The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity - October 10, 2010

The Church Season of Trinity
The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (October 10, 2010)

“Seeing the Faith”

Readings:
    Psalm 84
    Genesis 28:10-17   
    Ephesians 4:22-28
    Matthew 9:1-8

Sermon Form    Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 9th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verse:

Matthew 9:1-8 (ESV)

1 And getting into a boat [Jesus] crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

    Leading up to our Gospel lesson Jesus had performed the cleansing of a leper, the healing of a Centurion’s servant, instructed a would be follower to give up all that he had, Jesus had calmed a storm, he had healed the demon possessed in Gadarenes, and now it was time for Jesus to come home.  So Jesus, “crossed over and came into His own city.”(v. 1)  And Jesus’ city was Capernaum.  Yes, He was born in Bethlehem, and He was brought up in Nazareth, but He lived in Capernaum.  Jesus had come home and as we hear in the parallel Gospels of Mark and Luke, many people knew that Jesus was home so much so that, “there was no room left, not even outside the door.”(Mk 2:2)

Upon His birth into this world, Jesus was not able to stay in the inn because it was full, Jesus became incarnate, and His humiliation had begun.  Jesus the God-man was born out of the lime-light in a lowly state in stable far away from the crowd.  But, on this day, Jesus had come home and a large crowd came out to see Him.  This time there were so many people gathered that there was no more room to get in Christ’s inn, quite a change of events.  The crowd had heard of Christ’s miracles and healings, they had heard of Christ’s mercy, and mercy was something they all very much wanted, they wanted the Lord to have mercy on them.

And so we’re told there were men who carried a paralytic man to this house. But the stretcher bearers were blocked by a sea of humanity.  Ironically, they were just like another crowd who would gather and say, “we would like to see Jesus.”(John 12:21)  So this group climbed up on the roof, removed tile and beam, mud and roofing, to make a passage to get their friend near to Jesus.  It has been said, “True love is resourceful, a roof torn apart, a mat lowered into the midst of a crowd, right into the very presence of Jesus Himself.  “A stricken man and his friends were in front of Jesus, they asked nothing of Christ, and they committed the whole thing to Him. “Seeing their faith,” Jesus turned to their sick friend and since they demonstrated such great faith, Our Lord in turn demonstrates His own power—not first by healing the body, but by using His authority to absolve sins. He did not immediately heal the visible body. Rather, He healed first that which is invisible, the soul, by forgiving his sins. And when the soul was healed, then the body was saved.” (Based on St John Chrysostom)

That Jesus looked and saw what was inside the person first, reveals for us a scary thought, or at least it should.  For the thought of Jesus peering into our inner hidden self, reveals that Jesus was and is able see us as we live each and every single day, hour, minute, second, every single moment of our lives.

Remember how scary it was when you were a child and your mother caught you doing something you shouldn’t do?  Do you ever wonder, how she did that?  Well if she were here to answer, she might say, ‘I just know’ or ‘I saw the color of your eyes change’ or ‘I have eyes in the back of my head.’  Or, probably best of all she may have just led you to confess to something she only suspected by saying, ‘Is there something you want to tell me?’ And the response was quick and predictable, the head looks down, the bottom lip comes out, and the sobbing begins in fear of what the confession might bring.

How much more our Lord Jesus Christ sees when He looks inside of us.  Jesus has seen our every sin, our every failure, our every harsh word, and our every contrary thought and deed.  St. Paul wrote that Jesus, “will bring to light what is hidden in the darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.”(1 Cor. 4:5)  And St. Mark writes too, “for from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly”(Mk 7:20-22)

Repent, for we are paralytic in our sin.  We are bound to sin by our own actions and inactions.  By the sin which we have done, and by the sin undone and for the lack of mercy we’ve had for others.  When we are honest with ourselves and with God, our heads bow, our eyes look down, and we confess that we can see no way to come to Christ by our own actions or worthiness. 

Loving serving brethren carried a paralytic man into the presence of His Savior.  It was Jesus Christ who healed the needy man by first comforting and healing his soul and then by mending the body. This man is a picture of our own selves. We, too, experience such a cure. We, too, were once lame in our soul, but the Lord healed us. This happened in our Baptism and now every Sunday, and every day, we can reflect upon our baptismal grace as a starting point.  In Baptism we were carried upon a mat weaved of freely given faith to the font filled with the blessed water combined with God’s Word, and there we died to sin, there Jesus sees life born again in us. 

But, as the world would be quick to note there is still much lameness in the soul. Our sin, the world, our natural self, our lower nature, are like weights that keep our soul from soaring to loftier heights and keep us from rising above the earth. The world, the ways of the devil, and every evil of body and soul challenge us our entire lives.  We are faced with the death of our loved ones, our ailments, and aging bodies, attacks from those who we know and from those whom we’ve never even seen. 

And for all these reasons, Christ instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion, to give us ever new momentum and to heal us of our spiritual disability and the lameness of soul. The Eucharist is to make us ready for our heavenly home. This Holy Supper which partake of this very day, is Christ seeing His way to our very soul.  We are carried to the Supper by faith, God sees our souls, He sees what we need, He sees the healing and forgiveness which moves us forward in faith renewed and refreshed.  That is why Jesus said of Holy Communion, do this often.  We all are in need of Christ. And by your faith do not forget that you are obligated to show mercy upon your fellow man, to reach out and carry the needy.  You have been given much and much is required of you. 

Christ saw that His incarnation would lift you out of life’s sins, and that His death and resurrection would carry our sins.  And this mat is not upon a mat woven by straw men, but upon a cross woven by our sins which are carried by Christ to the cross.  Jesus Christ is the sin laden stretcher bearer of our souls.  Yes, for those who would believe and be baptized Jesus sees your inner self, a self which is no longer bound by worldly challenges or failures.  Rather Christ sees to your faith, and so He gives you the command to “Rise and walk.”  And you will rise, and you will walk in faith, and one day, in faith, Christ will see the you He made whole, forever and ever.  Amen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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