The Church Season
of Trinity
The Sixth Sunday
after Trinity
Our Savior
Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (June 15, 2012)
Readings: Psalm 19
Exodus 20:1-7
Romans 6:1-11
Matthew 5:17-26
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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 5th chapter of St. Matthew, especially
the following verse:
Matthew 5:17-26 (NIV)
17
“Do not
think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to
abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear,
not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means
disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the
least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called
least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these
commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell
you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago,
‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who
is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says
to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says,
‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 “Therefore, if you are
offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has
something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and
be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. 25 “Settle matters quickly with
your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him
on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you
over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth, you will
not get out until you have paid the last penny.
In the Name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Nearly 6,000 years ago, Adam and Eve
broke communion with God with their disobedience against God and His Word. They
disobeyed by wanting to be like God knowing good and evil. Their disobedient
act was in the eating of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
which God had forbidden. Adam and Eve’s disobedience grew when Adam blamed God
for his actions and Eve blamed the servant for hers. Adam and Eve had malice in
their hearts toward God. They blamed everyone but themselves for their actions.
(Gen. 3:12-13)
A little later on, after Eve gives
birth to her two boys, Cain and Abel, the time had come for the boys to bring
an offering before the Lord. Cain and Abel did just that; Cain brought his gift
with pride in his heart and his gift was rejected by the Lord. Abel brought his
gift in faith and his gift was received. Cain was very angry and later killed
his brother Abel out in the fields. (Gen. 4:3-8)
After the Lord brought His people
out of Egypt through the Red Sea, the congregation of Israel complained against
Moses and Aaron. They were mad. They said, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of
the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and when we ate
bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill
this whole assembly with hunger.” (Ex. 16:2-3)
So far, in all three cases in
Scripture, you see the lack of faith in the lives of the people except Abel.
Abel believed in the Lord. He did as the Lord commanded.
There are many more cases of anger,
bitterness, and murder in the Scripture as our atheistic friends, community,
and media are quick to point out, awful things recorded in scripture, by and
against God and against the people of this world, an incorrect understanding of
scripture to say the least. But, we as
the people of God are not insulated from the anger, bitterness, and even murder
of our fellow man. So, what about you? Where do you fit in with Jesus’
discussion today in the Gospel lesson? Are you included in His teaching against
murder, anger, bitterness and the like? Yes, you are included as are all men,
women, and children of the world, past, present, and future.
Our Gospel lesson speaks to us in
these words; “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth
pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is
accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of
heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18–19, ESV)
“Not
an iota, not a dot…whoever relaxes one of these will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven.” Quite a high
standard if you think of it. A lot of
people don’t know what it means by an iota or dot. We might think it would be like the dot on
top of a small i or small j, or the little stroke on a capital G, or capital
Q. But, at the time of Jesus, Hebrew
didn’t have vowels, just consonants. But,
a iota, pronounced yoda in Hebrew was a very small letter and if the Hebrew
alphabet were to be lined up by size yoda would be the smallest. Isn’t it interesting though how this one line
of scripture resonates not only with Hebrews, and Gentiles of Jesus’ time but
with us too. Begin any sentence with
someone’s name and continue with I don’t want to hear, “one iota” and the Law
has found its way to your ears. But, the Law
is hard to keep.
St. James writes, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10) The Law is
serious and God is serious about the life He wants for us and all people. God
is love and thus wants us to love one another. Jesus said, “A new commandment I
give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love
one another.” (John 13:34)
When
you sin in thought, word, and deed, you are not a righteous in the sight of
God. The sin of murder, as with all sins, affects both the vertical
relationship between you and God and also the horizontal relationship between
you and your neighbor.
Jesus’
lesson to you is most important today. His lesson is about reconciliation.
Reconciliation is a big word and often, especially in American Lutheranism,
misused in the life of the Church. Reconciliation is nothing more than removing
the sin between you and God and you and your neighbor. Reconciliation involves
a contrite heart, that is, a true sorrow for the sin committed. Jesus calls
this repentance. Reconciliation also involves the admission of guilt. Jesus
calls this confessing your sins. Finally, reconciliation involves forgiveness.
Reconciling with your friends can be done with an effort, reconciling yourself
with your enemies can be done, but truthfully it seldom is, reconciling
yourself with God has, is, and always will be impossible by your own
efforts. The Law, God’s Law is
impossible to keep, you cannot make yourself righteous that is without sin, by
your own efforts.
So, how can you, a poor week sinner
acquire the righteousness of God? Simply, faith in Jesus Christ. But you just said not by my own efforts, yes
because faith is not from your efforts, it is a free gift of God. So whenever you despair of your own
righteousness, all know that you are made righteous by Christ’s works, all His
volition, ability, running and chasing, and those who believe in Jesus Christ,
who perfectly fulfilled the Law of God for all men, even you, and by His
innocent suffering and death bore and atoned for the sins of the world, even
yours, God graciously forgives all his sins, and yours too.
St. Paul writes in his second letter
to the Church in Corinth, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled
us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of
reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:18) The ministry of reconciliation is the ministry
Jesus gives to His Church and to His pastors; the ministry of the forgiveness
of sins. Jesus gives you the Gospel in the Office of the Keys to exercise
between one another. He gives the Office of the Keys to His pastors to exercise
publically on behalf of the Church.
The
love that God shows you through His mercy is so great especially when you hear
those words; I forgive you, either by your neighbor or by your pastor. I
forgive you are words of the Gospel. They are words of love and mercy. They are
for you when you repent and confess your sins.
God is not your coach. God’s Law is set before you to follow, to
curb you sin, to help you reflect in the mirror where you have failed, to guide
you with the desire to do better. But
you cannot ever achieve perfection, in fact you can’t even go a day without
sin. So in the face of the Law which
attacks us in our lives like; broken relationships, poor or challenging health,
hatred of your enemies, and an unwillingness to forgive. In the face of all this, God points you to
the One who has conquered the Law, all of it, every last one, right down to the
least of them, right down to the iota and dot.
Jesus
died to bring these words to your ears. He laid His life down of God’s altar in
your place and suffered His Father’s wrath against your sins. Jesus drank the
cup of wrath down to and including the dregs. He drank it all for you. You no
longer stand Corem Deo, that is, before God, a lost and condemned sinner. You
stand Corem Deo, before God, righteous in His sight because of the atoning
sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, for you.
God
the Father no longer sees you dead in your trespasses but He sees you alive,
holy and righteous in His Son. You were given the righteousness of Christ when
He baptized you. Jesus reconciled you to His Father in His suffering, death,
and resurrection.
The
Word of reconciliation is in our ears in Preaching, poured over our heads in
Baptism, and put in our mouths in the Supper. Harmony reigns among us as
brethren in Christ, it reigns in His congregation, walking together, united in
love and doctrine, covered in the blood of Jesus, it is good and pleasant to be
and to dwell in harmony of Christ , for we are reconciled to God and to one
another because of Jesus.
Your
sins are forgiven this holy day. Go in peace brothers and sisters, reconciled with your neighbor and enemies and
Know that you are reconciled in God’s eye, through His Son Jesus Christ.
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