Our congregation held a Reformation Celebration (or Oktoberfest) on October 30. A presentation was given, which focused on the teachings of Luther's opponents in the Sacramentarian Controversy, especially Ulrich Zwingli. This sermon was then preached at the Vespers service.
Vespers on the Eve of the Commemoration of the
Reformation – October 30, 2021
Psalm 46; Galatians 3:26-4:7
St.
Matthew 26:17-30
In
the name of the Father, and of the T Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Ulrich Zwingli was right to confess
with our Lord, “The flesh profits nothing.”[1] Our flesh profits nothing before the
Lord. The Law of God, his will for creation, offers righteousness, eternal
life, and salvation, but this offer comes with a condition. The Law offers
these wonderful gifts to all who keep the whole of God’s Law without error. “Whoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” You
may try to earn salvation by keeping the Law, but it is a great gamble. Stumble
in one point, fail in a tiny way, forget one jot, tittle, or iota, and you have
transgressed the entire law and are guilty of all sin.
“But what of good works? If we
transgress a little but work much good, doesn’t that make up for it?” By no
means! Did you not hear that to transgress a little is to be guilty of all the
Law? This is the very definition of “redeem.” To redeem is to give one thing in
exchange for another. Maybe you have a gift card to Walmart that you redeem for
groceries. Maybe you have a paycheck that you redeem for cash. Your good works
cannot be redeemed for your righteousness for two reasons.
First, your good works do not have
enough value to meet your guilt. No amount of human works will be enough to
match the debt incurred by your sin. Remember, to be guilty in one point, makes
you guilty of the whole Law. Your debt to God is greater than you could ever
imagine. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the servant owes the master
ten thousand talents.[2] That is the equivalent to something
between $250 million and $20 billion dollars. The point is that salvation comes
at an astronomical cost. Since all the works of man are as filthy rags before
the Lord, you simply can never earn enough in works to match the value of your
soul.[3]
Second, your good works are not of the
correct currency. You cannot walk into Walmart down the road and pay in Euros. Your
currency must match what is acceptable to the one holding your debt. The price
is in blood. The price is your life, your soul. The original sin of Adam and
Eve severed the relationship between man and God. Good works do not heal that
rift. Buying your wife a new car does not cancel your adultery. The currency is
unacceptable. Good works cannot avert your doom. It is a false, misleading
dream that you can keep the Law in its fullness.[4]
Not only do good works not atone for your sins, they also do not retain or strengthen your faith. If your works are responsible for strengthening your faith, if your works are the reason you retain your faith, then salvation is due to your works. Natural man will always fight against God. Every Christian will struggle against sin in this world. If that struggle is overcome by your good works which keep you faithful, then your salvation is again, won by works.
The act of a diligent prayer
life, the act of coming to church, the act of forgiving your
neighbor, even the act of reading the bible does not, in itself, retain
your faith. The life of the Christian is not complete through a checklist of holy
living. The Word of God is not a self-help book by which you attain
righteousness, salvation, and eternal life.
This is most pointed when we suffer.
When the terminal diagnosis comes, we are tempted to pray harder, believing
that more diligent prayer will cause God to perform a miracle. The danger in
relying on our efforts in prayer is when the prayer is not answered according
to our desire. If God does not give us the outcome we’ve prayed for, we’ve worked
for, then he must’ve either not heard our prayer, or far worse, denied it.
And yet it is God himself who commands us to pray in the 2nd
Commandment and promises to answer our prayers. “God must be unjust. God must
be cruel. God must not care.”
Repent of this blasphemy. Repent of
relying upon your own works for salvation. Repent of turning a beautiful gift
of God, prayer, into a work of your own choosing, by which you hope to persuade
the creator of the universe, who has promised to love you, care for you, and
deliver to you eternal life. Your flesh cannot abstain from sinning. Keeping
the Law for the purpose of salvation, even by good intentions, is a useless
task and in vain. None can remove sin’s poisoned dart or purify your own sinful
heart, so deep is your corruption.[5]
God is just. God is merciful. God is
gracious. The Law must be fulfilled, or else we must die despairing.[6] The Son of God, Second Person of the
Holy Trinity, descended from the heavenly throne room into our flesh. He took
on the form of a servant. At “the fullness of time, [the Father] sent his Son
to be born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”[7]
True God, Second Person of the Holy
Trinity, united himself to human flesh. He became True Man. This God-Man united
himself to our flesh such that we can say “God hungered; God thirsted; God was
born of a woman; God suffered; God died.” The two natures of Christ must be
distinguished for it was by his divinity that Christ was able to keep the Law
perfectly and atone for our sins in eternal currency. The divinity of Christ
ensured his redemption was of the proper quantity and currency such that his
redemption would suffice for all mankind, from Adam to the last baby born.
