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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

Trinity 13: Inheritance by Promise, Not by Works of the Law

8/27/2018

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Galatians 3:15-22 
Luke 10:21-37 
August 26, 2018 
 
The Law does not nullify the Promise. St. Paul makes it explicitly clear in our Epistle lesson that the inheritance of eternal life is given by promise to those who believe in Jesus Christ. And if the inheritance is given by promise, then it cannot be obtained by works of the law, as the Apostle says, “For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” It cannot be both. It is either by works of the law or by promise, that is, as a free gift from God.  
St. Paul goes further in his explanation by reasoning that the law, which came 430 afterward, did not annul the covenant previously ratified by God. Let me refresh your memory of Old Testament history. God called Abraham out of his father’s country and promised to make a great nation out of him and that in him all families of the earth would be blessed. He had Abraham look at the promised land and said he would give it to him and to his offspring forever. This offspring, St. Paul tells us, is Christ Jesus himself, through whom all families of the earth are blessed. Abraham believed God’s promise and through his faith, he received what was promised to him, namely an eternal inheritance. This is why St. Paul writes, “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (Galatians 3:9) 
430 years after Abraham received this irrevocable promise from God, God through Moses gave the law to Israel, the nation, which descended from Abraham. God did not give the law as a second path to obtain this inheritance. There can only be one way to receive the inheritance of eternal life. And if it is by the law, then not only does God contradict what he said to Abraham, but this creates a huge problem for those who lived before the law was given! 
If one receives the inheritance of eternal life through works of the Law, what happens to Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and his wives and children and all the people of Israel who lived before the law was given? Or for that matter, what about Adam and Eve, Abel, Seth, Enoch, and Noah. How could these people obtain their eternal inheritance by a law, which had not been given to them?  
The promise given to Abraham that through his seed all families of the earth would be blessed is no different than the promise given to Adam and Eve in garden. The offspring of the woman, who would crush the head of the serpent is the one and the same offspring of Abraham, through whom all families are blessed. God promised to all these generations an inheritance to be received by faith long before he gave the law.  
So, there must be something wrong with the law, right? Certainly not! The law is good and wise. The entire law can be summed up in two simple sentences: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.” The law expresses the holy will of God. There is no greater work you can do than to love God with all your heart. And to treat your neighbor as you would have him treat you is how God desires you to live at all times. So, what’s wrong with the law? Why can’t it give us the inheritance of eternal life? Didn’t Jesus himself say to the lawyer, “Do this, and you will live.”?  
The problem lies in us: Sin. Sin, which corrupts each and every one of us caused St. Paul to lament, “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.” (Romans 7:10) The problem is not that there is anything lacking in the law or commandment. The problem is that we do not have the ability to do what the law requires. “Do this and you will live.” That sounds quite simple. It’s certainly easy to understand! Yet, it is impossible to do. King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes chapter 7, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” (vs. 20) And St. Paul declares in Romans 3, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” (vs. 23) 
“Do this and you will live.” Quite easy to say. Impossible to do. And the lawyer knew this or at least he learned it. Desiring to justify himself, something only God can do, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Why did he ask this question? Because the commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself” is too difficult. It can’t possibly mean love everyone! That would be impossible! Perhaps if Jesus would narrow it down a little bit, then he could focus on a smaller pool of people to love. That would be more manageable. Perhaps, then he could fulfill the demands of the law to “love your neighbor as yourself.”  
But you can’t modify the law to make it easier. The law demands perfect devotions. It is doers of the law, who are justified, not simply hearers. But no one does what the law requires. Therefore, those who are under the law are under a curse.  
So, the law must contradict the promise, since it cannot give life! Right? “Certainly not!”, St. Paul proclaims, “For if a law had been given that could give life, then the righteousness would indeed be by the law.” It was never God’s purpose in giving the law that people would earn eternal life through it. The law was added because of our transgressions. The law accuses us of our sins and doesn’t let us escape blame, so that we can look to nothing else for help than the promise given to Abraham, the promise by faith in Jesus Christ.  
