There is one Divine Liturgy in heaven and on earth, whereby the true and only God loves you and serves you and gives to you His own divine Life and eternal Salvation. And at the center of that Liturgy of the Gospel is the Lamb who has been slain — and yet, behold, He lives! — enthroned upon His Altar in the midst of all His people, who are holy and righteous by His grace.
He has all authority in heaven and on earth, because He is both Lord and Christ, this Jesus who was crucified; and He alone is worthy to receive all glory, honor, blessing, thanks, and praise.
But how shall you worship and adore Him? With what works and worthiness? Indeed, where and how shall you even be able to find Him and come to Him, to recognize and know Him as He is?
Do you know this Man? That is a significant question. And do you love Him more than everyone and everything else? More than others do? Are you brave enough and strong enough to follow Him to the Cross, to be arrested, and even to die for Him and with Him? Will you then confess Him before the whole world, and call upon His Name at all times in prayer and thanksgiving?
Do you tend and care for His lambs and shepherd His sheep, as these are given you to love? Or do you rather breathe violence, threats, and murder against His disciples in your zeal to please and impress God with your boldness and confidence, with your own works, and by your own wisdom? Do you thereby persecute the Man, without even knowing who He is? And are you thus kicking against the goads and flailing at the wind, instead of worshiping the Lamb upon His Throne?
Do you not love the praises of men? Does it not make your heart soar to hear other people speak well of you, to congratulate you, compliment you, and say wonderful things about you? Do you not likewise fear their disfavor more than you fear, love, and trust in God? And do you therefore cower before the world and deny or disavow the Name of Christ Jesus in your words and actions, hiding behind your silence, or hiding your cowardice behind a false bravado and colorful curses?
You’ve been where Simon Peter was: Embarrassed and ashamed of yourself and your sins. Eager to make amends, but frustrated and afraid of failure. You try so hard to undo your past mistakes, to take back your careless words, to undo the hurt that you have caused; yet, you don’t really know how, nor even where to start. You’re desperate to make a good impression, but you end up falling flat on your face. You work day and night to get things right, and still you come up empty.
You’ve been where Saul of Tarsus was, too: Striving to please God, to serve Him like a champion, without even knowing how wrong you are and how much hurt and harm you are causing on the way — or even who it is that you are persecuting! You trample down your neighbor in your zeal to get yourself to God, but all the while you are actually pursuing the path of perdition.
You’re stumbling around in the dark, a blind man trying to lead the blind — a walking dead man, really. You’re anxious, at loose ends, not knowing quite what to do with yourself or your life.
If you’re honest with yourself, you know that you’re not worthy of Christ Jesus. You have denied Him by your words and actions, instead of bearing His Cross with the confidence and courage of faith. You have hurt those who are His own dear members; and with that, you have also wounded the Lamb, if not directly with your own hands and fists, then indirectly by your sins.
Yet, even so, stop your weeping, and do not be afraid.
It is true that you have not known this Man, Jesus. You could not recognize Him, even if He were standing right there in front of you; nor have you loved Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. But this same Jesus, who was crucified, He has known you — and He loves you.
You have not called upon His Name, not as you should. But He has called you by name. Indeed, He has called you by His own Name, and He has thereby made you part of His own Family.
You have not confessed Him before men; and yet, He has confessed you before His Father in heaven. More than that, He brings you to the Father by His grace, in and with Himself.
You could not find or locate Him, nor could you make your way to Him by any power of your own. But He has come to you, and He still does. He seeks you out in love, He finds you in peace, and He calls you gently to Himself; not that you should serve Him, but that He would serve you.
You have worked so hard, you have worried so much, but what have you accomplished? Nothing. You have nothing to show for all your own efforts and striving, do you? Nothing that will last. Nothing that will fill you up and feed you in body and soul. Nothing that will save you in the end.
But here is Christ Jesus, the Lord, the Lamb of God who takes away your sins, with the Food He has provided and prepared for you, the Meat and Drink indeed by which you do not die but live.
Come, then; eat and drink. The crucified and risen Lord Jesus reveals and gives Himself to you here in the Breaking of the Bread. Thus do you know Him as He manifests Himself in this way.
And along with that, He shows you a more excellent way than the road you have been set upon. For here in His House — at His Table, in His Supper — here is the Way of faith and love, the way of divine Life and divine worship.
And here is the Truth: Your love and worship of Christ Jesus are not located in what you do for Him or give to Him, but first of all in what He says and does and gives to you. His glory and honor and blessing and power and might are found in His grace, mercy, and peace; in His forgiveness and salvation of sinners; in His Redemption and Sanctification of Creation by and with His Blood.
His glory and honor and blessing and power and might are not in what He receives from man, nor in His being served, but rather in what He gives by His grace and in His serving, in His Liturgy.
