Exodus 20:1-17/Romans 6:3-11/St Matthew 5:17-26
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
It is written, The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account (Heb 4:12-13).
Like our first parents, hiding from the voice of the Lord in the garden, cowering in fear and shame before Whom they were exposed, so too the children of Israel trembled at the foot of Mt Sinai. For the Word of the Lord came as a thunderbolt from heaven. His voice a blast of air so fierce it would consume them. His Law a crushing hammer that would dash them to pieces like a potters vessel.
And in the hands of our Lord Jesus the blunt mallet of the Law becomes a precision instrument; a razor-sharp scalpel wielded by the Master Surgeon. The Word slices and dices, cutting us to the quick and leaving us utterly naked and exposed. All that which lurked within, that festering mass, the cancer inside of us that we attempt to conceal before our neighbors, and even from ourselves, is laid bare before the Divine Physician.
For He who would operate on you, in order to make you whole, to heal you, must first show you the depth of your sin-sickness. Not a mere flesh wound or a half-deadness. Putting away sin is not like digging stones out of your garden; one here, another there. No. It is sinking the spade deep into the earth and hitting solid rock; an entire foundation of stone that must be broken and removed.
And so you are at the base of Sinai with all of Israel, the thunderous Word tearing apart your sinful flesh:
You shall have no other gods; but you trust in your money, in your retirements, in your pet sins.
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, but your daily speech and conduct is adorned with careless words and lazy prayers.
Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy; but you despise the preached Word, get bored with it and ignore it.
Honor your father and your mother; but you have been angry with your employers and disrespect your parents.
You shall not murder; but you have insulted your friends and enemies alike, men for whom Christ has died.
You shall not commit adultery; but you have debased God’s gift of sexuality with lust and indecency.
You shall not steal; but you have been stingy with your money and mishandled your finances.
You shall give false testimony; but you have gossiped and judged, slandered your fellow man.
You shall not covet; but you have been discontent and grumble with what the Lord has given you and where He has placed you.
And we could go on. For who can discern his errors?, the psalmist asks. What are we left to do, but avert our eyes and stare at our feet? Repent. Do not waste time denying your sins. Repent. “To Jesus we for refuge flee, who from the curse has set us free, and humbly worship at His throne, saved by His grace through faith alone” (LSB 579:6).
For the Lord of the Law, the God who spoke to Moses at Sinai delivering His Ten Words that consume all sinful flesh, has taken upon Himself our flesh. He comes now to the mount, but not Sinai. He comes not to condemn, but to save. And He says, 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. He fulfills them in Himself. In His obedience to the will of the Father. In His perfect life, innocent suffering and death, and triumphant resurrection. And He does it for you. For He is the Lord your God, who has come to bring you out of the land of sin, out of the house of slavery.
He offered Himself as gift upon the altar of the Cross in order to reconcile you to His Father; to make you His dear brother not only in flesh, but also in Spirit. He bore the accusations of the devil, the guilt of the Law, the wrath of the just Judge, and He did it on your behalf. For you He paid the full debt of your sin, your total bankruptcy under the Law. He settled your account before the Father and now gives you His righteousness for free. He for you endured the prison of your guilt and shame and how not burst those bars asunder, bringing you a righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees; His own righteousness.
For He comes to you, once cowering in fear, your conscience trembling on account of your sin and guilt, and He exposes you. Fig leaves could not hide Adam and Eve. You cannot paper over your shame, either. But Christ exposes you, not to ridicule or shame you, but as a dear Father, removing his child’s diaper in order to cleanse you; to heal and soothe you. By the cleansing bath of His Holy Baptism He forgives all your sins. He unites you to Himself. To His death and resurrection. This is what St Paul means when he writes, We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
And that walk in this new life in Christ looks and sounds like His holy ten commands; the good and wise Law of God. They have been fulfilled in Christ; accomplished, completed, finished in perfect love and obedience by Him. Dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, the Law no longer condemns you. This does not mean the baptized Christian does not sin. That would be contrary to all Scripture and every Christian’s own experience. It means however, that as the Law continues to expose your sin, the Word of the Gospel comes rushing in to comfort your quickened conscience, bringing you His comfort and peace.
For here He stands, at the Mount of His Altar delivering to you His new and everlasting covenant, sealed in His blood. In His body and blood here given you are reconciled to the Father and to one another. Christ has paid the penalty for your sins and for those sins committed against you. There is no one to judge you. No one to condemn you. You are free.
Thus are you free in Christ to hold no grudges against your brother, your neighbor, your enemy. You are free in Christ to freely forgive as you have been freely forgiven. This is the radical nature of the Gospel; the radical surgery performed on your heart by the Divine Physician, who has removed your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh; a new and beating heart in rhythm with His own merciful heart; that you fear, love, and trust in Him above all things, and love your neighbor as yourself. He has done this. He has wounded you in order to heal you. He has killed you in order that He may give you life.
And then those words from the letter to the Hebrews heard at the beginning conclude: Since then we have a Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:14-16).
