| Cantate.mp3 |
Isaiah 12:1-6; James 1:16-21; St John 16:5-15
LSB 816, 556, p155, 790, 754, 768
+INJ+
Beloved in Christ, there are two categories of religion in the world. The religion of justice. And the religion of mercy. The former emphasizes the work and effort of the practitioner, but is silent about the person and work of Christ. The latter places the work of Christ at the center. The believer’s works flow from faith in Christ’s mercy.
In this binary it is impossible for someone who is singularly focused on justice to understand Christianity. Christianity centers on mercy. Those who are obsessed with justice cannot understand how it is that we are so concerned about pure doctrine when there are starving children in Africa. Or how we seek to discuss the clarity of Scripture when there are unbelievers walking the halls of our schools.
They think that our religion is worthless and that we are hypocrites because we do not care about the things they do in the way they do.
They have a point. The Spirit calls us to love our neighbor, to show mercy to the poor and needy, and to speak the truth. No Christian living on this side of glory can hear the charge “hypocrite” and not cringe in guilt. We don’t do what we say we should do and what we want to do. We say one thing and do another.
Yet contrary to the judgment of the world, to the judgmentalism of even those who call themselves our brethren, and even contrary to our own conscience at times, the Holy Scriptures declare that we who are baptized and believe in Christ are holy, righteous, and innocent for Christ’s sake. This is not because we have pure hearts or have done enough good works. It is because God has forgiven all our sins by offering up His own Son as our Substitute, our Ransom and Atoning Sacrifice. He declares us righteous despite our imperfections and even wickedness.
You, the baptized who believe in Christ, who trust in His mercy, yet who daily sin much, you are rightly called SAINTS. You are the people of God. It would be a terrible pity that we would forget or be ashamed to be called saints. For to forget this is to forget Christ and Holy Baptism.
There is an irony here. Those who fear they are hypocrites are saints. Those who cast the stones, who claim to hate hypocrisy in others, are not. Two men went up to the Temple to pray. . .
You, who are truly sinners, who know your sin, who deplore your wretched flesh and feel its burden. You ask for grace and want to do better. And even though it accuses and condemns you, you love God’s Law. You see in it what is truly good and true and beautiful. God’s perfect Word and will. His desire of His people. What you were meant for. You do not simply shrug off the charge of “hypocrite.” It is a serious danger.
But at the same time, while you don’t want to be called sinner, don’t shrink from that title “saint.” To be both things at the same time is not the mark of a hypocrite. It is the mark of a Christian, a baptized and redeemed sinner, who has not yet been transferred to glory.
To be a Christian you must believe in two things at the same time. You must believe the Law which accuses you and calls you sinner. You must also believe and trust in the Gospel which forgives all your sins, comforts you, and calls you “saint.”
The devil will try to tell you that the sins which you commit every day offend God and therefore you are not a saint. The devil is a liar and the master of half-truths. Yes, you are filthy in your sins. Your conscience terrifies you. But even as a mother’s love is stronger than the filth and scariness and stink on a naughty child, so the love of God toward us is stronger than the dirt that clings to us. We are sinners. But we do not thereby lose our filial relation on account of our filthiness. God is our Father who has made His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Brother, that we might live by His Spirit. Unless we let our sins rule over us and give into them, we are not hypocrites.
But the devil likes theology. He is masterful at rightly dividing but wrongly applying God’s Law and Gospel. He will tell you that the Holy Spirit does not dwell where there are habitual sins. And you’ve got them. He will tell you that the Bible teaches that Christians progress and grow in their sanctification. But you are growing worse in sin.
Again, he twists the truth. Jesus says,
When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.
In other words, the Holy Spirit gives away the Kingdom to sinners by the Word. He glorified the Son in His Crucifixion where He was lifted up from the world. And He continues to glorify the Son through the preaching of His Cross by which He calls sinners to Himself. This is the Good and Perfect Gift of the Son’s righteousness which comes down from the Father of lights.
