October 23, 2016 Pentecost
23 Luke 18:9-14
The students in confirmation class are
asked to take sermon notes. There’s a
form they can use if they wish, and there are three challenging questions on
that form: Did you hear the Law? Did you hear the Gospel? And, did you hear how the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus affects your life?
Most of them struggle to answer those questions. That’s okay, they’re deliberately above their
level. Indeed most of us would struggle
to answer them. But those are the goals
I seek to achieve as a create sermons.
And those are the basic principles Lutheran theology uses to interpret
the Bible and understand all of life.
Let’s start by what is the Law? When you here that you may think of Moses
coming down the mountain with two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments
written on them. Indeed that is somewhat
correct. The law sets up limits and
boundaries for our lives. It creates
safety and accountability.
You know well how laws work. If you’re driving down the New York State
Thruway and off in the distance you see the front of a car peeking out from
behind a bridge abutment what do you do?
You’re first reaction is to check your speed; and if you’re like most
drivers you slow down! Why, because that
is maybe a police car. If you’re
traveling 75 or 80 miles per hour there will be consequences. The law creates safety by creating
limits. If there were no traffic laws
people could drive whatever speed they wanted in whatever direction they
wanted!
Lutheran thinking would call this the,
“first use of the Law.”
And then Lutheran thinking goes on to
say there is a second use of the Law.
The forms the confirmation students use explains this, “Law is that
which convicts you, reminds you that you need God. It may make you feel guilty for the wrong
things you have done or makes you realize that something is wrong in the
world.”
Next church year we will focus on the
Gospel of Matthew. Matthew’s gospel
contains Jesus’ great Sermon on the Mount.
People usually think of the beginning of that sermon where Jesus says things
like, “Blessed are the poor… Blessed are
those who mourn… Blessed are the meek…”
and so on. But the second half of the
sermon deals with the Law. Jesus says,
“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not
murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a
brother or sister you are liable to judgment.’”
He also says, “You have heard that it
was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has
already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (And I’m sure the same goes for women looking
at men!)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer.”
“Do not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth.”
“Beware of practicing your piety
before others.”
“Do not worry about your life…”
And on it goes. If one part of the Sermon on the Mount
doesn’t convict you some other part will.
Sooner or later Jesus convicts everyone of wrongdoing and not being
capable of salvation.
Does he do this to make us feel
depressed or to feel guilty? Perhaps,
but if so that is a necessary step on a journey.
In our gospel we read Jesus’ parable
of the Pharisee and Tax Collector. The
tax collector got it. He knew things
were wrong. He knew he wasn’t living up
to God’s expectations of him. He begs
for mercy. This tax collector was
experiencing this second use of the Law.
By contrast there is the
Pharisee. He looks at himself and his
life and it all looks good. He thanks
God for it… God, I thank you that I don’t
speed on the Thruway. I don’t have to
speed because I manage my time well. I
make smart decisions. I married
well. I am dependable, honest and
upright. Thank you God for making me a
good person.
This Pharisee is looking at the first
use of the Law. He hasn’t broken any
rules. He does what is right. Yet he is blind to the larger reality – that
despite what he thinks of himself and his life he is also sinful and
broken. He needs to hear the Sermon on
the Mount. He needs to understand that
if we think we aren’t broken we still are.
I know I’ve said before: we all sin, quite often we sin in socially
appropriate ways and thus the law doesn’t convict us, but it is still a sin.
And let’s look at this Pharisee’s
gratitude. He says, “God, I thank you
that I am not like other people…” Now we
like to praise gratitude, but is he really grateful? He’s grateful for his own abilities. He’s not grateful for God’s abilities.
By contrast the tax collector, even
though he does not say thank you to God, he goes home with true gratitude.
The confirmands have the question,
“Did you hear the gospel?” And there is
a definition of the gospel, “Gospel is the good news of God’s saving love for
you.” Gospel is knowing that you are
saved by God’s abilities, not your own.
And so it all works this way. First there is a recognition of
brokenness. I’ve read any number of
Christian theologians say that if you don’t recognize your need then
Christianity has nothing to offer you.
It is in knowing your neediness, your limitations, your failures, your
problems that you take the first step of faith.
If you think you have your life together then Christianity’s message to
you is nothing but a burden and a pain.
It is an obligation you must do to get to heaven when you die.
But with recognition of sinfulness,
when you realize you are hopeless under the demands of the Law, then you turn
to God knowing you are broken, powerless and needy. I often quote Martin Luther’s last written
words, “We are beggars. It is true.”
…that from one of the most effective Christian leaders ever.
When you realize then that God raises
you back up on your feet despite your brokenness, looks into your eyes and
says: So you think you are worthless, do you?
You think you are powerless, do you?
Well, guess what. You are! Now, let me do my work; then you are in a
place for true gratitude. The Pharisee
thought he was grateful, but his gratitude resided within himself and his own
goodness. The tax collector was truly
grateful because it was something from God he didn’t earn or deserve. That is the gospel.
Brokenness leads to gratitude which
leads to authentic faith. That is the
path Jesus’ parable suggests. That is
what Lutheran thinking is doing when it talks about the Law and the Gospel.
It can be hard for a teenager in
confirmation to get that. Maybe they’re
popular and have lots of friends fawning all over them. They don’t feel a broken piece of them exists
or could exist. Maybe they’re unpopular,
feel untalented and are bullied. I
suppose that is closer to feeling broken before God, but the God’s wholeness of
God’s grace does not instantly lift a person into feeling fantastic about
themselves. Thus to a teenager God’s
grace is just a theological concept that gets talked about in church.
I suppose if it is hard for teenagers
it is no less hard for adults. I think
it’s all because our world teaches us the false idea that if we do everything
right we’ll be happy – or at least we deserve a happy life. People confuse that idea with God’s
teaching. But that is not God’s
teaching. The Bible is actually full of
lessons of unfairness.
God’s work lies at a deeper
level. God isn’t interested in your
happiness. If your life is all
happiness, I’m happy for you, but it is not necessarily a sign that God loves
you. What God is really interested in is
your brokenness. That is something our
world doesn’t want to admit and doesn’t want to talk about. But it is your brokenness that opens you to
grace. And it is grace that leads you to
gratitude. And it is gratitude at this
level that leads, not exactly to happiness, but to wholeness. And it is in wholeness through God that God
truly works through you.
Will
I say, “May you be happy”? No. May you be made whole by God. And may you know the fullness of life that
comes through God’s grace.
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