Forgiveness - A+D 2026 Good Friday Sermon
Preached at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
Custer, South Dakota
Based on Job Job 42:7-9, Ephesians 4:25-32, and Luke 23:32-43      

Audio of the Sermon available HERE.

   I have to confess, the other day as I was planning out sermons, for a minute, I felt a bit tired of preaching forgiveness. 

   I don’t know how you experience Lent.  It has been two and one-half decades since I passed through Lent in a pew.  This year, as I have been preparing two sermons every week, and then delivering them a total of five times each week, the dominant theme of Lent, which is the blood bought forgiveness of Christ, started to seem a bit repetitive to me.  There are other topics in Christianity, are there not?  Strength, Love, Community, Joy, Wisdom, Sanctification, these are all Biblical topics, aren’t they?  These are all good and right, Godly virtues and fruits of faith, no?   

   Some might say that a hyper-focus on forgiveness is a Lutheran problem, an old-school-conservative-confessional-Lutheran problem, to be specific.  Luther, after all, was the one who said:  

“Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered toward this goal: that we shall daily receive in the Church nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here.                           

    So, even though we have sins, the grace of the Holy Spirit does not allow them to harm us.  For we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but continuous, uninterrupted forgiveness of sin, both in that God forgives us, and in that we forgive, bear with, and help each other.  

See Galatians 6:1-2, also 1^st John 1:1-10.  (Large Catechism, Part Second, Of the Creed, Article III, (Paragraph 55))

     Is it not Martin’s fault, then, that Lutherans are hyper-focused on forgiveness? 

    The intensity of Lent can lead the preacher’s mind to wander, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on what spirit is leading the journey.  So, it is salutary to record, on rock with an iron pen and lead, or maybe just through a keyboard, the stray thoughts that stand out, so they can be dealt with clearly, using the Word of God. 

   As I recorded my dissatisfaction about preaching forgiveness, I found it laid out my Good Friday sermon for me.  And, I was reminded that this is a problem I’m glad to accept.  Because a thorough-going focus on forgiveness is not really a Lutheran problem, it’s a Biblical problem.  It is true, many different themes, many different facets of Wisdom, many virtues and fruits of the Spirit, run through God’s Holy Word.  Still, even when the particular word “forgiveness,” is not used, God’s gracious washing away of our sins to restore a good relationship between mankind and Himself predominates through all 66 books.  Luther is correct and Biblical to say that delivering the forgiveness of Christ is the number-one-main-thing in the Church. 

   At the same time, it is incorrect to say that all those other themes, all those Godly works, all those virtues, all those calls to holy living, do not matter.  It is incorrect to say that we do not need to talk about them, strive for them, and prioritize the Christian life. 

   It is of course true that are capable of worshiping our piety, of trusting in our good works, which is the error Luther most especially fought against.  We must guard against this.  At the same time, we need to be careful to not let forgiveness, the justification of the sinner before God, get set against the Christian life, or sanctification.  This also is a demonic temptation, to suggest that faith in forgiveness and a life of good works are somehow opposed to each other, in tension.  We can fall into this error by over-emphasizing one side, or the other. 

   The truth is that we sinners passively receive forgiveness, or justification by God’s grace, through faith, apart from our works.  But justification is nothing other than the opposite side of the same coin as sanctification, the life of active faith that loves God and neighbor.   This two-sided coin is Christ Himself.  Faith in Christ saves, alone, apart from good works.  But saving faith in Christ is never alone, it is always active in love, in praise and prayer, in good works.  Christ is in us by faith, and it is Christ in us who works in and through us, that we should both will and do, according to His good pleasure. 

   If we unduly separate, or set saving faith and a life of good works in opposition, we begin to destroy both.  Christ has saved us so that we can walk in good works, and, at the same time, apart from Christ we are spiritually dead sinners, who cannot do truly good works. 

     Our meet and right desire to be a strong Christian, a good neighbor, to love others, be pure, gain wisdom, know true joy, all of these Godly, wonderful things wholly depend on true faith, on trusting for salvation in Jesus alone, and not our good works.  This is tricky to keep straight.  We could use an illustration.    

     The penitent thief, who in his dying moments came to believe and trust in Jesus as Christ and Savior, most clearly did not think his own works were winning any part of his salvation.  He could do nothing accept die as a criminal, confessing his sin, and trusting in Jesus.  But to die in this way is everything!  In terms of justification, in terms of salvation, we are all like that thief.  Jesus, hanging on a cross for us, is our only hope.  He is all of our hope.