This is what the law accomplishes. Just look at the self-righteous lawyer. What did the law reveal about him? It revealed that he didn’t love his neighbor. We find this out by the lawyer’s question, “And who is my neighbor?”. Why did he ask this question? Because he didn’t love his neighbor. If he loved his neighbor, and indeed desired to treat everyone he met as he himself would like to be treated, then he would not have attempted to limit how many people he was required to love. Think of it. He is asking, who his neighbor is, so that he knows whom the law requires him to love. That means that he is okay with not loving the people, who are not his neighbor. And not only that, even those who are considered his neighbor, he only loves them, because the law requires it of him. And that is not love at all! 
The law pushed him into a corner, like a king on a chess board, who can’t move without getting checked. It’s a check mate. He’s lost. And the law does the same thing to every one of you. It imprisons you. Why? So that you can receive the inheritance through faith in the promise.  
It is the most dangerous and widespread false teaching that you can save yourself by your own good works. And this crosses denominational lines. Even Lutherans, who belong to churches, which teach that we are not justified by our own strength, merits, or works, but that we are freely justified through faith when we believe that we are received into favor and that our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, who by his death has made satisfaction for our sins, yes, even these Lutherans will then believe that they will go to heaven because they ultimately aren’t that bad. Or they’ll comfort themselves that their unbelieving friends will not be condemned, because they are after all pretty good people.  
Atheism isn’t really as popular as you’d think. People just can’t get over the many mysteries, which science can’t explain, so that even the least religious people in the world will refuse to completely reject the existence of God. Yet, these many millions who will not reject the existence of God will also reject their need for a savior. Instead, it is becoming an increasingly popular belief that if God exists and if he judges us at the end of our life, then he will only punish the really bad people. People frequently take comfort in the opinion that they really are basically good, and if God is just he will not punish them. This of course means, that we don’t need Jesus.  
And this is exactly why we need the law. We are not basically good. By nature, we are sinful. King David says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.” If you examine yourself honestly according to the Ten Commandments, not trying to limit the scope of each commandment as the lawyer in our Gospel lesson did, then you will see clearly that you have fallen short of the kingdom of God. This will destroy any notion you have that you can inherit eternal life by works of the law. But that will mean that the law has done exactly what it was intended for.  
St. Paul wrote, “But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” Everyone is imprisoned under sin, because the promise is for everyone. God promised Jesus to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yes, even to Adam and Eve and all their children, because they were incapable of saving themselves. But they don’t need to save themselves. Jesus has done it for them. And Jesus has done it for you too; you, who have been imprisoned by the law.  
“Go and do likewise.”, Jesus says concerning the Good Samaritan, who proved to be a neighbor to the one who fell among the robbers. Does Jesus teach a different interpretation of the law in our Gospel lesson than St. Paul does in our Epistle lesson? Certainly not. The Good Samaritan is not simply an example of how to follow the law. He is Jesus. And the man, who fell among the robbers is you. The Good Samaritan out of pure mercy bandages up the half-dead victim and treats him for his injuries. He places him on his own animal and bears the burden of the man. He pays the cost to bring him back to health without requiring anything from the man.  
Jesus is the Good Samaritan. You are the victim he helps. “Go and do likewise” doesn’t simply mean, “This is how you follow the law.” It means that as God has shown mercy to you, you also should show mercy to others. The law only threatens you, so that you obey. And when you fail to obey it condemns. The gospel forgives your sins out of pure mercy and gives you the will to show mercy to others. “Go and do likewise” doesn’t have the threatening force of the law to those, who have received mercy. Jesus isn’t threatening condemnation with these words. Rather the one who goes and does likewise is the one, who, having received mercy freely shows mercy to others without fear of the law.  
The law condemns those who are under it. But for those who are in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation. Those who believe in the promise given to Abraham receive the promised inheritance, even though their works fall short. This means that you, who have faith in Christ, can show mercy to your neighbor without fear of the threats of the law. You don’t show mercy like the lawyer, who is only seeking to earn his inheritance. You show true mercy and love as one who already knows that your inheritance is secured for you by the blood of Christ.  
So, the promise of Jesus accomplishes two things that the law cannot accomplish. First, it gives you the inheritance of eternal life. Second, it gives you the will to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and your neighbor as yourself, not by the coercion of threats, but through love and mercy.  
Amen.  
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Trinity 12: Jesus prepares your ears to receive the Gospel and your mouth to confess his name

8/20/2018

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Mark 7:31-37 
August 19, 2018 
 
The short story we heard in our Gospel lesson is a true story. It really did happen. There was a man, who was deaf and had a speech impediment. You can imagine how difficult it was for this man to live with these disabilities. He could hardly communicate with anyone and was dependent on others to help him just to do daily tasks. This man existed and had real hardships. And Jesus really healed him. The man’s quality of life became exceptionally better. This account demonstrates our Lord’s immense compassion and mercy. 
 
It also demonstrates that Jesus is God and he has come to restore his lost creation. It’s a misconception that God created a faulty world. At the conclusion of God’s creation, he called it very good. There was no flaw in what God had made; no design flaw, no disease, nothing wrong at all. Mankind was perfect and without sin; perfectly made in God’s image. It was sin, which God did not create, which altered God’s good creation. Satan’s pride led to the temptation and fall of man. And through one man’s sin all became sinners and subject to death.  

But we don’t consider this, do we? Instead, we often live our lives as if we live in the perfect creation, not desiring from God something much better. People take for granted that they have two working arms and two working legs, functioning lungs and heart. God is so merciful with so many of us as to give us good health, that we assume that this is just the way it is. People become so used to things working out well, they say that it is all just natural. So, we have no need for a creator, because nature just produces perfectly functioning eyes, ears, mouths, and limbs all by itself. Evolution replaces the intelligent God. Yet, what about faulty limbs and senses, disease and chronic pain? These the atheist claims are proofs of unintelligent design; flaws, which prove the absence of God.  

We of course know that it is God who created us and still preserves us. And these ailments we experience: aches and pains, faulty hearts and backs, diseases and cancer, these are all direct results of our sinful condition. God is much more merciful to us than we realize, that he lets us live for the most part healthy lives with whole bodies. But, believe it or not, it is also merciful of our God that he does not completely remove these signs of death. Every ailment suffered by us is a reminder that sin has corrupted our race. Such suffering in the body reminds us of our final wages of sin: death, which is followed by eternal punishment. Would God completely spare us of temporary suffering in this life, we would be left with no physical warning to repent and to seek a greater life in Christ Jesus.  

So, Jesus visits his fallen creation, much like an engineer or mechanic inspects a machine, which he has created flawlessly, yet has been vandalized and damaged, and he repairs it to its original perfect condition. However, Jesus does not restore the deaf and mute man perfectly. The man’s body will still perish. Yet, this restoration of his ears and mouth does foreshadow what Jesus will do. He will raise all our bodies from our graves and restore them to their original perfect glory.  

But this story is not only about what Jesus did do nearly 2,000 years ago nor about what he will do at the end of the age. This story is also about what Jesus is currently doing right here and now; it describes for us the life of the Christian Church on earth.  

The man was brought by others to Jesus. These people surely heard about Jesus and his mighty works of mercy, for faith comes by hearing. But this deaf man obviously didn’t hear. His ears didn’t work. And apparently, he didn’t understand, because others had to bring him. This teaches us a lot about what our faith can do for others. You can’t have faith for someone else! This reality has resulted in many tears and broken hearts of spouses and parents of unbelievers. Yet, you can use your faith to bring others to faith. You can bring others to faith in three ways: First, through the word of God and its preaching. You can tell people about Jesus; about what God’s word says about sin, death, forgiveness, and life. And you can point them to the preaching of the Gospel. Secondly, through a godly life. Simply by living your life under the law of love you can bring people to be willing to hear the Gospel, as St. Peter encourages wives of unbelievers in his first epistle, “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.”(1 Peter 3:1-2) Finally, you can pray. While St. Augustine and his father were still pagans, his mother St. Monica prayed earnestly for their conversions. His father confessed Christ on his deathbed. And St. Augustine became one of the most influential bishops in church history. In these three ways God uses faithful Christians to bring others to him.  

Yet, perhaps what the episode in our Gospel lesson reflects most is what we saw last Sunday when Brantley Cordray was baptized. Just as that deaf and mute man was brought to Jesus, a man he did not know anything about, so the little baby was bought to the font. The baby wasn’t able to confess the creed or even say that he wanted to be baptized, so his parents and sponsors had to answer for him. Likewise, the people spoke to Jesus on the mute man’s behalf. Baby Brantley showed absolutely no indication of faith. Neither do we see any expression of faith from the death mute. Yet, Jesus healed him. He opened his ears and loosened his tongue, so that he could hear his words and confess his name. So, Jesus did the same thing for Brantley. He opened his ears to hear the Gospel meant for him.  

So, we learn from this episode that God can use the faith of believers to bring others to him. This is especially the case for Christian parents, who can bring their children to baptism and raise them in the daily fear and admonition of the Lord. And we also learn that faith is a gift from God. Long before a believer trusts in Christ as his Savior, Christ is working to save the individual. Many believe that conversion and accepting Christ as your personal Lord and Savior is a work of the individual. But this is not what Scripture teaches. Faith is a gift from God. And your conversion is a work of the Holy Spirit, who is given to you by God.  

We also see a strange behavior from Jesus in this episode, which helps us understand how God works with us in the Church today. We have heard many times how Jesus healed people from various diseases and raised them from the dead simply by speaking a word. In some cases, he wouldn’t even go and see the person whom he was healing. Yet, in this Gospel lesson Jesus takes the man aside, puts his fingers in his ears, spits, and touches the man’s tongue. What’s with all the unnecessary touching and spitting? Why doesn’t Jesus just speak as he has done before?  

Well, it might be “unnecessary” for Jesus to touch and spit for his own sake, but this reflects how God has chosen to communicate with his people from the beginning. God could have just told Noah that he will never destroy all life on earth again by means of a flood, but he chose to show him a sign, which we still witness in the sky today. God could have just told the people of old that he would send his Son to make satisfaction for our sins by means of his sacrificial death, but he chose to give them a sign they could see, touch, and taste by means of the many sacrifices offered throughout the Old Testament.  

And so, it is today. Christ could have just given us the Gospel through the preaching of the Word, but he is so generous and knows our weak frame that he gives us the physical and visible signs of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And with this in mind, we should recognize that Jesus’ actions are not unnecessary, even as the water in Baptism and the bread and wine in Communion are not unnecessary. Rather, Jesus uses these physical elements to perform mighty works, which our faith can trust in.  

As Jesus’ words bring power to the waters of Baptism and make present his life-giving body and blood in the Supper, so Jesus’ word here completes his work, so that the deaf man can hear and speak plainly. Yet, there is something we should notice that happened so fast you’d miss it if you read it only once. Before Jesus commands his ears to be opened, he sighs. And this is not just an ordinary sigh, but a deep sigh, a groan. By recording this sigh, St. Mark gives us a subtle hint toward the passion our Lord will soon suffer.  

Words are cheap. It’s the easiest thing in the world to say, “Your sins are forgiven.” And our Lord chose some of the most abundant things we have on earth to be the elements in his Sacraments: water, bread, and wine. And so, it is easy to despise these things along with the words that go with them. But here we are reminded that everything Jesus says comes at a cost. St. Matthew writes in the 8th chapter of his Gospel that when Jesus healed the sick he fulfilled the prophecy from Isaiah 53, “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” These aren’t cheap words. They come at a cost. Jesus isn’t some wizard, who says a magic spell. He has taken on our human flesh, so that he might bear our iniquities and infirmities. In Baptism all sins of the baptized are washed away, because Jesus bore them on the cross. Your sins are forgiven in Holy Communion, because Jesus shed his real blood to wash them away. Your body will rise from the dead, because Christ has borne the price of your sins on his body. The words you hear here in church week after week are not cheap words. They were purchased with great groaning and sighing from Christ.  

After Jesus healed the man, he spoke plainly. This obviously caused great joy to the man, as you can imagine. Yet, when we consider what we know about the tongue, this was also a dangerous thing Christ did. St. James writes, “The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.  .. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (3:6b, 7-8) And Jesus got a taste of this poison, when others disobeyed him and proclaimed his deeds prematurely, endangering his ministry.  

And any of us, who has spoken words he’d rather take back knows the wisdom in Proverbs 17, “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” So, we might see the loosing of the man’s tongue as a dubious blessing. Yet, it was a blessing. It is true that at many times, it is wiser to remain silent. Yet, there are also times when we must and ought to speak, as St. Paul writes, “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:10) And so, the Psalmist prays, “O Lord, open my lips; and my mouth will declare your praise.” (Psalm 51:15) This is how it was with this healed mute man. He spoke rightly and confessed the name of Jesus. And so, it is with us. Through the working of God’s Word in our hearts, our lips have learned to praise God rightly. Yes, sin still pollutes our lips, even as the deaf and mute man restored to good health eventually went to the grave. Yet, just as that healing was a foreshadow of the resurrection of all the dead, the praises we sing today are also a foreshadow of the eternal bliss we will enjoy when we will join the heavenly ranks of saints and angels in singing our Savior’s praises.  
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In Jesus’ name, Amen.  ​
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Trinity 11: The Consistent Grace of God

8/13/2018

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Luke 18:9-14 
August 12, 2018 
 
Who do you think is a nicer God, the God of the Old Testament or the God of the New Testament? Which path of salvation would you prefer, that of the Old Testament or that of the New? If you find these questions ridiculous and even offensive, that’s good. The God of the Old Testament and of the New is one and the same God. And his way of salvation has been consistent from the foundation of the world. It is an ancient heresy called Marcionism, which teaches that the God of the Old Testament and of the New are two opposing gods. Marcion taught that the God of the Old Testament, who created the world was cruel, ignorant and unmerciful; the God of the New Testament and the Father of Jesus, however, is merciful and loving. Although Marcion was excommunicated from the Christian Church in 144 AD his view of the gods of the Old and New Testament is still popular in 2018.  
People are often shocked when they read the Old Testament at how wrathful and strict God is portrayed and often fall into the notion that the Old Testament teaches a different religion than the New Testament or even that God has changed. But God has not and cannot change and his mercy endures forever even as Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And when you look closely, you see that while God is strict, he is always just and merciful. The God, who destroyed all life on earth with a world-wide flood also rescued Noah and his family of eight. The God, who wiped out wicked Sodom rescued Lot and his daughters. And the God, who drowned Pharoah and his hosts in the Red Sea also rescued the nation of Israel from slavery.  
A popular notion is that the God of the Old Testament demands good works in order for a person to be saved, while the God of the New Testament only requires faith. This is a false notion. And our Old Testament and Gospel lessons show us clearly that God’s way to salvation has always been by grace through faith.  
Cain and Abel both offered sacrifices to God. Abel’s offering was accepted by God, but Cain’s was rejected. Why? Did Cain offer God a bunch of rotten vegetables while Abel offered good meat? Scripture doesn’t say that. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. We don’t have any more details than that. And there isn’t really any reason to suspect that Cain offered inferior vegetables or held back the best of his crop.  
Abel, however, sacrificed the first born of his flock and of their fat portions. This actually tells us a lot about Abel. In Leviticus chapters 3 and 4 God commands Israel through Moses that when offering a peace offering or a sin offering, that all the fat of the animal should be offered on the altar to the LORD. Leviticus 3:16 says, “All fat is the LORD’s.” And in Deuteronomy chapter 15 God commands Israel through Moses that all firstborn males of their flocks and herds should be sacrificed to the LORD. Yet, both of these commandments regarding the offering of fat and the firstborn were made thousands of years after Abel already sacrificed the fat of the firstborn of his flock to the LORD. This means that thousands of years before God commanded Israel through Moses how to offer proper sacrifices, Abel was already doing it. Well, how can this be?  
It is apparent that Abel’s father Adam taught Cain and Abel how to offer right sacrifices. Adam was taught by God. So, is Cain’s sin that he did not offer the right sacrifice? No. King David writes in Psalm 51, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (vss. 16-17) God looks at the heart. It is not as if you can figure out the perfect formula for a proper sacrifice and as long as you perform it perfectly you will go to heaven, regardless of what’s on your heart. God desires a repentant heart that trusts in the LORD. God speaks in Psalm 50, “Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. … Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, .... and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”  
It is perfectly possible that Cain offered a sacrifice in keeping with how his father Adam taught him. God commanded Israel through Moses to offer the first fruits of their fields as well. Cain could very well have offered the finest and best of his crops to the LORD. So why did God reject Cain’s offering and accept Abel’s? Hebrews 11:5 answers us, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.”  
God accepted Abel’s offering, not because his offering was perfectly performed, but because he saw the faith by which Abel offered his gift. Abel offered the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions, not because he thought he could appease God’s wrath and please him if he gave him a good enough present. What does God need dead sheep for? He offered God this sacrifice, because he believed in the promised Messiah, the firstborn from God, who would make atonement for Abel’s sins. By offering the most precious of his flock as a sacrifice, Abel communicated his faith in the promised Messiah, who would crush the serpent’s head, while suffering the strike upon his heal.  
Cain meanwhile trusted in himself. He believed that God should accept him because of his sacrifice, not for the sake of the promised Messiah. Cain was works-righteous. Works-righteousness is the world’s oldest false religion. It teaches that you can be righteous before God based on your own works. Works-righteousness does not teach you to trust in Jesus, but in yourself. While faith in Christ produces love, works-righteousness produces hate. Cain hated his brother. Abel showed his faith by offering God a sacrifice, which communicated his faith in God’s promise. Cain showed his works-righteousness by murdering his brother in hate and jealously, because his works weren’t accepted.  
Our Gospel lesson gives us a parallel story. A Pharisee and a tax collector go up to the temple to pray. There is no mistaking it, the Pharisee has good works. If you were to try conclude that God didn’t accept the Pharisee, because his works weren’t quite good enough, you’d completely miss the point of the parable. The Pharisee has fine works. It is good not to be a thief or an adulterer. It is good to fast and give ten percent of what you make to the church. The Pharisee did good things. And unlike Abel, we don’t see any of the good works of the tax collector. He just beats his breast and prays for mercy. So, why does the tax collector go down to his house justified? For the same reason that God accepted Abel’s offering and rejected Cain’s: faith.  
