01 April 2020

A Medicine of Peace for Heart, Mind, Soul, and Spirit

If you knew that your pastor could cure your illness and heal all your bodily diseases — and that he would gladly do so with a word, without any cost — you would surely go to him.  You know that you would.  For medical care, you’re willing to do a lot, to go through a lot, to pay a lot, even if you are one of those people who tend to put it off too long.

When it finally does come down to it, for your physical health and well-being you’re also willing to let your medical doctor examine you in ways that would otherwise be quite immodest and inappropriate.  What is more, you’re willing to let a surgeon cut into your body and open you up — in ways that actually are quite dangerous and even deadly — for the sake of dealing with even more dangerous and deadly conditions.

You’re willing to do and suffer these medical treatments, even though there are no guarantees or “warranties” when it comes to your bodily health in this mortal life.

How is it, then, that there is such hesitation and resistance on the part of so many Christians when it comes to seeking out spiritual care from their pastor and allowing him to serve them with the sure and certain Word of Christ?  Is it self-righteous pride and conceit?  Stubborn self-reliance?  Or is it, rather, embarrassment and shame?

No matter what your own reasons or excuses may be, if you recognize your sin, if you know how serious and dangerous it is, then, for heaven’s sake, seek and receive the rescue that your Lord so freely provides — just as you go to the doctor when you’re sick, even though you’d rather not.

But if you do not recognize or realize your sinful condition and its sobering prognosis, then all the more urgently do you need to be rescued and healed from it — lest it kill you eternally!  The fact is that your sin is real, and it is deadly, all the more so when you deny it.

It is for this reason that the Holy Scriptures and the Small Catechism teach you and admonish you to examine yourself according to the Commandments of the Lord your God.

That’s actually far more important than regular medical check-ups and exams, notwithstanding the wisdom and benefit of such bodily maintenance.  Take care of yourself, certainly.  But it is still the case that your body is going to die, in any event, whether it be sooner or later, no matter what you do or don’t do.  And then, what happens to your body and your soul after that point — and forever and ever — depends entirely on where you stand in relation to God, either in repentance and faith unto the Resurrection and the Life everlasting, or in sinful unbelief unto eternal punishment.

Examine yourself, therefore, and discipline yourself according to the Word of God.

Otherwise — and thanks be to God for this, although it is unpleasant in the meantime — the Lord, in His love for you, will discipline you and call you to repentance, in order that you not remain in your sins, but that you would be rescued for the faith and life of the incarnate Son, Christ Jesus.

It is to this end that the Lord your God allows you to suffer some of the consequences of your sins.  Although in His mercy He spares you from so much of what you rightly deserve, He also chastens you and wounds you, in order to heal and repair you.  He also sends His Nathans, His pastors and His “prophets,” as it were, to preach His Word to you, lest you be left in your ignorance — or, what is even worse than that, your presumptuous sins.

The Lord uses both His Law and His Gospel to call you and to bring you daily to repentance, that is, to the dying of contrition and to the rising of faith in His forgiveness of sins.  He puts the Old Adam in you to death, and He raises you up to newness of life in the New Man, Jesus Christ.

You should recognize this dying and rising for what it is, namely, the ongoing, daily, and life-long significance of your Holy Baptism.  It is not your work, nor is it in your own power, no more than your Baptism itself and its great benefits are your doing.  There simply is no “do-it-yourself” or “self-medicated” Christianity, but the Lord is always at work through His own ways and means to recall you to Himself, and to keep you close to Him.

This good work of repentance is precisely what He does for you, and gives to you, and works in you, also through the practice of Confession & Holy Absolution.

Though it may seem natural that you would focus on your confession of sins — on its difficulty and embarrassment, on its character and content, on its length and other qualities — the real focus and the “center of gravity” in this means of grace is the Lord’s Holy Absolution, that is, the spoken Word of forgiveness in the Name and stead of Christ Jesus, your Savior.  And along with that Word, there is also then the pastor’s preaching of the Gospel to you within that personal context.

The emphasis is not on your work, but on Christ’s work.  It’s not about how “good” or “bad” you are, but how good Christ is, and how gracious and merciful He is in forgiving you all your sins.  It’s not what you must give or suffer, but what Christ Jesus freely gives to you as the fruit and benefit of His suffering for you.  It does not depend upon your remorse over the past, nor your promise concerning the future, but entirely upon the certainty of Christ’s Word and promise to you.

The Lord gives you all these good things, and He does these good things for you, by and with His Word, and not at all apart from His Word.  So did He send the Prophet “Nathan” (whose very name means gift) to speak His Word to David.

And so does He also send your pastor to you, not as a master and commander of His Word, but as a called and ordained servant of His Word, and as a personal gift of His grace and mercy.

It is true that Individual Confession & Absolution is a matter of freedom; it is a gift of the Gospel, not an obligation or a burden of the Law.  To be sure, that is not the case in matters of public sin or when it comes to stubborn persistence in unrepentant sin, both of which call for the use of the binding key and for the exercise of church discipline, as needs may be.  But the ordinary use of Individual Confession & Absolution is freely given to be freely received in repentant faith.  No one is keeping score or grading you on this practice.

However, do consider and take to heart the unique and powerful benefit and blessing of Individual Confession & Absolution, which rests upon the authority of Christ your dear Lord Himself, and which is so highly praised by Dr. Luther and our Lutheran Confessions.

The Word of Christ Jesus that is spoken and preached in Holy Absolution surely does and gives exactly what it says.  By that Word, the Lord your God removes your sins from you and lays them on the Son of David, Jesus Christ, who dies (and rises) in your stead and for your benefit.

In removing your sin, He also strengthens your faith with the Gospel.  The Word of Absolution sets Christ against your sin and death, against both the temptations and the accusations of the devil; and at the same time, it also sets the same Lord Jesus Christ, not against you, but with you and for you, as your great Champion of Salvation.

The life-giving Word of Holy Absolution pours Christ Jesus Himself into you — into your ears — in much the same way that His Body and His Blood are given into your mouth in the Holy Communion.  And in both cases, the Holy Spirit lays Christ upon your heart to strengthen and sustain your body and your soul in steadfast faith and real life.

So, too, along with this central gift and benefit of Holy Absolution itself, the practice of Individual Confession & Absolution is a tremendous means of pastoral care and catechesis in the Word and faith, as I can attest from both sides of the practice.  It is a most personal bestowal of forgiveness, which addresses itself to your particular sins and weaknesses, not to condemn you, but to help and strengthen you.  It is therefore also a powerful weapon against the assaults and accusations of the devil, and a source of unsurpassed comfort, peace, and rest in the sweet Gospel of Christ Jesus.

For a pastor, let me tell you honestly that Individual Confession & Absolution is a difficult and humbling task.  Nevertheless, it is also a sacred trust and responsibility, and a profound means of care that can hardly be equaled and cannot be replaced.

Actually, the Office of the Keys and the Office of the Holy Ministry go hand-in-hand: Hearing confession and absolving sinners in the Name and stead of Christ Jesus is integral to, and in some ways definitive of, the entire pastoral office.

So much is this a part of who your pastor is and what he does, that he is not shocked or appalled (nor even surprised) by your sins.  But he is grateful for the opportunity to help you with the gifts of Christ, that is, with the Holy Absolution of the Gospel, and with the preaching of the Gospel to your own sins and personal circumstances.

In this way, and by this means of grace, your pastor is given to assist you in bearing the burdens of your sin and death.  Not by his own wisdom or strength, but by the Word and Spirit of Christ Jesus, and by His authority as the crucified and risen Lord.  It is indeed a special authority, not of worldly power, but of loving service.

Through this exercise of pastoral care, your pastor serves, not only as a physician of your soul, but as your shepherd under Christ Jesus, and as your spiritual father in Christ Jesus.

Do not be ashamed to be a patient, a sheep, and a child of this servant.  Rather, understand that Christ Jesus — who has purchased and won you to be His very own, in order that you might live with Him in His Kingdom in eternal peace and joy — has entrusted you to the care of this poor man, so that you might kneel at this Altar and recline at this Table; that you might here be fed and nourished with the Gospel in the Word and Sacrament of Christ; and that you might be and live as a son or daughter of God in the House of the Lord forever and ever.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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