Your love and worship, therefore, do not reside in what you give to Him, but they originate in what you receive from Him: The washing of the water with His Word, whereby you are cleansed and clothed with His righteousness; the free gift of His Spirit by the Gospel, whereby you are made new and alive; and the Food and Drink of His great Feast, whereby your fasting is finally ended.
Now, then, do you love Him who so loves you and serves you and feeds you and provides for you?
Then stop your weeping, have no fear, and do not worry.
You need not work so hard for Jesus, nor must you try so hard to please Him and impress Him. It doesn’t work that way, in any case. But He is already pleased with you! Delighted, in fact.
So, instead of trying to accomplish for yourself what He has already done for you and given to you, receive and rely upon His good gifts and graces, and love Him in return by loving and serving your neighbor, the one who is close at hand. Invest your efforts there, and work at that way of life.
Instead of ignoring, neglecting, or trampling your neighbor in your rush to get yourself to God, stride forward in the strength and confidence and freedom of faith in Christ Jesus. And living by His grace and mercy, so feed and clothe and care for your neighbor in His Name and for His sake.
Such love for your neighbor is also an exercise of divine worship; for you love and serve your neighbor as the Lord Jesus loves and serves you. Such love is a sacrifice and a way of suffering for others, whereby Christ is glorified in you, and you are glorified in Him.
Sometimes it is the Cross that you are given to bear and carry for those who are weak, exhausted, or wounded in various ways. Sometimes it is what you suffer and give up for love’s sake, rather than insisting on your own way, or catering to your own feelings, or working to serve yourself. You serve your neighbor in love, at your own expense, because you know and trust that Christ Jesus serves you. And sometimes that means covering your neighbor’s sins and forgiving them for mercy’s sake, not holding your neighbor’s trespasses against him, but simply letting them go.
In all of these ways you glorify God as a disciple of Christ Jesus, from the waters of your Baptism, even unto death — even if you are girded and bound and hauled off to be murdered, or put in prison, or whatever else may happen to you here on earth — knowing that your life is with Christ.
And all the while that you are being poured out in love for your neighbor, you are being presented by Christ to God the Father; for He is your great High Priest, and He is the Sacrifice of Atonement, and He Himself is the sweet-smelling Incense of your prayer, in whom you also arise and ascend into heaven, into the Holy of Holies made without hands. You are hidden with Christ in God.
Not only there and then in the “great by-and-by,” not only “somewhere over the rainbow,” but already here and now by faith in Christ Jesus, by His Gospel, by His grace — here in the Temple of His Church on earth, on the shoreline, not far away at all — you have life with God in Christ.
If you have jumped off the boat, or fallen off the boat, return to this glorious shore by the waters of your Baptism; they remain for you here, as surely as they have been given to Gregory this very morning; and those gracious waters still avail for you, because they are permeated with the Blood of Christ, with His work and His good gifts. And if you remain in this little boat — even if you are scared or confused, even if you are hurting or sad, even if you have committed so many sins over this past week and this very morning — the Lord is not far away from you; He is very near, a very present help for all your troubles. Here He calls you to repentance, not that you must save yourself, but that you should receive His great Salvation. Here He grants His hospitality to you.
And because the Lord Jesus is here with you and for you, so are you truly gathered with saints and angels and all the company of heaven. That great host is here with you, because Christ is here with you; and you are with them in the same Lord Jesus Christ. With the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, the four holy Evangelists and the blessed Apostles and Prophets, and the noble army of martyrs, you are gathered in the presence of the Lamb upon His Throne, upon His Altar.
Worship Him with your body and soul, with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your spirit and strength. Worship Him by way of the works that He performs for you, by receiving the gifts He gives to you, and by the worthiness with which He adorns you. Bend your knee at the Name of Jesus, and bow your head to the great God and Father, even as you bow your heart before Him — in humility, yes, but all the more so in the confidence of His mercy and His great Salvation.
Worship Him, not because He needs your worship, but because He is your Lord and your God. He is your Life and Light and Salvation. He has become your New Song and your constant Prayer.
He is worthy of such worship, because He is your Savior, and He has all authority in heaven and on earth — authority which He uses to forgive you all your sins and to give you His own Life.
My son, my daughter, be of good cheer: Your sins are forgiven.
Beloved disciple of Christ Jesus, it is the Lord who stands here on the shore for you. And see here, He has made a Meal for you with His own hands: His own Flesh and Blood, that of the Lamb who was slain — and yet, behold, He lives forevermore. Come, dear child of God! Eat and drink, without money and without price. The night is far spent, and the eternal Eighth Day here breaks and dawns upon you in Christ Jesus, who is your Sabbath Rest forever and forevermore.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment