If you think back to Genesis and the story of the Fall into sin, there in the Garden of Eden, it might well strike you as odd for Jesus to say, here in this Holy Gospel, that what you eat does not effect the heart or defile you. After all, wasn’t that the whole problem, to begin with, in the case of Adam and Eve? And as you move through the Old Testament, it was the Lord Himself who differentiated between the clean and unclean animals and gave specific dietary laws for His people to follow.
But the key to understanding all of this — at ground level and from the inside-out — is the Word that God the Lord has spoken. It is what He has said concerning this or that food that matters.
The truth is that sin and death are not caused or determined by food, leastwise not in itself. Indeed, food belongs to God’s good creation and is basic among His good gifts to man. Neither food nor drink of itself can defile or cleanse you, damn you or save you. Neither fasting nor feasting make you righteous before God. But the way that you receive and use His good creation — including the way that you consume the food and drink He gives to you — all of this is measured by His Word to you, whether you are acting in faith and love, or in disobedience, idolatry, and unbelief.
All things, St. Paul writes, are sanctified by the Word of God and prayer, and the Lord’s good creation is to be received from His open hand with thanksgiving (as in the Eucharist). All things are lawful to those who trust in the Lord, and all foods are clean to the one who eats and drinks in such faith, as the gifts of God are regarded and used in accordance with His Commandments.
Faith is content, satisfied, and happy with whatever God has given to you, be it a lot or very little. And faith is happy for your neighbor, too, with whatever God has given to him, even if it happens to be considerably more than He has given to you. And you need not be afraid to enjoy and make use of whatever the Lord has entrusted to your stewardship in the freedom of faith in Christ Jesus. Nor should you be angered by what you do not have, as though your life actually depended on that one thing — or those great many things — which the Lord your God has not given to you.
In faith you are neither angry nor afraid of anything, because you are at home and at peace in your Father’s world. You are a beloved child living in His House, a free citizen of His Kingdom.
So, what has gone wrong? And why is it that your life in the flesh is so precarious and difficult?
Well, flesh and blood are not your enemy. Neither your neighbor’s flesh and blood, nor the flesh and blood of any creature. Not food or drink but the devil is your enemy with his assaults and accusations. He tempts you to sin, and then he drives you to despair when he has led you into sin. And your sinful heart is not only vulnerable to his attacks; it is outright complicit with the devil and this sinful world. You actually conspire with your worst enemy to your own hurt and harm.
Now, back in the Garden, Adam and Eve did not eat according to God’s Word in faith — that was the problem. Instead, they disobeyed what He had spoken to them, beginning already with their doubt of His Word and His promises. And you are their child and heir; you see the fruits of that in your life, in your heart and mind, in your thoughts and feelings, and in your words and actions. You do not fear, love, and trust the Lord your God, and neither do you heed His Commandments. Hence, you have no peace or rest, and you do not feel safe and secure in the world, because you do not believe Him. You do not believe His promises, and you do not trust His providence.
Because your heart is not right with God, your life in the world is not righteous and holy, either. Instead of receiving and using God’s good creation rightly, you either despise and demonize it with contempt, or you idolize and worship the creation as a false god. You also sin against your neighbor in what you think and say and do. You hurt him and speak ill of him. You take his stuff, or you would if you could get away with it. You covet his spouse and his children. You burn with envy and jealousy, hatred and lust, because you lack the wisdom and understanding of God.
With such a sinful heart, you don’t even know how to live, not really. You may think you do. You may have many aspirations, and you may suppose that you’re hittin’ or missin’ the mark. But the truth is, you don’t really know how to live. Apart from faith in Christ, you are not able to “possess the land,” even though God gives you all good things by His grace. You do not see or trust what He is doing for you, and so you stumble about from one sin to another, finally falling into death.
But now, listen to Christ Jesus. Hear what He says, even before it begins to make sense to you. For you won’t have the ears to hear until He has first of all opened your ears with His Word.
It is by His Word and by His Holy Spirit through the Gospel that He has called you into His House to catechize you here, to make you a disciple, a Christian, by His grace through faith in His Word. By this catechesis, as by your Holy Baptism, He has made of you a new creation. Indeed, all things are made brand new in the Body of Christ Jesus, crucified and risen. And all things are cleansed and sanctified by the Word that He speaks to you. So, then, listen to Him and hear what He says.
From out of your own sinful heart — Jesus has clearly told you — out of your own sinful heart proceed all kinds of evil things. He gives you a fair number of examples, but there’s even more than you could ever realize. It is the Spirit who searches your heart and tries your mind. Only God can show you the full extent and depths of your sin — which is what comes out of your heart.
