READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
2 Chronicles 28:8-15
Galatians 3:15-22
St. Luke 10:23-37
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father
and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. (2 John)
Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying:
This being the 13th Sunday after Trinity, “unlucky” may be one word we would choose to describe this Jew who decided it was a good idea to go down to Jericho, despite the dangers. Yes, I do not give him the benefit of the doubt. He may have been having a bad day at home or he may have been distracted by family and personal struggles, but regardless he knew the dangers, left unprepared, and reaped what he sowed.
This preferred action of the sinful human race is genetic, along with the quickness to fall into such obvious traps. For I am convinced, through Dr. Luther, that the Fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, was just as quick. I believe that immediately after the words “and God rested”, Eve held forth against the Serpent and the devilish meal ingested, giving paradise a whopping hour of existence. Maybe.
Just what do we find in our own lives? The same attributes. Quick to anger, quick to dumb decisions, quick to do everything that we will regret later. The funny part is, we know beforehand exactly what will happen if we choose these poor paths and still do it anyway! We call that the “heat of the moment”, as if naming it gives us an excuse for it happening.
Do we call our Jewish man from the Gospel unlucky? It looks as though we are the unlucky ones. But unlucky is also just an excuse for us. And excuses are used to hurt others and protect ourselves from any sort of responsibility.
This makes us worse than the priest and the Levite, from the Gospel reading. In fact, this puts us on par with the robbers, those who have no thought to whom their actions hurt and make rash decisions based on their need “in the heat of the moment”.
Repent. No matter what you do, you are accountable for your actions and no one else. Your favorite pastime is to find a scapegoat and modern medicine loves to cash in and help you do so. You blame parents, fate, or some feigned systemic oppression. You even blame God, but never in your wildest dreams would you think of pointing your finger at yourself.
This is the “imprisonment of sin” Jesus is speaking of, in our Epistle reading for today (Gal 3:22). The last penny you claim ownership of will be required to just post bond. Then, released with nothing, what will you do? What will you give to God? What will you give to your neighbor? With nothing, you will end up back in prison, preferring sin to struggle, and start the cycle all over.
Worse than the robbers, we now take the role of the left-for-dead-man, unable to even accost our neighbor for survival as a robber.
Now the weight of St. Paul’s words are truly felt in our bones when he says: “I know that nothing good dwells in me” (Rom 7:18). Even the Holy Ten Commands of God which were given and written by God’s own finger, brought only sin and death (Rom 7:10). The walls of the prison are thick and the bars unbreakable.
Turns out, when God wrote the 10 commands, a second time, for Moses, He began as He always begins: with the Gospel. The first time it was, “I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex 20:1). I did that for you before you did anything for me.
The second time, there was more: “The Lord arrived in front of [Moses’] face and preached, ‘The Lord is God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation’” (Ex 34:6-7).
Then Moses worshipped and God went on: “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord” (Ex 34:10).
The marvel is that God arrives in the flesh. He locates Himself, able to be found quickly and fully. The Lord arrives for our Jewish man and sees him when he cannot see. He comes to him when he cannot move. He works for him when he cannot work. He binds him, carries him, and purchases him, not from slip ups, or mistakes, or bad decisions, but from the sin and death that produces such things inside and outside of him.
And he is resurrected. He may have been half-dead according to the robbers, the devil, and his sinful nature, but he was all dead to the Lord Who arrived on his behalf to raise him up. When the Lord arrives, He arrives physically, face to face in order to help and befriend in the body. When the Lord speaks, He speaks physically, vocal chords to vocal chords. The Lord comes to have mercy on whom He will have mercy, that is, to those dead in their sin.
Just as He came to this Jewish man, to bind up His sin and death, so does He also arrive today in front of our faces, just like our Good Samaritan. Not that He’s just a nice guy letting everyone do whatever their heart tells them, but that He is a Good Guy. And a Good Guy does not leave their friends half-dead or even all dead.
But they bring them back.
Thus, our only, true, and Good friend is Christ. Who, Himself, left His heavenly Home, to bring redemption to sinners. To make His way in the land of robbers and thieves. It was no public road He went down, but His own, private road. Created by Him, sustained by Him.
The badniks, not only usurped ownership of the Lord’s Way, but also blasphemed the bodies of His creation, the bodies of the dwelling place of His Holy Spirit. On top of that the people He chose, those whom He spoke to and sent, were not willing to do bad or good. He looketh for some to have pity, but there was no man, neither found He any to comfort Him (Ps 69:20).
The Lord came, He saw, He had mercy. In place of the evil robbers, He was crucified between two robbers. In place of the do nothing “holy people”, the Lord came to show pity in Body and Blood. In place of death, the Lord gives His own life in order to secure eternal life for those on whom He has mercy, bringing them into His Inn of His Incarnation. That is saving them by oil and wine: His holy precious Word and Sacrament and His innocent, suffering and death.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we see our sin and we see our Savior. In it, we do not find the instructions for getting rid of sin. Only the Faith preached to get the Savior into us. In our sinful rush, we choose sin without fail, and fall into the same traps over and over again.
In Christ’s righteous rush, He chooses our sinfulness, falls into our traps, and suffers our dire consequences in our place and for our sakes, such that we are freed from our robbery-ness, our priest-ness, our Levite-ness, and our half-dead-ness. Not free as in they are no longer around, but free as in, when they do come around, they come around and face us, their conquerors, in the forgiveness of sins.
The Law that imprisons all things, finds completion in Christ, and instead of condemnation, the Promise of Faith is given to all who believe. And even though the earthly prison, consequences, and death remain, Jesus has removed them as obstacles in the way of God’s own righteousness, for you.
Instead of unlucky, now we are lucky, or I should say blessed and chosen. And even our unluckiness, or luck, cannot not take us out of the loving hand of Christ. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor robbers nor priests, nor Levites, nor luck, nor bad decisions, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38-39).
And He accomplishes this right in front of your face, just as He did with Moses. He has mercy and He shows mercy, by arriving in His Church. The mercy, compassion, and purchasing power of God is found nowhere else except in Christ, our Good Samaritan, Who arrives on the scene with eternal medicine straight from heaven, able to heal forever, and poured out on us generously through His Spirit, onto our heads and into our hands and mouths.
This Word and Sacrament is given to us on earth, so that when we stumble and slip headlong into arrogance and wickedness (Ps 73:2-3), we also stumble and slip onto God’s mercy in His revealed Church on earth. In this gift from the Holy spirit, we are continually with Him, in and through all things. He holds our right hand. He guides, counsels, and afterward receives us to glory (Ps 73:23-24).
For though Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, you are imprisoned to be released, so that the Promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying:
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he
fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him
half dead”
This being the 13th Sunday after Trinity, “unlucky” may be one word we would choose to describe this Jew who decided it was a good idea to go down to Jericho, despite the dangers. Yes, I do not give him the benefit of the doubt. He may have been having a bad day at home or he may have been distracted by family and personal struggles, but regardless he knew the dangers, left unprepared, and reaped what he sowed.
This preferred action of the sinful human race is genetic, along with the quickness to fall into such obvious traps. For I am convinced, through Dr. Luther, that the Fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, was just as quick. I believe that immediately after the words “and God rested”, Eve held forth against the Serpent and the devilish meal ingested, giving paradise a whopping hour of existence. Maybe.
Just what do we find in our own lives? The same attributes. Quick to anger, quick to dumb decisions, quick to do everything that we will regret later. The funny part is, we know beforehand exactly what will happen if we choose these poor paths and still do it anyway! We call that the “heat of the moment”, as if naming it gives us an excuse for it happening.
Do we call our Jewish man from the Gospel unlucky? It looks as though we are the unlucky ones. But unlucky is also just an excuse for us. And excuses are used to hurt others and protect ourselves from any sort of responsibility.
This makes us worse than the priest and the Levite, from the Gospel reading. In fact, this puts us on par with the robbers, those who have no thought to whom their actions hurt and make rash decisions based on their need “in the heat of the moment”.
Repent. No matter what you do, you are accountable for your actions and no one else. Your favorite pastime is to find a scapegoat and modern medicine loves to cash in and help you do so. You blame parents, fate, or some feigned systemic oppression. You even blame God, but never in your wildest dreams would you think of pointing your finger at yourself.
This is the “imprisonment of sin” Jesus is speaking of, in our Epistle reading for today (Gal 3:22). The last penny you claim ownership of will be required to just post bond. Then, released with nothing, what will you do? What will you give to God? What will you give to your neighbor? With nothing, you will end up back in prison, preferring sin to struggle, and start the cycle all over.
Worse than the robbers, we now take the role of the left-for-dead-man, unable to even accost our neighbor for survival as a robber.