The Holy Spirit is a kind of Robin Hood. The Father, not the devil, offers up the Son. The Holy Spirit who drove Christ to the desert for temptation, kills and robs Him on the Cross, takes what is His and the Father’s, and gives it to you through the Word, read and preached. Do you believe this? Yes. Then you are not a hypocrite.
Beloved, you are growing in sanctification. Part of that growth is an increasing awareness of and sorrow over your sins. And while you can’t look into the hearts of men, you can’t even completely look into your own heart, Christ can. He looks into the hearts and minds of men. He sees yours and by His Spirit He not only convicts you, but comforts you. Sanctification isn’t quantifiable like bricks and pennies.
The Christian mind and heart says, “I believe and cling to Him who is in heaven as my Savior and Advocate. He will come to judge the living and the dead. And if I fall into sin I will rise again by His grace and mercy. I don’t continue to sin with immunity. I live by His grace and mercy. Sin doesn’t rule over me. By His grace, through His Word and Sacraments, I rise up and become the enemy of sin. I hate sin. I renounce it. I ask again for mercy. I come as a child, filthy and guilty, naughty. With tears in my eyes. I have done again what my mother told me not to do. I come to her trusting that she will still love me, wash me and kiss my wounds. I trust that Christ sends His Spirit into my mind and heart by His Word to Comfort and Defend me when my conscience afflicts me.”
The Christian faith differs from all other religions in this: the Christian hopes even in the midst of evil and his own sins. He lives by faith in the mercy of Christ.
Without the Holy Spirit natural man can’t do this. He can only seek refuge in his works. To say, “I am a child of God,” or “I am holy, a saint of God,” is not arrogant anymore than saying, “I am an American is arrogant.” For the Christian it is not hypocrisy. It is poverty of spirit. It is faith and trust.
You can’t see all of your good works. You can’t see the growth and strengthening of your faith. But you can’t see the Holy Spirit either. You hear Him. He is a Preacher. You live by His Word. You trust in His promises. Not all that is real is visible.
I tell you the Truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. . . When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.
Now there is something to sin about this Cantate Sunday.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
LSB 816, 556, p155, 790, 754, 768
+INJ+
Beloved in Christ, there are two categories of religion in the world. The religion of justice. And the religion of mercy. The former emphasizes the work and effort of the practitioner, but is silent about the person and work of Christ. The latter places the work of Christ at the center. The believer’s works flow from faith in Christ’s mercy.
In this binary it is impossible for someone who is singularly focused on justice to understand Christianity. Christianity centers on mercy. Those who are obsessed with justice cannot understand how it is that we are so concerned about pure doctrine when there are starving children in Africa. Or how we seek to discuss the clarity of Scripture when there are unbelievers walking the halls of our schools.
They think that our religion is worthless and that we are hypocrites because we do not care about the things they do in the way they do.
They have a point. The Spirit calls us to love our neighbor, to show mercy to the poor and needy, and to speak the truth. No Christian living on this side of glory can hear the charge “hypocrite” and not cringe in guilt. We don’t do what we say we should do and what we want to do. We say one thing and do another.
Yet contrary to the judgment of the world, to the judgmentalism of even those who call themselves our brethren, and even contrary to our own conscience at times, the Holy Scriptures declare that we who are baptized and believe in Christ are holy, righteous, and innocent for Christ’s sake. This is not because we have pure hearts or have done enough good works. It is because God has forgiven all our sins by offering up His own Son as our Substitute, our Ransom and Atoning Sacrifice. He declares us righteous despite our imperfections and even wickedness.
You, the baptized who believe in Christ, who trust in His mercy, yet who daily sin much, you are rightly called SAINTS. You are the people of God. It would be a terrible pity that we would forget or be ashamed to be called saints. For to forget this is to forget Christ and Holy Baptism.
There is an irony here. Those who fear they are hypocrites are saints. Those who cast the stones, who claim to hate hypocrisy in others, are not. Two men went up to the Temple to pray. . .
