, but much more akin to our Eucharistic Dialogue.
“The Lord be with you ….
Lift up your hearts …
Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God …
Why do we propose this? Because this Blessed Sacrament is without question not only the most assailed of all Christian doctrines. But also the most mysterious of the mysteries of God. And so Saint Paul begins with this glowing piece of liturgical wonder,
Oh depth of the riches and wisdom
and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments
and inscrutable his ways.
But what leads us to think Eucharistically here? Several things but above all is the tiny phrase, “reasonable worship” that breaks open the meaning of this verse.
It seems that few interpreters of Scripture actually know what to do with Romans 12:1 except the Eastern Christian Church which shows us the way.
From the time of Paul until today they have used this phrase “reasonable worship” (logikon latreion) to indicate their Eucharist Service – what we call “Service Of The Sacrament” on Page 194 of our liturgy books.
Again under the rubric of making a very long story, very short, Saint Paul shines a brilliant light on Holy Communion by teaching us that in this act in which we, OURSELVES, are about to partake – the truest worship of all – we join our bodies and minds to the mind and the Flesh and Blood of our Christ our Lord – so that we along with Jesus – become “living sacrifices” which are holy and acceptable to God.
Now we have done just what we stated. We have lifted up our hearts. Raised them far above all earthly cares. We have set our minds on the things that are above and all is well again in this world. Now heaven and earth, God and Man are at one, AND THAT is our condition now, and will be world without end. Amen.