   Which brings us to the main reason that our sinful nature refuses to accept the truth that nothing we do contributes to our salvation – this message insults our goodness.  Who wants to be equated to a crucified criminal, hangin naked on a Roman cross?  But God in His Word declares that our best efforts are worthless for contributing to our salvation.  The forgiveness of Christ alone is the sole basis of our good relationship with God.  Along with this Good News comes the harsh truth that all our good deeds are like filthy rags, stained and ruined by our sinfulness, not worthy of offering up to God for salvation.  Our sinful nature does not appreciate this truth. 

   This is another reason you and I might get tired of hearing and talking about forgiveness:  the centrality of forgiveness, as wonderful as it is, also indicates the centrality of sin, not just in the lives of unbelievers, but also in the lives of Christians.  God in His wisdom has saved us, but has not yet expunged all sin from His children.  That glorious state awaits the End.  Christians need daily forgiveness, just like everyone else.  Indeed, because we know and trust in Jesus Christ and His perfect love, we are also most aware of our own sin.   

    We did not come to faith in the last agonizing hours of our life.  We are more like Job, who lived as a believer a long time, and so had many days to fill with good works.  And so Job is once again our guide, as he lives from the forgiveness of God.    

   The word ‘forgiveness’ is not used in our Job reading, nor anywhere in the whole book.  But, the reality of forgiveness is there.  Job’s error, his particular sin that God needed to correct, is all too common for Christians.  Job always believed God’s promise to send a Savior, first spoken to the Serpent in the Garden.  Very good.  Job’s problem was his belief that all of God’s ways and acts should be intelligible to his fallen mind.  He demanded that God explain everything, most especially his suffering, to his own satisfaction.  There are many mysteries in God’s Word which, if we are not wise, we can obsess over, demanding explanations that God simply does not provide.  The pursuit of truths God has not revealed can be dangerous to faith, which we see in Job’s long struggle.      

    So, the Lord came in a whirlwind and set Job straight: “Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge?”  The LORD showed Job a bit of His glory and His wisdom, to help Job understand that, in this life, we fallen creatures will not understand all His ways.  Then, after Job confessed his foolish sin, the Lord forgave him.  He returned Job to the place of His favor, and restored his life.  God’s forgiveness for Job then flowed over to his friends, to his wife, to his neighbors.  Righteous Job, righteous by His faith in God’s promise, again became a blessing to his neighbors, and an icon of faith for us.

    From St. Paul in Ephesians four we hear similar wisdom.  The former persecutor of the Church turned Missionary Apostle gives a long list of instructions for Christian living, commands like “put away falsehood… Be angry and do not sin…  Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up… Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you… 

   Seems like Paul believes good works are kind of important.  But, lest we lose our connection to the Source, Paul finishes by bringing it back around to the Center.  [Finally], “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” 

     Paul’s exhortation to Christian living is the reality Jesus lived, for us.  The penalty for our failures to live rightly is the reality suffered by Jesus, for us…

the reality He died, for us.  And right there, in the midst of all His good works, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”  Even for His enemies, nailing Him to a tree, Jesus stays centered on the main thing. 

     And by this Word, salvation was bestowed.  The repentant thief confesses the truth about himself, and Jesus.  He confesses His faith.  “Jesus, remember me, when You come into Your kingdom.”     

     Again, Jesus does not use the Word forgiveness in His reply.  But forgiveness is surely given, as Jesus declares, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”   

   Now, do we see any other virtues, any fruit of the Spirit, in the Cross?  All of them, I think.  Strength.  Commitment.  Holy submission to God’s will.  Love, particular earthly care for Mary His mother, adopted to the Apostle John, and love for the whole of humanity, including for His enemies.  Prayer and worship.  Patience.  Endurance.  Joy.  Hope.  All these, and more, flowing from the Main Thing, that God in Christ has reconciled sinful mankind to Himself.  In Christ crucified there is forgiveness, that God may be feared, and loved, by you. 

   “Father forgive them,” prayed the Son, and He does, in and through Jesus.  Rest in His forgiveness, and come to the celebration of His rising.  For His resurrection is your future, your hope, your promise, today, and forever and ever, Amen.