You, who are truly sinners, who know your sin, who deplore your wretched flesh and feel its burden. You ask for grace and want to do better. And even though it accuses and condemns you, you love God’s Law. You see in it what is truly good and true and beautiful. God’s perfect Word and will. His desire of His people. What you were meant for. You do not simply shrug off the charge of “hypocrite.” It is a serious danger.
But at the same time, while you don’t want to be called sinner, don’t shrink from that title “saint.” To be both things at the same time is not the mark of a hypocrite. It is the mark of a Christian, a baptized and redeemed sinner, who has not yet been transferred to glory.
To be a Christian you must believe in two things at the same time. You must believe the Law which accuses you and calls you sinner. You must also believe and trust in the Gospel which forgives all your sins, comforts you, and calls you “saint.”
The devil will try to tell you that the sins which you commit every day offend God and therefore you are not a saint. The devil is a liar and the master of half-truths. Yes, you are filthy in your sins. Your conscience terrifies you. But even as a mother’s love is stronger than the filth and scariness and stink on a naughty child, so the love of God toward us is stronger than the dirt that clings to us. We are sinners. But we do not thereby lose our filial relation on account of our filthiness. God is our Father who has made His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Brother, that we might live by His Spirit. Unless we let our sins rule over us and give into them, we are not hypocrites.
But the devil likes theology. He is masterful at rightly dividing but wrongly applying God’s Law and Gospel. He will tell you that the Holy Spirit does not dwell where there are habitual sins. And you’ve got them. He will tell you that the Bible teaches that Christians progress and grow in their sanctification. But you are growing worse in sin.
Again, he twists the truth. Jesus says,
When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.
In other words, the Holy Spirit gives away the Kingdom to sinners by the Word. He glorified the Son in His Crucifixion where He was lifted up from the world. And He continues to glorify the Son through the preaching of His Cross by which He calls sinners to Himself. This is the Good and Perfect Gift of the Son’s righteousness which comes down from the Father of lights.
The Holy Spirit is a kind of Robin Hood. The Father, not the devil, offers up the Son. The Holy Spirit who drove Christ to the desert for temptation, kills and robs Him on the Cross, takes what is His and the Father’s, and gives it to you through the Word, read and preached. Do you believe this? Yes. Then you are not a hypocrite.
Beloved, you are growing in sanctification. Part of that growth is an increasing awareness of and sorrow over your sins. And while you can’t look into the hearts of men, you can’t even completely look into your own heart, Christ can. He looks into the hearts and minds of men. He sees yours and by His Spirit He not only convicts you, but comforts you. Sanctification isn’t quantifiable like bricks and pennies.
The Christian mind and heart says, “I believe and cling to Him who is in heaven as my Savior and Advocate. He will come to judge the living and the dead. And if I fall into sin I will rise again by His grace and mercy. I don’t continue to sin with immunity. I live by His grace and mercy. Sin doesn’t rule over me. By His grace, through His Word and Sacraments, I rise up and become the enemy of sin. I hate sin. I renounce it. I ask again for mercy. I come as a child, filthy and guilty, naughty. With tears in my eyes. I have done again what my mother told me not to do. I come to her trusting that she will still love me, wash me and kiss my wounds. I trust that Christ sends His Spirit into my mind and heart by His Word to Comfort and Defend me when my conscience afflicts me.”
The Christian faith differs from all other religions in this: the Christian hopes even in the midst of evil and his own sins. He lives by faith in the mercy of Christ.
Without the Holy Spirit natural man can’t do this. He can only seek refuge in his works. To say, “I am a child of God,” or “I am holy, a saint of God,” is not arrogant anymore than saying, “I am an American is arrogant.” For the Christian it is not hypocrisy. It is poverty of spirit. It is faith and trust.
You can’t see all of your good works. You can’t see the growth and strengthening of your faith. But you can’t see the Holy Spirit either. You hear Him. He is a Preacher. You live by His Word. You trust in His promises. Not all that is real is visible.
I tell you the Truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. . . When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.
Now there is something to sin about this Cantate Sunday.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
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