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
It is written, The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account (Heb 4:12-13).
Like our first parents, hiding from the voice of the Lord in the garden, cowering in fear and shame before Whom they were exposed, so too the children of Israel trembled at the foot of Mt Sinai. For the Word of the Lord came as a thunderbolt from heaven. His voice a blast of air so fierce it would consume them. His Law a crushing hammer that would dash them to pieces like a potters vessel.
And in the hands of our Lord Jesus the blunt mallet of the Law becomes a precision instrument; a razor-sharp scalpel wielded by the Master Surgeon. The Word slices and dices, cutting us to the quick and leaving us utterly naked and exposed. All that which lurked within, that festering mass, the cancer inside of us that we attempt to conceal before our neighbors, and even from ourselves, is laid bare before the Divine Physician.
For He who would operate on you, in order to make you whole, to heal you, must first show you the depth of your sin-sickness. Not a mere flesh wound or a half-deadness. Putting away sin is not like digging stones out of your garden; one here, another there. No. It is sinking the spade deep into the earth and hitting solid rock; an entire foundation of stone that must be broken and removed.
And so you are at the base of Sinai with all of Israel, the thunderous Word tearing apart your sinful flesh:
You shall have no other gods; but you trust in your money, in your retirements, in your pet sins.
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, but your daily speech and conduct is adorned with careless words and lazy prayers.
Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy; but you despise the preached Word, get bored with it and ignore it.
Honor your father and your mother; but you have been angry with your employers and disrespect your parents.
You shall not murder; but you have insulted your friends and enemies alike, men for whom Christ has died.
You shall not commit adultery; but you have debased God’s gift of sexuality with lust and indecency.
You shall not steal; but you have been stingy with your money and mishandled your finances.
You shall give false testimony; but you have gossiped and judged, slandered your fellow man.
You shall not covet; but you have been discontent and grumble with what the Lord has given you and where He has placed you.
And we could go on. For who can discern his errors?, the psalmist asks. What are we left to do, but avert our eyes and stare at our feet? Repent. Do not waste time denying your sins. Repent. “To Jesus we for refuge flee, who from the curse has set us free, and humbly worship at His throne, saved by His grace through faith alone” (LSB 579:6).
For the Lord of the Law, the God who spoke to Moses at Sinai delivering His Ten Words that consume all sinful flesh, has taken upon Himself our flesh. He comes now to the mount, but not Sinai. He comes not to condemn, but to save. And He says, 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. He fulfills them in Himself. In His obedience to the will of the Father. In His perfect life, innocent suffering and death, and triumphant resurrection. And He does it for you. For He is the Lord your God, who has come to bring you out of the land of sin, out of the house of slavery.
He offered Himself as gift upon the altar of the Cross in order to reconcile you to His Father; to make you His dear brother not only in flesh, but also in Spirit. He bore the accusations of the devil, the guilt of the Law, the wrath of the just Judge, and He did it on your behalf. For you He paid the full debt of your sin, your total bankruptcy under the Law. He settled your account before the Father and now gives you His righteousness for free. He for you endured the prison of your guilt and shame and how not burst those bars asunder, bringing you a righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees; His own righteousness.
For He comes to you, once cowering in fear, your conscience trembling on account of your sin and guilt, and He exposes you. Fig leaves could not hide Adam and Eve. You cannot paper over your shame, either. But Christ exposes you, not to ridicule or shame you, but as a dear Father, removing his child’s diaper in order to cleanse you; to heal and soothe you. By the cleansing bath of His Holy Baptism He forgives all your sins. He unites you to Himself. To His death and resurrection. This is what St Paul means when he writes, We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
And that walk in this new life in Christ looks and sounds like His holy ten commands; the good and wise Law of God. They have been fulfilled in Christ; accomplished, completed, finished in perfect love and obedience by Him. Dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, the Law no longer condemns you. This does not mean the baptized Christian does not sin. That would be contrary to all Scripture and every Christian’s own experience. It means however, that as the Law continues to expose your sin, the Word of the Gospel comes rushing in to comfort your quickened conscience, bringing you His comfort and peace.
For here He stands, at the Mount of His Altar delivering to you His new and everlasting covenant, sealed in His blood. In His body and blood here given you are reconciled to the Father and to one another. Christ has paid the penalty for your sins and for those sins committed against you. There is no one to judge you. No one to condemn you. You are free.
Thus are you free in Christ to hold no grudges against your brother, your neighbor, your enemy. You are free in Christ to freely forgive as you have been freely forgiven. This is the radical nature of the Gospel; the radical surgery performed on your heart by the Divine Physician, who has removed your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh; a new and beating heart in rhythm with His own merciful heart; that you fear, love, and trust in Him above all things, and love your neighbor as yourself. He has done this. He has wounded you in order to heal you. He has killed you in order that He may give you life.
And then those words from the letter to the Hebrews heard at the beginning conclude: Since then we have a Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:14-16).
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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