Now the weight of St. Paul’s words are truly felt in our bones when he says: “I know that nothing good dwells in me” (Rom 7:18). Even the Holy Ten Commands of God which were given and written by God’s own finger, brought only sin and death (Rom 7:10). The walls of the prison are thick and the bars unbreakable.
Turns out, when God wrote the 10 commands, a second time, for Moses, He began as He always begins: with the Gospel. The first time it was, “I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex 20:1). I did that for you before you did anything for me.
The second time, there was more: “The Lord arrived in front of [Moses’] face and preached, ‘The Lord is God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation’” (Ex 34:6-7).
Then Moses worshipped and God went on: “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord” (Ex 34:10).
The marvel is that God arrives in the flesh. He locates Himself, able to be found quickly and fully. The Lord arrives for our Jewish man and sees him when he cannot see. He comes to him when he cannot move. He works for him when he cannot work. He binds him, carries him, and purchases him, not from slip ups, or mistakes, or bad decisions, but from the sin and death that produces such things inside and outside of him.
And he is resurrected. He may have been half-dead according to the robbers, the devil, and his sinful nature, but he was all dead to the Lord Who arrived on his behalf to raise him up. When the Lord arrives, He arrives physically, face to face in order to help and befriend in the body. When the Lord speaks, He speaks physically, vocal chords to vocal chords. The Lord comes to have mercy on whom He will have mercy, that is, to those dead in their sin.
Just as He came to this Jewish man, to bind up His sin and death, so does He also arrive today in front of our faces, just like our Good Samaritan. Not that He’s just a nice guy letting everyone do whatever their heart tells them, but that He is a Good Guy. And a Good Guy does not leave their friends half-dead or even all dead.
But they bring them back.
Thus, our only, true, and Good friend is Christ. Who, Himself, left His heavenly Home, to bring redemption to sinners. To make His way in the land of robbers and thieves. It was no public road He went down, but His own, private road. Created by Him, sustained by Him.
The badniks, not only usurped ownership of the Lord’s Way, but also blasphemed the bodies of His creation, the bodies of the dwelling place of His Holy Spirit. On top of that the people He chose, those whom He spoke to and sent, were not willing to do bad or good. He looketh for some to have pity, but there was no man, neither found He any to comfort Him (Ps 69:20).
The Lord came, He saw, He had mercy. In place of the evil robbers, He was crucified between two robbers. In place of the do nothing “holy people”, the Lord came to show pity in Body and Blood. In place of death, the Lord gives His own life in order to secure eternal life for those on whom He has mercy, bringing them into His Inn of His Incarnation. That is saving them by oil and wine: His holy precious Word and Sacrament and His innocent, suffering and death.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we see our sin and we see our Savior. In it, we do not find the instructions for getting rid of sin. Only the Faith preached to get the Savior into us. In our sinful rush, we choose sin without fail, and fall into the same traps over and over again.
In Christ’s righteous rush, He chooses our sinfulness, falls into our traps, and suffers our dire consequences in our place and for our sakes, such that we are freed from our robbery-ness, our priest-ness, our Levite-ness, and our half-dead-ness. Not free as in they are no longer around, but free as in, when they do come around, they come around and face us, their conquerors, in the forgiveness of sins.
The Law that imprisons all things, finds completion in Christ, and instead of condemnation, the Promise of Faith is given to all who believe. And even though the earthly prison, consequences, and death remain, Jesus has removed them as obstacles in the way of God’s own righteousness, for you.
Instead of unlucky, now we are lucky, or I should say blessed and chosen. And even our unluckiness, or luck, cannot not take us out of the loving hand of Christ. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor robbers nor priests, nor Levites, nor luck, nor bad decisions, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38-39).
And He accomplishes this right in front of your face, just as He did with Moses. He has mercy and He shows mercy, by arriving in His Church. The mercy, compassion, and purchasing power of God is found nowhere else except in Christ, our Good Samaritan, Who arrives on the scene with eternal medicine straight from heaven, able to heal forever, and poured out on us generously through His Spirit, onto our heads and into our hands and mouths.
This Word and Sacrament is given to us on earth, so that when we stumble and slip headlong into arrogance and wickedness (Ps 73:2-3), we also stumble and slip onto God’s mercy in His revealed Church on earth. In this gift from the Holy spirit, we are continually with Him, in and through all things. He holds our right hand. He guides, counsels, and afterward receives us to glory (Ps 73:23-24).
For though Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, you are imprisoned to be released, so that the Promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment