The Law of God is not a comfortable or comforting word, though many people try to use the Law to get comfort for themselves. The Law of God does not really work that way. It exposes your sin by telling you to stop doing what you’re doing. And it exposes your weaknesses, your frailties and faults, by commanding you to do things you haven’t been doing and really don’t want to do.
By way of example, St. Paul defines greed as “idolatry.” He mentions a number of other sins that could lead you to suppose that he’s focused especially on the Sixth Commandment. He refers to impurity, evil desires, and passion. And maybe such things strike to the heart of your behavior; or maybe those particular commands make you think of those “other” people who are like that.
But then the Apostle goes on to say that your greed is idolatry, and with that he mows you down. It’s not just sexual lust, but covetous desire for your neighbor’s property and possessions, position and power and popularity — for all those things that you suppose would make your life happy and easy — all of that coveting in your heart and mind, thoughts and feelings, is damnable idolatry.
The truth is that you do break the Sixth Commandment in your heart and mind, even if not with your body. But it’s also the case that you break the First Commandment, first of all, and the Ninth and Tenth Commandments on a daily basis, and really all of the Commandments, the entire Law of God. There is no one who is righteous. No, not one, and not you You do not do what God commands, but you continue doing what He forbids.
But your idolatry, your covetous lust and greed are not only sinful; they are foolish and deadly. When you make a god out of money, out of flesh, out of food and drink, out of sleep, popularity, entertainment, hard work, or even your family, then you have made for yourself a god who cannot save you, a god who cannot give you life, a false god which is itself perishing and passing away.
To put your faith in such false gods — to live by such idolatry — will drive you to despair, and you will find no rest, not even at night. Your heart and mind will churn, perhaps your stomach, also. Even when you sleep, whether you dream or not, you will not get the rest that you need and long for; for day and night you are hounded by the Law of God and the devil’s accusations, by the wicked desires of your own old Adam, and by the enticing temptations of the world around you.
When you are driven by such faith in false gods, when you live by such idolatry, then your work is painful and grievous, even when it is good and right in itself. When you are driven by idolatry, then loving your spouse is painful and grievous, and honoring your parents is painful and grievous, and caring for your children is painful and grievous. Doing your job, paying your taxes, mowing the lawn, helping your neighbor, even listening to the Word of God — it’s all painful and grievous, and you find no joy or satisfaction in any of it, because your heart languishes without the true God.
It’s all striving after the wind, and see how much good that does you. You can’t catch it in your hand or put it in a bucket. Whatever you do gain is vanity — futile, empty, and chaotic at best.
Neither your labors nor the fruits of your labors can save you. It doesn’t matter how much you make, it doesn’t matter how much you save or spend, it doesn’t matter how big your barns are or how much you put in them. It’s all going to perish, every bit of it. None of it will last.
Ironically, though, much of that perishing stuff will outlast you; and when you die, it will go to someone else — maybe a friend, maybe a child, maybe a complete stranger. It may well be that some of the things you have prized so highly will be discarded as junk. Things you thought were so important, nobody else will care about. And things you worked so hard to get, someone else will take for granted, or give away without a second thought, or leave to get dusy in a closet.
Your stuff won’t save you. You can’t get life for yourself. It’s foolish and futile to try.
But real Wisdom — which begins and continues in the fear of the Lord — and the knowledge of God, and the joy and peace that surpass all human understanding, and real Life with God, now and forever — all of that Wisdom and knowledge and joy and Life are found in the death of Jesus.
The fallen world will never understand this. If you get it, thank God the Holy Spirit that you do, because your old Adam would never understand this, either. If you truly understand and believe that Life is found in the death of Christ, praise God the Holy Spirit, and Christ Himself be praised.
Whether you realize it or not, real Life — divine, eternal Life — is found in the death of Christ Jesus. It’s not a life for which you have to strive and struggle or work and scheme. In fact, you cannot get it for yourself. Yet, it is given to you freely, without measure, poured out generously into your heart and your hands, into your ears and your mouth, into your body and your soul.
Life is found in the death of Christ, and the death of Christ is found in the waters of Holy Baptism — in which you and all the baptized drown and die and rise and live with Christ Jesus, our Lord.
That is where real Life is found: Life for today and tomorrow, for this whole week and month, for this whole coming year, and forever. It’s found in the waters of your Holy Baptism, where you were crucified, put to death, and buried with Christ Jesus — where everything you are and have, all that you know, and whatever you have tried to do and accomplish has all been put to death.
It is by dying with Christ Jesus — by your Baptism in His Name, and by daily repentance in the ongoing significance of your Baptism — that you are raised up to live by faith in His forgiveness, in His Resurrection and His Righteousness, credited to you by grace through faith in Him. For Life is found in the Fruits of His hard labor, in the sweat of His brow and the produce of His hands, as He has worked the land and cultivated the soil by laying down His Life in death and returning to the dust of the earth, sanctifying your grave with His own Body, and then rising from the dead.
He has ransomed your life with His own. So, you’re already bought and paid for. Everything is done. It’s not on a credit card, it’s not even on layaway. He’s already bought and paid for your Life with God forever. He has ransomed and redeemed you from death and the grave with His own Body and Life, with own His holy and precious Blood, and with His innocent suffering and death.
Here is a Rich Man who does not build bigger barns so that He can lounge by the pool and party with margaritas. Here is a Rich Man who has poured Himself out and given up everything, so that you, a poor, miserable sinner, can live with Him and not die forever.
So, when your idolatry, your greed and lust and selfishness, your covetous desire, your laziness, and your neglect drive you to despair, go ahead and finish the job and put to death the members of your earthly body. Deprive yourself of what you want, and cling to what Christ Jesus gives. Let yourself die to yourself, to the world, and to your sin, in order that you may live with God.
Put the members of your earthly body to death, as St. Paul writes, not by suicide, but by the Word and Spirit of God, by contrition and repentance, by examining yourself and confessing your sins. Let go of your sinful desires, that you might receive and cling to the Gospel of Life in Christ Jesus.
If you would be your own shepherd and foolishly trust in your own words and your own works, in your own thoughts and ideas, in your own efforts and striving — which can only ever lay hold of empty wind — then, says the Psalmist, you are destined to die; your “shepherd” is death.
But here you have a better Shepherd, a Good Shepherd, Christ the Lord, who has laid down His Life for you and for all. He has given Himself over to death for the sake of His lost and wandering sheep, in order to regather them to Himself in safety, to let them graze on the mountains of Israel, to give them rest near peaceful waters, and to feed them at His Table as dear daughters and sons.
The dear Lord Jesus Christ is your Good Shepherd, and He is rich toward God in His love for you. In faith and in righteousness, He has given Himself a Ransom for many. He has laid down His Life, but He has also taken it up again by faith in His Father. So has He received all authority to forgive your sins, to raise you up from death and the grave, and to bring you into everlasting Life.
As He shall raise you from your tomb on that great and final Day, so does He now take you out of the bed you have made for yourself — the bed in which you cannot sleep but only toss and turn — and He lays you gently on His soft bed, on the perfect pillow of His grace. He covers you with His Righteousness, and He tucks you in with His forgiveness. And He sings your cradle song each night, as His holy angels stand round about you on all sides, and you are guarded from every evil. The wicked foe can have no power over you, because you are Christ’s, and He is yours forever.
It really does not matter how much money you have. And it really does not matter how great your life on earth might be. It only matters that you belong to the One who has died and been raised; for in Him you also have died and are raised.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have already died, and your Life is hidden with Christ in God. It happened in your Baptism, and it remains the truth, now and forever. It is clarified and confirmed each time that uncomfortable Word of the Law crushes you and stabs you and puts you to death, and then the sweet Gospel comes in and says, “I forgive you.”
“I forgive you,” says the Lord, your Savior and your God. “Everything you have done wrong, and all that you have failed to do — whatever you have screwed up royally — I forgive you. You shall not die. You’ve already died with Me in the waters of your Baptism, and as I live, so do you live.”
As you go about your days, as you live and love, as you work and play, even right here on earth, your Life is hidden with Christ in God. You are hidden with Christ in God. And you are safe.
Consider what an astounding difference that makes, as you go about doing whatever you’re given to do — as you go to work and do your job, as you stay home and take care of your children, as you go next door to help your neighbor, as you mow the lawn or watch a movie, as you go to the store, ride your bike, snuggle your babies, or read a book. Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, or whatever it is, you do it to the glory of God because you abide with God in Christ Jesus.
You live within your vocations, and they are not painful and grievous; they’re a light and easy burden, even though it is a Cross that you bear, because Christ has borne that Cross on your behalf. You love your spouse, care for your children, honor your parents, do your job, and live out your days in this fallen and perishing world; and it’s not all “painful and grievous,” because Christ is risen, and He rejoices over you in love, and you are well-pleasing to your Father in heaven.
Christ the Lord rejoices in you, and you are beloved and well-pleasing in God’s sight; for He sees in you what you do not yet see. God the Father beholds you in love, and He sees in you the Perfect Righteousness, Holiness, Innocence, and Blessedness of His beloved Son, Christ Jesus.
So, you are good in God’s sight. You do not have to strive or work for righteousness or riches. You don’t have to, because everything is already yours. You work for the sake of love. And as you receive good gifts from the hand of God, as you eat and drink what He provides for body and soul, you enjoy your Life, and you rest in the Peace of Christ, who forgives you all of your sins.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment