Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, October
6th, Year of Our + Lord 2013
St. John and Trinity Lutheran Churches,
Fairview and Sidney, Montana
Genesis 28:10-17, Ephesians 4:17-32,
Matthew 9:1-8
What place, exactly, does forgiveness
hold, in the Church, in the life of the Christian? What is the role of forgiveness in the
ongoing mission of God? This may seem an
obvious question to you. Or perhaps, as
you live your life, and think about being a Christian, and hear Christians talk
about the faith, the place of forgiveness may not be so clear. Our readings today invite us to consider
forgiveness closely, so let’s do that.
As we drove out and back to Chicago last
week, we listened to a bit of Christian radio, but we didn’t hear much about
forgiveness. One speaker explained in
great detail the teaching of purgatory, how God uses purgatory to perfect
Christians who, while they did not reject God in this life, in the end fell
short of the perfect love that God requires of everyone. It was a perfectly reasonable explanation of
a completely false teaching, the only thing missing being any Biblical evidence
to support the teaching. Forgiveness, in
the false purgatorial scheme, is ultimately unimportant, as you will have to
work off your imperfections in purgatory, regardless of what the Bible says
about the blood of Jesus cleansing you from all sin.
Several other programs were all about you
learning how to properly handle your money, how to be a good steward, avoid
debt, and have lots of money for your
family and for your church. I didn’t
hear anyone claim that proper money management would earn you heaven, but given
the frequency of these programs on Christian radio, being a good money manager
must be the center of the lives of many
Christians. Pay off your debts, live
economically, give to your church, be a good financial steward, noble goals
all, but where does forgiveness fit in?
Another common Christian radio theme is Israel. Not the New Israel, the New Testament Church
of Christ. Nor Old Israel, that is, not
the Old Testament people of God. No, the
Israel most often discussed on Christian radio is the 60 some year old modern
state of Israel, the support of which is critically important in the minds of
many American Christians. Now, I support
supporting Israel, because they are a modern, law-abiding, democratic nation
sitting in the middle of the Middle East, where radical Islam menaces. Radical Islam is a real danger to America,
and the world, and especially to Christians.
Good is served whenever constitutional law and true democracy flourish,
so I think we should maintain strong ties to modern Israel. But modern Israel has nothing to do with
Christian faith. Paul did not write an
Epistle to the United Nations. The
Scriptural basis given for the claims that the End will not come unless modern
Christians support modern Israel is flimsy, wrongheaded, and certainly does not
focus our attention on the question of forgiveness.
It would seem, from what plays on
Christian radio, and also, I’m pretty certain, on Christian T.V., that
forgiveness is not a particularly central idea in Christianity. Indeed, even when forgiveness is discussed,
the forgiveness of God for sinners is often brushed by quickly, often replaced
on center stage with learning to forgive yourself, whatever that means. I can never seem to find the Bible verse that
teaches us to forgive ourselves. No
matter, after a break, we’ll get right back to helping you straighten out your
finances, so you can send more money to support modern Israel, or perhaps buy
your Aunt Bessie out of purgatory, because you know she must have received a
lengthy sentence.
The forgiveness of God delivered to sinners
today is a very infrequent subject of conversation amongst many Christian
teachers. But there is another subject
even less frequently brought up – the real presence of God, on earth, both
throughout time, and also today. That
God is present is often acknowledged, but in an airy, “spiritual” sense, a
“spiritual” sense that gives off a strong whiff of unreality, of a feeling that
can’t be tied down or relied upon in any concrete manner. “Let the Spirit speak to you, and feel His
indwelling;” such is the common exhortation of preachers. But how exactly, should the indwelling of the
Spirit feel? And how do I “let” Him do
anything, since the Holy Spirit is Almighty God, and I am, well, just me?
Jacob got a glimpse, an understanding of
the real presence of God, through the vision God gave him while he slept. After seeing the ladder stretching into
heaven, upon which angels descended and ascended, after hearing the Word of the
Lord, spoken to him by the Lord, standing next to him, on the earth, after
hearing the lavish promises of a Seed to come who would be a blessing to all of
Jacob’s vast family, and also a blessing to every family on earth, Jacob wakes
and exclaims: "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." And he was afraid and said, "How awesome
is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate
of heaven." Jacob suddenly
understood that, at least in that place, God was truly present, even though he could
not normally perceive it. Jacob believed
in the real presence of God, and he was afraid.
Why? Why did the real presence of God frighten
Jacob? After all, the Lord made
wonderful promises to him; why was Jacob not simply overcome with joy? Could it be that the real presence of the
Holy, Holy, Holy God is always a frightful thing, if you realize that you are a
sinner? Of course it is. Adam and Eve knew, right away after they
sinned, that they needed to hide from God.
God wanted them in His presence, but their sin made that dangerous, from
their perspective, impossible, for they were now sinners, and God is by His
very nature the destruction of sin.
We are
all sinners. And God is truly present,
even more for us than for Jacob. God
appeared in a dream to Jacob, but He has promised to be in your midst, every
time two or three of you gather in His Name.
God the Holy Spirit has poured Himself into you in your Baptism, and
speaks through me, and you, whenever we speak His Holy Word. God the Son has joined Himself to you, and
you to Him. In your Baptism, you were
clothed with Christ. The Temple of God
is the Church of Christ, a house of living stones, in which God makes His
dwelling. Whether you realize it or not,
God is truly present.
And so,
paradoxically, we face a great temptation to ignore the forgiveness of sins,
even though it is quite clearly the heart of the matter in everything
Christian. Why? Why are Christians tempted to talk about anything
but forgiveness? Why are we tempted to
make good works, or music, or financial planning, or potlucks, or anything at
all the center of our Christian conversation, rather than talk too much about
forgiveness? Because to get to
forgiveness, first we must confess our sin.
And if God is truly present, or even if we think He might be present, we
in our brokenness fear saying out loud the truth about our sins, about our
sinfulness. Much easier to assume that
everyone knows about all that sin and grace stuff, and move on to talk about
the Christian life, or to talk about made up teachings concerning the end
times, or the time after death, anything at all, rather than honestly speak of
the reality of our sin.
When we
succumb to this temptation, Satan has us in his tentacles. There is nothing more frightful or dangerous
for a believer than to pretend sin isn’t an issue for me, as I enter into the
presence of God. Go ahead, whispers the
Serpent, go to Church, go to your prayers, and say nice things about God and
yourself. Talk about how much good we
can do, how much good we are doing. No
one has to know what a sinner you really are.
But God
already knows. The Holy, Holy, Holy,
Almighty God, who hates sin, is coming to reveal His true presence in your
midst, and He already knows all about your sin.
We are experts at hiding our sin from one another, but woe is me if I
really think I can hide my sin from God.
God is present, and I’m a sinner.
Yes, I’m afraid. Better to be
afraid than a hypocrite, so I confess, yes, many times I’m so afraid, I can’t
even drag myself to meet God. Sometimes
it has to wait till I’m paralyzed by sin and its consequences, unable to get to
God, so pitiful that my hopeful friends drag me to Him.
Such was
the plight of the paralytic in our reading from Matthew, a man brought to Jesus
by his friends, literally carried into the presence God, whether he realized it
or not. And what did the Holy, Holy,
Holy Lord, the Son of God made man, have to say to this pitiful sinner? Did He say, Here, let me give you some
exercises to strengthen your legs? Here,
let me teach you to balance your budget?
Here, let me work out for you how much and how long you must work to
earn forgiveness in purgatory? Here, let
me show you how to really be a Christian?
No, Jesus is no radio preacher, He doesn’t say any such thing to the
paralytic. Jesus cuts right to the heart
of the matter: Take heart, my son, your
sins are forgiven.
Wait a
minute. Who among us has not, at some
point, cried out: wait a minute God, it can’t be that easy. You are holy, and you have all these laws,
and that guy, maybe not this guy, but certainly that guy is clearly a sinner.
What flesh and blood man can speak for God and forgive sins, just like
that, real sins, like the real sins that I’m hiding in my conscience, afraid to
speak out loud? Jesus is
blaspheming.
No, says
Jesus, I’m not blaspheming, and neither are those who go forth, declaring the
forgiveness of sins in my Name. You see,
says Jesus, I AM the Lord, the Almighty God, the hater of sin, coming into your
midst. Oh sinners, I am coming into your
presence, but fear not. Yes, I hate sin,
but I love you more. So does my
Father. So great and eternal and perfect
is the love of God for mankind that I am come into your midst, to take your sin
from you. I will make this paralytic
walk today, to prove a point, says Jesus, but the real business I have come to
complete is much greater. I am come into
your midst, to destroy your sin, in my own flesh and blood. This is the heart of the matter, my sons and
daughters. So take heart, your sins are
forgiven by my Father, for the sake of my suffering and death. And now, risen from the dead, death has no
power over me, nothing has any power over me.
I am free, declares Jesus, free to forgive and restore every
sinner.
God is in
this place. He has promised, and so it
is true. God is present, not because we
are so worthy, but precisely because we are not worthy. God is in this place, to confront sinners,
and forgive them. The Lord has given
this authority to His Church, to the Body of Believers. When someone comes to you, confessing they have
sinned against you, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
as God in Christ forgave you. Forgive
each other, in the Name of Jesus. The
Lord has given this authority to His Church, and given the Church the office of
the ministry to publicly deliver this same forgiveness. The forgiveness I declare, the Absolution I
speak, is not my Word. It’s not based in
my authority or virtue, but solely on the Authority, Virtue, and Word of
Christ.
Flowing
from forgiveness, the Christian Church and the Christian’s life are full of
many things, like fleeing from sin and living as Christians. Put off your old self, … corrupt through
deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds. Put on the new self, created after the likeness
of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Christian living is full also of helpful, practical things, like good
works done for the neighbor, maybe even the good work of giving practical
advice for living, certainly good works like consoling the sad and sick,
feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked.
But apart
from forgiveness, the Church is an empty shell, no matter how pretty or
powerful or useful she may appear. In
the Church, everything is to be focused on the delivery, day by day, of the
forgiveness Christ has won for all, forgiveness delivered to you, through His
Word and Sacrament.
And so,
sons and daughters of God, take heart, God is truly present in this place, and
your sins are forgiven, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit, Amen.
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