It was by his humanity that Christ
could die. It was by uniting his divinity to his humanity that the Son of God
could share this salvation with mankind. It was by uniting human flesh to his
divinity that when Christ ascended to the Right Hand of the Father, he could
prepare a mansion for all who believe.
These two natures of Christ, divine and
human, are forever united in one person. This one person, Jesus Christ, acted
for your salvation. His works are good. His works are holy. His works are
perfect and eternal. This one person, the God-Man, has united the hiddenness of
the divine God within the revealed flesh of creation. This one person has
redeemed you through his blood and then guaranteed your eternal life by rising
from the grave. His blood is more precious than $20 billion and matches the
currency of your salvation.
It is no wonder then, that this
God-Man, on the night when he was betrayed, took physical elements, and united
them to his body and blood. The very same Body that would die upon the cross
for your salvation and the Blood that was shed to redeem your soul are
sacramentally united to physical elements – bread and wine. Two elements but
one Sacrament. This is a reflection of the unity of God and Man within the
person of Christ. Two Natures but one Person.
From the very beginning, God has given
himself to man through means. God walked in the Garden and spoke with Adam and
Eve in the cool of the day. They could see him, hear him, smell him, touch him.
These are the means by which he revealed himself to Adam and Eve. These were
not illusions. They were and are truth. So too does his grace come to man
through means. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”[8] This Word of God comes to us through
means – the preaching of men called into the Office of the Holy Ministry and
the printed word in the Bible you read, hopefully aloud.
But since man is a physical being and
would be tempted to ignore something as ephemeral as the spoken Word, God has
united his word to physical means as well. The Word in and with the water,
given by the command of Christ and for the purpose of the forgiveness of sin,
constitutes Holy Baptism. It is truly a washing, not a symbol of cleansing. The
Word of God in, with, and under the Bread and the Wine, given by the command of
Christ and given for the forgiveness of sin, constitutes the Holy Communion.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth.”[9] The Eternal Word of God is united to
human flesh. This same flesh, he has united to bread and the blood which flows
through that flesh he has united to wine. In this Holy Body and Precious Blood
is found the salvation of the world. The very same Body which hung on the cross
and the very same Blood poured out on the earth are given to Christians for the
bestowing and strengthening of faith. They are the victory feast of the Church
who celebrates with the Victorious Christ who has defeated death and the grave.
What then of our good works? Our flesh
profits nothing for salvation. Christ has won salvation for us. Coming to
Church, reading the Scriptures, receiving the Holy Sacraments, and fervent
prayer are not good works which you do. They are the means of grace by which
God delivers himself to you. You do these things not to earn salvation but to
receive what God has to give you – righteousness, salvation, and eternal life. These
things do retain and strengthen your faith but not because of what you do, its
because of what God delivers through them.
Our good works are then also a reflection of what has been done in us. Has God forgiven your sins? Has God delivered to you the righteousness of Christ? Has God given you a clean conscience through the waters of Holy Baptism?[10] Has the very Body and Blood of Christ wrought faith within you, capable of moving mountains? Have you been declared a child and heir of God, no longer a slave to your passions, to sin, to death, and to the Law?
Then you are free to serve God with a
joyful heart! No longer are your works that of a slave hoping to earn freedom.
You are a son, an heir, whose inheritance is certain. You are now free to pray
because you know that your Father in heaven hears and will answer your prayer.
You are now free to come to Church, regularly and often, because there you will
receive your salvation in Christ. You are free to give to the poor because
eternity has been given to you. You are free to raise your children in the way
of the Lord because He died for them too.[11] You are free to daily read the
Scriptures because there you find your Savior.
The flesh of man profits nothing for
our salvation. The flesh of Christ has won our salvation. “I am the living
bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live
forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for
the life of the world…Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His
blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food
indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood
abides in Me, and I in him.”[12]
In
T Jesus’ name. Amen.
[1]
St. John 6:63.
[2]
St. Matthew 18:21-35.
[3]
Isaiah 64:6.
[4]
Salvation Unto Us Has Come, LSB 555:1. Public Domain.
[5]
Salvation Unto Us Has Come, LSB 555:4. Public Domain
[6]
Salvation Unto Us Has Come, LSB 555:5. Public Domain
[7]
Galatians 4:4-5.
[8]
Romans 10:17.
[9]
St. John 1:1, 14.
[10]
1 Peter 3:18-22.
[11]
Proverbs 22:6; Matthew 19:13-15.
[12]
John 6:51, 53-56.