The Pharisee did not have faith. He did not offer to God a broken spirit or a contrite heart. He offered his works, which he thought were so good. Yet, when you look closely, you see that like Cain’s, they were not offered in love. The Pharisee trusted in himself that he was righteous and treated others with contempt. He hated the tax collector and cared nothing for his soul. His hatred was the rotten fruit that proved that he did not have faith.  
The tax collector, however, reveals his faith through his words and actions. By beating his breast, he reveals that he has a broken spirit and contrite heart. He confesses to God that he is a sinner. And not just a sinner, he says, “have mercy on me, the sinner.” The tax collector doesn’t accuse anyone else of sin. He acknowledges his own sins before the Lord and bids for pardon.  
And the word the tax collector uses for mercy here really connects him to Abel. He doesn’t use the regular word for mercy. Instead, he says, “Be propitiated to me, the sinner.” This phrase, “be propitiated” is sacrificial language. It refers to a sacrifice. The tax collector is saying to God, “God, let this sacrifice make propitiation or satisfaction for my sins.” They are in the temple during these prayers. The Jews went to the temple to pray during the morning and evening sacrifices. During these sacrifices the priests offered lambs without blemish on the altar, and their fat portions. In the presence of this same type of sacrifice that Abel offered thousands of years previously the tax collector with a contrite heart offers quite possibly the same prayer to God as Abel did. “Be propitiated to me, the sinner.”  
Yet, how does this teach that we have the same God and the same way of salvation as the Old Testament? We don’t offer sacrifices anymore. Jesus. Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the connection. Jesus, is the promised Messiah, promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden. When Abel offered sacrifices, he did so trusting in the coming Messiah, who is Christ Jesus. When the tax collector said, “Be propitiated to me the sinner” feet away from the burning fat of a sacrificed lamb upon the altar of God, he was not praying that God would be satisfied with the sacrifice of that beast, but with the sacrifice which that offering pointed to: Jesus Christ on the cross.  
Every sacrifice of the Old Testament points to Christ Jesus. Adam and Abel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah and Rachel too, Moses and the faithful of Israel, they all trusted in the coming Messiah. Their sacrifices pointed to the future revealed Christ. It is Jesus and his death and resurrection, which unites the Old and the New Testament and proves that God always keeps his promises.  
Cain and the Pharisee were rejected by God, because they trusted in their works. They were works-righteous, but God did not declare them righteous. Abel and the tax-collector were accepted by God and declared righteous through faith apart from their works. They humbled themselves and were exalted. And it remains the same today.  
The first false religion in the world remains the greatest false religion in the world: works-righteousness. People still believe that they can earn God’s favor by being good or at least better than everybody else. Of course, to do this they have to set boundaries, so that their goodness can be obtainable. So, they love their family members or people who love them and believe they have fulfilled the law of love. They speak poorly of others behind their back, but justify themselves by saying that it is true. In many ways people declare themselves righteous before God. And in many ways we do too. We think God owes us something, because we said something nice to someone or donated to a charity or showed up to church or said a prayer. We think this way. We judge God according to our standards and are aghast that he dares to judge us according to his. This is works-righteousness. It produces only love for the self and resentment for God and your neighbor.  
And works-righteousness gives no hope. You don’t know if you are good enough for God. If you break out of your dilution that you are better than everyone else, you are left with the sad realization that you are indeed a poor miserable sinner. And in the religion of works-righteousness, that is a terrifying position to be in. Yet, in the one true religion, the religion of Abel, the tax collector, and the entire Christian Church, which teaches that we are declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus Christ apart from our works, such a position is no longer terrifying. Rather, it is the only position in which you can come before God and be declared righteous. We come before our God as poor miserable sinners, we claim nothing else from ourselves, but we put our trust in Jesus Christ alone, who sacrificed himself for our sins. And God counts such faith for righteousness.  
It is comforting that the God of the Old Testament is still the God we pray to today. And it is comforting that his way of salvation remains the same. Because, this means that God always keeps his promises. Brantley David Cordray was baptized today. That is a wonderful thing. Why? What benefits does such pouring of water and a few words give? “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this as the words and promises of God declare.” And which are these words and promises of God? “Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark, ‘Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’”  
These words and promises of God are comforting, because they remain true. If God promises it, then it stands forever. This means that when Brantley sins, when he brings shame upon himself (which remains unavoidable in our sinful condition), and when the Holy Spirit, whom he has received today in his Baptism strikes his conscience with remorse over his sins, he can say to God, “Be merciful to me, the sinner, for the sake of Christ, who is the Savior of all who trust in him both from the Old and New Testament.” And he can go down to his home confident that he is justified.  
May God grant us such faith to hear and believe the promises of Christ, so that we may stand in a right relationship with God today and forever. Amen.  ​
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    Rev. James Preus

    Rev. Preus is the pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA. These are audio and text of the sermons he preaches at Trinity according to the Historical Lectionary. 

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