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| | The sermon for August 19 was based on Luke 18:9-14.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today's lesson is simple: Justifying yourself doesn't make you innocent. Yet
this is exactly what the Pharisee does in his prayer. He prays, "God, I
thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or
even as this tax collector." [11] The Pharisee is making his case, seeking
to justify himself, to show that he is innocent and worthy of eternal life. His
own argument betrays him; he may not be an extortionist or adulterer, but he has
little love for his fellow man. He hates the tax collector. He's willing to step
on him in order to climb into heaven if he can. The Pharisee's case is one of
arrogance and pride: He deserves heaven because he's better than other people
who don't deserve heaven.
How much are you like the Pharisee? If you can justify your actions in your own
mind—if you can argue to yourself that what you did wasn't wrong, then you
feel as if you must be innocent in the eyes of God. If you are a young child,
you justify yourself with excuses like, "He hit me first," or "I
couldn't help it," or "I forgot." Or are you an older child? The
excuses may have changed, but the intent is still the same: to show why your
sins aren't really sinful. "My parents just don't understand," you may
reason. Or the ever popular, "Everybody else is doing it." Or one of
the ways you are best at convincing yourself: "It's just not fair."
Growing up into an adult doesn't mean that you spend less time trying to justify
yourself. Rather, as an adult you come up with more sophisticated reasons.
"According to the Bible, this is wrong," you may say, "but it is
the best thing to do economically." Or you act like the Pharisee: "At
least I'm trying to be good, not like those other people who don't try at
all." Or you act like those other people: "Hey, I'm only human. I'm
doing the best that I can." Of course, you still hang on to the
justifications of your childhood and youth: You still use things like "I
just couldn't help myself." You still justify your actions by saying,
"It's just not fair."
The problem with all of this self-justification is simple: Just because you have
justified yourself doesn't mean that you are innocent in the judgment of God. If
you think it does, you are fooling yourself. Worse, it means that you believe
that your judgment is better than God's, that your opinion should determine His
opinion. However, just because you say you're innocent doesn't mean that you
are. Yet somehow you conclude that, if you say that you are innocent, God should
declare you innocent as well. What is this but pride, sinful pride? What sort of
arrogance must you have to say that you determine the judgment of God? How
often, in the process of justifying yourself, do you say "At least I'm not
as bad as others!", thus showing how little you love those around you?
If you believe that you somehow can save yourself and justify your own actions,
judgment day will not be pleasant. The Word of God is the final authority. If
you rely on your own righteousness, the judgment of God's court will be,
"Guilty," and the sentence will be eternal death. No matter how you
justify your actions, no matter how you feel good about what you have done, no
matter how righteous you declare yourself to be—this has no weight on judgment
day. What matters is what God declares you to be.
But the Lord is not only just and holy; He is also gracious and merciful. In the
parable, the tax collector throws himself upon the mercy of God. He makes no
attempt to justify his actions. He does not say, "Lord, I've used some of
my ill-gotten gains to help others, so that's a plus, isn't it?" He doesn't
resort to, "At least I'm not arrogant like that Pharisee," or
"God, at least I'm better than the tax collectors who are worse than I
am." Nor does he bargain for the future, promising to mend his ways in
hopes of making up for the sins of his past. No matter what other men are doing,
no matter what he does in the future, he is still guilty of his sins. He cannot
remove that guilt. So he doesn't even try to justify himself. He cries out,
"Be merciful to me, a sinner." [13] In other words he says,
"According to Your Law, I've done wrong. I have no excuse. But I pray that
You have mercy and don't give to me what I deserve."
This is the first part of confession, the sort of confession you make each
Sunday at the start of the service. Some people have odd ideas about what
confession is, so I will define that word: to confess means to "speak
with," to "agree," to "say the same thing" as somebody
else. When you confess your sins, you are saying the same thing that God says
about you. You are admitting that His Word is true, that you are indeed a poor,
miserable sinner who has deserved His punishment, now and forever. You are
denying your old Adam's attempt to say "I'm not that bad!" You are
simply saying to the Lord, "When You declare that I am sinful, You speak
the truth." There is no room for pride in such a confession.
How does your confession continue? "I pray You of Your boundless mercy…."
You throw yourself upon the mercy of God, praying that He not give you what you
have justly deserved for your sins. Before the throne of God, there is no
half-measure: In the parable today, the tax collector doesn't receive a lighter
sentence. He goes home justified. He is declared not guilty. He is declared to
be righteous and without sin by the only Judge who matters.
But one important point stands behind the parable. God is just, so He must
punish sin. He is merciful to the tax collector. He is merciful to you. But the
Lord doesn't just wink at sin, pretending that it doesn't exist. His holiness
demands that sin be punished. He can not be merciful to you unless He has
punished Someone else for your sin. That is why talking about the judgment and
mercy of God isn't enough. That is why I must also tell you about the God's
grace in Christ. In His grace, God punishes Christ in your stead. There is no
way that a human judge would knowingly punish an innocent man for the crimes of
another. Such justice is ridiculous and absurd. But that is the grace of God.
That is Gospel.
Behold the grace of God! So that He might not declare you guilty of your sin, He
has declared His only Son guilty of your sin. So that He might not put you to
death for your iniquity, He has put His Son to death for your iniquity. His
judgment against you did not just disappear as He winked away your sin. His
judgment against you fell upon His Son, Jesus Christ. But Jesus' righteousness
didn't just vanish into thin air when He bore your iniquity. Christ's
righteousness has been placed upon you. You were clothed with His holiness in
Holy Baptism. You have been strengthened by His Word and by His Supper ever
since, so that you stand before God in righteousness and innocence forever.
Remember how the confession of sins continues: "I pray You of Your
boundless mercy, and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and
death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a
poor sinful being." And then God declares you innocent through your
Pastor's Absolution. You go home justified. This is the grace of God.
The judgment of the Law demands punishment for your sin. The grace of the Gospel
declares that you are set free, that you will not be sentenced for your sin.
Why? Because the grace of Gospel declares that the Son of God has died in your
place, paying the price and suffering the punishment for all your sins. And
having taken your place in death, He is now risen again, that He might grant you
forgiveness, life, and salvation.
This is the wondrous news that the Lord declares in the parable of the Pharisee
and the tax collector. The Pharisee leaves the temple caught in his sins. So
sure was he that he was saved by his own works that he had no need for the mercy
of God. The tax collector, however, knew that there was absolutely nothing about
himself in which to trust. Therefore, he confessed his sinfulness to God,
praying that the Lord would have mercy and not condemn him as he deserved. The
Lord had mercy on the tax collector, because the Lord died in the place of
sinners.
Therefore, rejoice this day. Salvation is yours because of what the Lord has
done. Having died in your place to take away your sin, He grants you
forgiveness, life, salvation, and all of the treasures of heaven. You need not
fear for your salvation; you need not wonder if you are innocent enough. You can
be sure that your sins are taken away, that there is nothing left to be done.
Why? Because the Lord God, the Judge of all, has declared you "not
guilty". When He declares you not guilty, there is no doubt. You are
justified. Therefore, having been justified by faith, you have peace with God
through your Lord Jesus Christ [Rom 5:1]. Amen.
The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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