READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
1 Samuel 16:1-13
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
St. Luke 18:31-43
Grace to you and peace. (1 Thess 1)
Who speaks to you on this day from His Gospel heard, saying:
“And Jesus said to
him, ‘Recover your sight; your faith has saved you.’”
Your faith has saved you. That’s what Jesus says there.
That’s what Jesus means there. Faith alone.
One of the most hotly contested words in Christian
vocabulary is the word “faith”. It was the center of the fight at the
Reformation and it remains our fight today, if only because it appears to be an
undefinable, spiritual matter. That is, that when people are asked about faith,
it quickly becomes a private issue as opposed to an objective issue.
And once something becomes private, there is no more
discussion. You can’t talk about it, you can’t question it. Mine is mine and
yours is yours and that’s it. But that is not how Jesus talks about faith,
ever. Faith is never private. Faith is the same gift given to every Christian,
no exception. This is because it is Faith that saves you, as Jesus has already
told us.
And if we are first class people we are able to have civil
discussions about things and when we talk about “faith” in the proper way, we quickly
run into the forgiveness of sins.
However, as it is understood in Roman Catholic churches and
other protestant churches, the forgiveness of sins is not enough. They would
say that having the forgiveness of sins is only the first step. The second step
is true renewal by the Spirit. This is where “spirit baptisms” come from. Water
baptism only gives forgiveness. Spirit, or second, baptism gives the renewal of
the mind. Or is it marathon revivals? I can’t keep up.
Our Gospel reading today gives the perfect example for them.
You see, the forgiveness of sins is like Jesus giving the man’s sight back to
him. Jesus has brought the man out of darkness and into His light, as He
promised in Psalm 107:14, “He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of
death and broke their bands apart.”
But afterwards, it is that man’s new job to “follow and
glorify God”. Thus, it is not enough just to be healed of blindness, one must
then give their heart to Jesus. They must follow Him and do the things that
glorify God. This they take to mean as praying and fasting and doing good
deeds, you know, like Jesus did. This “second life”, both say, is the true
spiritual life which is beyond the Baptismal Font, beyond forgiveness.
There are two problems that I see with that assertion. There
are more than 2, but for today we will only focus on two. The first problem is
that we are not told what this man, or really any of the people healed by
Jesus, did after they were healed. Some were even sent home. There is no
program that is given as to what “following Jesus” means nor of what
“glorifying God” means.
For any kind of “menu”, we’d need to go to St. Paul, for he
is the one to lay out all the “do this’s” and “don’t do this’s”. But if we have
to go to St. Paul, then what is the point of Jesus? So let’s not go there as if
we will find something in St. Paul’s letters that Jesus left out.
The second problem is: Jesus does not add to any of His
Passion predictions these sorts of words, “if only they would follow me and
glorify me, I would not have to suffer and die”. This means, that even if Jesus
was followed and glorified, He would still be mocked, shamefully treated, spit
upon, flogged, and killed. No amount of “glorification” seems to be enough to
prevent the cross.
Which should teach us something very important about God.
That is: His Glory is His Cross.
To truly glorify God, you must put Him on the cross. Which
then clarifies “following Jesus”. If God’s glory is His cross, and the way we
glorify God is by putting Him there, or rather, letting Him act as He wishes,
putting Himself up there, and suffering and dying for us. Then following Him
means simply that: going where He goes and seeing what He does.
Dear Christians, when we speak of saving faith, we are
speaking of a complete saving faith. When the Lord Jesus speaks of forgiving
sins, He is not starting us out on a long journey to become just like Him. When
He forgives sins, He also gives life, light, and salvation, because in
forgiveness we are made just like Him.
It is no incomplete gift that our Lord suffers and dies to
purchase for you. Remember, in Psalm 107:14, Jesus brings them out of darkness
and at the same time breaks their bonds asunder. That is at the same time Jesus
saves, breaks you away from sin, death, and the devil, He gives forgiveness.
Our Small Catechism reminds us of this in St. Mark 16:16,
when talking about baptism. There, St. Mark says, “Whoever believes and is
baptized will be saved”. Belief and baptism happen at the same time. There
is no “whoever believes and then afterwards is baptized”.
Look at the Gospel again. The Blind Man hears the Word of
God’s Faith, that the promised Son of David has come to him. At this Word, the
blind man follows after Jesus before receiving his sight. In faith, already
possessed by the man, he shouts after Jesus expecting all good things. Without
faith, that is not possible. Without saving faith, as Jesus said, healing his
eyes, ears, or receiving any gift from God is not possible.
Regarding faith, we by no means deny any sort of spiritual renewal
happening in a person as a result of receiving God’s gift of faith. The
controversy is not whether or not the benefits of Christ include the renewal of
the mind, repentance, contrition, good intentions, love, or good works. All
these we happily and heartily confess and believe are the possession of a
Christian, because of Christ.
But, it is not the destination. It is not even the journey.
It is the God-man, Christ Jesus. The controversy is whether or not I cooperate
with Him to create saving faith. If I cooperate, then there is goodness in me
and I can accomplish good things without Christ. If I am “the blind leading the
blind”, then Christ must come to me and do all the work or I will remain in the
ditch of my grave.
The Love that faith unwearily pursues is the Love that
leaves no gap, no opening, and no grave left unturned. It is a Love that first
creates what it seeks. The Lord that gives Faith first and asks questions
later. The Love that lays down His Life for His friends and enemies.
Jesus doesn't go up to this blind man and ask if he wants to
believe or not. He asks him what he wants from Jesus. It could have been
anything. The door was wide open to ask for wisdom, or riches, or fame. But
faith in the man wants only his sight. Sight to see Jesus, the Son of God, Who
will save him from his sins.
The sacrifice of Jesus atones for the sins of the whole
world. Even the sins of those who reject Him, such is the power of His Gospel.
That doesn’t mean everyone gets into heaven, but it does mean that saving Faith
is produced, active, and doing proper work even before you think about it.
From outside of you, Jesus creates His saving faith and
objectively gives it to you. It is objective in the same way that the blind man
receiving his sight is objective. His renewed eyesight was not going to come
“from within”.
This, the Christian Church calls Justification.
Justification means that the sinner is justified by faith alone. Nothing else
is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification from God
and it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action
of his own will.
This, then, is something we can talk about. If only because
of the pervasive guilt that plagues all human lives. Am I truly loved? Does God
really forgive me? Is there really nothing He wants as payment? Am I truly free
to go?
“…The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who [is] preached among
you…[is] not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter
how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him
the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. …it is God who makes …you stand
firm in Christ” (2 Cor 1:19-21)
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