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The sermon for October 14 was based on Matthew 9:1-8.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen.
Why isn't this church full? Could it be that people simply do not believe the
truth of God's Word? On the one hand, most people reject the Law of God as too
harsh. They reject the strict Law you heard last week, that you must love God
with your whole being and your neighbor as yourself. On the other hand, most
people also reject the truth of the Gospel, that God forgives sins freely
through faith in Christ, and that this forgiveness is given to you personally in
the means of grace. If more people believed God's Word, that they were poor,
miserable sinners and that the forgiveness of sins was freely given to people
here at Bethany, then this church would be full every Sunday. But because so few
believe God's Word, so few come to church.
This lack of trust in God's Word is shown even in your life. When you react to
the preaching of God's Law with denial and resist God's call to repent, it is
because you doubt that God's Law applies to you. It is easy enough for you to
make a general confession that you are a sinner, but if I point out your
particular sins, you react, sometimes strongly, against the truth. For example,
you wives sin whenever you disobey your husband, or resent his God-given
authority over you, or harbor your anger against him for days, letting the sun
go down on your wrath. You husbands sin whenever you are not satisfied with the
wife God has given you and you secretly wish you could be set free from the old
ball and chain, or worse yet, you give yourself over to deceitful lusts.
Furthermore, you husbands sin when you fail to take responsibility for the
teaching of the faith in your household, for that is the chief of your God-given
responsibilities. You children sin when you rebel against your parents and
teachers, or when you fight with your brother or sister. Do you have a job? How
often do you work for the purpose of having something to give to those in need,
rather than to support your comfortable American lifestyle? If this preaching of
the Law has raised your blood-pressure or caused a reaction of denial in you,
imagine how you would feel right now if I named you by name and pointed out your
sin. How offended would you be? How defensive would you become? How many excuses
would you use to justify your behavior? When a preacher of God's Law rightly
points out your sin, the only proper reaction from you is to confess your sin
and repent. Anything else shows how much you doubt God's Word.
It is just as easy for you to doubt the Gospel as it is to doubt the Law. This
fact is shown when you think your relationship with God depends on your goodness
or wickedness in any way. If you look at others with contempt and judgment, you
are doubting God's forgiveness of those other people. If you look at yourself as
a great example of Christian living, then you are beginning to trust in your
works rather than in the Gospel. That you doubt the Gospel is also shown
whenever you neglect the means of grace: Baptism, Absolution, preaching, and the
Lord's Supper. These events should be the most important in your life. You
should crave the forgiveness given through these means more than anything else.
If you accept what the Law says about you, that you are a sinner deserving
damnation, then you should be clamoring to come to this place, to receive the
forgiveness of all your sins.
Or maybe you doubt the Gospel which says that God has given the power to forgive
sins to men. The power to forgive sins has Christ Himself as its source, and He
shows that power in today's Gospel lesson. But Christ has given this power to
men in the Office of the Keys, bestowed upon His Church. This Office is used in
the Church through Her public ministers. You confess this faith when you say,
"I believe that, when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His
divine command, . . . when they absolve those who repent of their sins and are
willing to amend, this is as valid and certain, in heaven also, as if Christ,
our dear Lord, dealt with us Himself." [SC V]
Jesus earnestly desires that you believe this Gospel. That is why He instituted
the Office of the Ministry, through which His means of grace are given to you,
time and time again. He knows that your flesh will not accept His promises, so
He constantly reminds you that His Word is true. Over and over again He comes to
you as you are paralyzed by sin, and He says to you, "I forgive you all
your sins." Over and over again He sends your Pastors to preach to you and
to teach you, to comfort you in your sorrows and to strengthen you in times of
trouble with all the Words and promises of God. I cannot tell you enough how
much Jesus loves you and cares for you and forgives you and gives you eternal
life. It is far better for you to believe this Gospel than to gain the whole
world while you lose your soul.
When you believe this Gospel, you thereby honor and worship God in the best way
possible, trusting and loving Him above all things, coming to Him and receiving
from Him forgiveness in Absolution, cleansing in Holy Baptism, and steadfastness
and strength with His own Body and Blood in the Lord's Supper. Believing this
Gospel, you know that God does not lie to you. His promises are certain and
true. The paralytic's friends believed this and brought their friend to the
place where Jesus was. You believe this and bring yourself and whoever will come
with you to Jesus here in this place. Even though the paralytic was afflicted
with some horrible disease or injury, he trusted Jesus to save him. So it is
with all who believe the Gospel. So it is with you. No matter what horrible
disease or injury you have suffered, whether in your body or in your soul, Jesus
has come to save you. You can believe this, for it is true. God's love for you
in Christ is truer than anything else in all creation. No matter what doubt the
devil, the world, or your own flesh whispers into your ear, God declares to you
this day, as He has again and again, "Your sins are forgiven you!"
Therefore, do not listen to the paralysis in your soul, nor to the disease in
your body, nor to the confused chaos of this world, nor even to the devil
himself. Hear instead the voice of Jesus, "Be of good cheer; your sins are
forgiven you."
That Word of forgiveness which Christ speaks to the paralytic, He speaks to you
everyday. He speaks His forgiveness upon you in Holy Baptism, even as you begin
each day remembering that you are God's baptized child. Jesus forgives you in
Holy Absolution, not only here on Sunday mornings, but whenever you desire it,
coming to your Pastor to receive that forgiveness as he lays his hands on your
head. Jesus speaks His forgiveness to you in the preaching of His Word, both for
you and for those whom you bring with you to hear the love of Jesus. And for
those of you who share in this confession of the faith, Jesus gives you the
forgiveness of sins in His own crucified Body and poured-out Blood. Over and
over again, through these appointed means, God forgives you all your sins. You
never need think that God is angry with you, even in the midst of suffering.
Even in your darkest days, this Gospel shines bright, "Be of good cheer;
your sins are forgiven you." Even as you face the deepest shadows of death,
you can stand in faith and confidence, knowing that God loves you dearly and
will rescue you on that day, saying, "Arise and go into your house, the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Oh, how difficult it is for people to believe this Gospel! The scribes in the
lesson instead believed that Jesus blasphemed, insulting God by claiming the
power to forgive sins. And people today are no better than the scribes, as is
proven by these empty pews. They do not believe in the means of grace, that God
gives forgiveness right here on earth. How can simple water do such great
things? How can bread and wine be what Jesus declares them to be as the Pastor
speaks the words of institution, namely, the Body and Blood of God? How can sins
be forgiven through the Absolution spoken by this sinful man? Away with such
questions! Be not doubting, but believing! What God says, is. So, if you seek
the forgiveness of all your sins, do not shut yourself in a closet and pray,
waiting for some angel to appear and absolve you. Rather, receive the means of
grace. Be baptized, or, if you have already done that, come and confess your
sins and be absolved through my speaking God's Word as I lay my hands on your
head. Receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, given and shed for you for the
forgiveness of all your sins. For it is not the visible elements which do such
great things for you, but the Word of God, which is connected with these
elements. And the Word of God makes what it says true. Therefore, your sins are
forgiven you, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
The peace of God, which passes . . . |