But out of His great heart of love, in striking contrast, grace and mercy and peace spring forth, unto forgiveness and Life and Salvation. That is what proceeds from His heart — for you and for all.
The Son of God has come forth from the Father, and He has become flesh and blood for you and your salvation, indeed, for all the world. In divine and holy love, He has entered into and become a part of His own Creation by His conception and birth of St. Mary. And that too was by His Word and Holy Spirit, for everything the Lord your God does, He does by His Word and Holy Spirit; and as the Angel Gabriel said to the Blessed Virgin Mary, “With God, no Word shall be powerless.”
So this is what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. And not only that. He has redeemed and sanctified all flesh and all of creation in His own Body by way of His Cross and in His Resurrection.
Not only has He atoned for all of your sins by His sacrificial death and by the shedding of His holy and precious Blood, but in Himself — by His own life in His Body of flesh and blood like yours, and by His bodily Resurrection from the dead — He has established the righteousness of faith and love for you and for all the sons and daughters of Adam & Eve. As the true Man, He has set things right between God and man, not just abstractly, not just in general, but also for you. Both inwardly and outwardly, now and forever, Jesus has made everything right.
And all of this that He has done for you (and for all) is what He also now gives to you (and to His whole Church on earth), as He gives you Himself and all the fruits and benefits of His Cross and Resurrection by His Word of the Gospel, the forgiveness of all your sins, and by and with His own Body and Blood, given and poured out for you, Christian, to eat and to drink in His Holy Supper.
This Word that He speaks to you — the Word of the Gospel that is preached to you, and the Word of the same Gospel in the Holy Sacrament — “Take, eat, this is My Body; drink, this is My Blood, for you, for the forgiveness of sins” — this Word of Christ Jesus which He speaks to you, into your ears and your body, declares you to be clean. He speaks, and it is so. You are holy and righteous before Him and in Him, in the presence of His God and Father in heaven, because Jesus says so.
He cleanses and sanctifies your heart, mind, body, and soul by the free and full forgiveness of all your sins. So has He done by the washing of the water with His Word in Holy Baptism; and so does He continue to do by the catechesis of His Word and by the preaching of the Holy Gospel.
That is the Truth with which you are girded: All of your sins are forgiven. You are holy, innocent, and pure. Your body, soul, and spirit are blameless in Christ Jesus, your Savior.
That is the Truth, and that is your righteousness — the righteousness of Christ which is credited to you by faith in His Word — the righteousness by which your heart and conscience are guarded from attack, so that the flaming darts of the devil cannot pierce you and bring you to utter ruin.
Such is your perfect peace with God in Christ, in which you now live in love for your neighbor within your own station in life, and by which you do “possess the land” that God has given you.
So, take up this shield of faith by giving heed to the Word of Christ, by listening to Him, and then by confessing what He has spoken. And wear the helmet of salvation by filling your head with your Savior’s Voice. Let Him permeate your inward thoughts and your outward conversations.
Don’t suppose that you can shut out the devil and his lies by sticking your fingers in your ears and wagging your tongue at him. Rather, fill your ears with the Truth of Christ Jesus. Give attention to the preaching of His Word. Listen to it, read it, repeat it, and sing it for yourself and others.
And then take up the Sword of the Spirit by confessing what you have heard and, as St. Paul has instructed you, by the prayer and intercession of the Word of God. Pray. Pray for the mercies of the Lord. Pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And pray for the heart and mind of Christ Jesus. Pray in this way, knowing and believing that your Father in heaven hears and answers your prayer according to the Word and promise that He has spoken to you by His beloved Son.
And pray also for the ministry and preaching of the Holy Gospel. Pray specifically for your pastors in Christ Jesus — and for the pastors of our sister congregations and of the Church around the world — that the Ministers of Christ in every place would be enabled to wield the Sword of the Spirit for the benefit of the Church on earth, for your own sake and for the good of your neighbors.
That ministry and preaching of Christ Jesus come from outside of you, from the Lord your God who loves you. They come to you from Him, in order to set you free from sin and every evil, and to feed you with a consecrated Food and Drink, which are the Body and Blood of Christ Himself.
This Meal of the Lord is a holy and Spiritual Food, which not only enters your mouth and your stomach, but into your very heart and soul, into your mind and spirit and your whole body, in order to cleanse you within and without, to heal you, and to give you Life with God forever and ever.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment