READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Proverbs 3:1-8
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
- St. Luke 22:24-30
In the Name…
Grace to you all and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. (Phile 1:3)
Who, once again speaks to you today, saying:
“Were not ten
cleansed? Where are the nine?”
Thus far from God’s Word, His Holy Scripture, included for
us that we may contemplate Apostasy, or falling away from the faith, moving
from belief to unbelief. What we are pointed to is the medicine of Faith, given
to us in Word and Sacrament, which builds immunity to such apostasy. That we
may not be found with the Nine, but the One Who turned Back and worshipped
Jesus as God.
Why do we think of apostasy? Because Scripture talks about
it. Jesus says things like, “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy
will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven
men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him;
but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either
in this age or in the age to come” (Mt 12:31-32).
And, “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for
the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5). Elsewhere, St. Paul writes, “Among these are
Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be
taught not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1:20).
Here now we have presented to us apostasy, the possibility
of losing our faith and being condemned for all eternity. We worry about this
because the nine didn’t just not return to give thanks, at first they cried out
in the same prayer we say every Sunday: Have mercy upon us!
Now, falling away from the faith is much closer to us than
we first thought and much more possible. that is not the end of the story,
because something else is closer. Romans 13:11, “now it is high time to
awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first
believed.”
Thus, the Nine are Apostates. Those who have begun in the
religion and quit it. “It is impossible for those who have once been
enlightened”, says Hebrews, “who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have
shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and
the powers of the coming age— and then have fallen away—to be restored to
repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over
again and subjecting Him to open shame” (Heb 6:4-6)
They are those who have been given the forgiveness of sins,
but reject it. They are those who seek another gospel, another message that
they can then fear, love, and trust more than God’s. God has made their life
better because of His Son, so they can now continue on their own. Like an
immature child, they believe they have learned to swing on the swings by their
own power.
However, who is in charge of our faith? We can certainly
reject it, but that does not mean we can accept it, grow it, or take charge of
it. The Father is in charge of it, the Son purchases it, and the Holy Spirit
dishes it out. In other words, we have no say.
Salvation is God’s choosing. His work, His words, His rules.
Not just, “He chooses to save some and not others”, but “in this way” He is
choosing to accomplish this. Being chosen is not a matter of God’s whim, but of
God’s Way. If you are on the Way, then you are a part of the plan. If you are
not on the Way, then you are not part of the plan.
Easy. But if its so easy, why are there these Nine? Well,
the further you get from Jesus, the more you get in the weeds, so to speak.
From the parable of the Sower, these are they that sprout up, but are choked by
the thorns and thistles, the cares and concerns of this world. Jesus has made
their life better, now you can do it for yourself, too!
Listen again to what St. Paul said earlier:
“I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the
destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5).
And,
“Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have
handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Tim.
1:20).
Notice these apostates are delivered in order to be saved.
Notice these apostates are handed over so they will be taught. If we take God
simply as a lawyer, then not only are there unsavable people, but He made them
that way as an example for us. However, His Word reveals the opposite. He
created all to be saved and sent His Son as the example.
In our sin, we miss the work of God. We miss salvation
because we are too busy trying to imitate God in the wrong ways. We think that,
because we’ve been shown a little bit of favor, that we are now the favorite
and can do no wrong. We think that because life has gotten better, we can
simply go back to the way we were living.
In the first place, the Nine would have nothing to go back
to, if it weren’t for Jesus. In fact, were they to return to the way they were
living, they would be lepers again, but this time without Jesus, for He won’t
pass by a second time in mercy. In the second place, Jesus comes to change
things, not leave them the same.
The Ten lepers come forward as lepers, but leave healed. Not
only healed, but saved. For Jesus has not come to do magic tricks with skin and
bones, but to seek and save. To give faith. To forgive sins.
“Have mercy upon us, O Lord” and He does. He makes the Way
and it is only through His Son, Jesus Christ. Apostasy is horrid. Sins are
eternally dangerous. However, the Way is forgiveness and the rules are
Confession and Absolution.
Every patriarch has found forgiveness and that, I would say,
is the only point to all their stories in the Old Testament. Adam, the cosmos
destroyer, found forgiveness. Noah the drunk, found forgiveness. Abraham the
adulterer, found forgiveness. And on down the line. Apostates all, but finding
a Savior, because He found them first.
He found them first as humans. He found them first, in their
sins. He found them first dead in their trespasses. And while they were yet
sinners…
What’s the point? The point is, if the Nine were to turn
back and confess, they would be forgiven. That is the lesson. Are you a
backslider? Do you not love Jesus as much as your neighbor does? Have you
sinned too much for God waste any more time on you?
Here’s the secret: no one loves Jesus. Not you. Not me. Not
your super-star preacher down the street.
I hear Christians say all the time, "Oh, I just I love
Jesus. Oh, I love the Lord." Well, I don't.
I don't love Jesus because Jesus said, "If you love
me, you will keep my commandments."
Do I keep His commandments? No. I fail. Consistently.
So, I cannot sit there and say, "Oh, I just love the
Lord”, while failing Him all the time.
All some people can talk about is me, me, me, me, me. I love
the Lord. I have
cool songs. It goes, "All I want is you." All I
want is Jesus. You call that worship.
You sit there and lie before the Lord about how much you
want Him when in all reality He's not all you want. You want a pay raise. You
want an ice cream. There's a lot of things that you want. And here you sit,
just singing, “I surrender all”
Do you? You've surrendered all? Wow. What an immense pride.
I don't love Jesus. I fail Him all the time.
But one thing that is certain and that is despite the fact
that I fail Him miserably again and again and am unfaithful, Jesus Christ has
remained faithful and His love has remained steadfast and His mercy has never
wavered. His mercy endures forever.
So because of what He's done for me, because He first loved
me, I am able to love Him back. But no, I don't put any emphasis or focus on my
love for Jesus. No, the apostle John actually said, “this is love. Not that
we loved God, but that he loved us and gave himself for us.” (1 Jn 4:10)
So if you want to know what love is, it's not about, oh,
what a great love I have for God. No, the opposite. It's about God's great love
for the world. So stop talking about yourself and your love and your
faithfulness and begin talking about Christ, His love, His faithfulness towards
you.
That is what Faith told this foreigner who returned, alone,
to give thanks. It revealed to him Christ, the Son of the Living God. Did faith
also not reveal this to the Nine? Yes, but they rejected. They treated the
medicine as if it were dung. How can a man do the things of God?
Man can’t. Jesus can. Both God and man, He offends us to our
very souls and warns, “Blessed is the man who is not offended by me” (Mt
11:6). The man who does not fall away because of me. The man who can
withstand the Day of Judgment, having his judgement handed out to him by a man,
Jesus.
Apostasy is not your feelings, but your belief.
Excommunication is not a condemnation, but a chance to be taught to change. So
do not be afraid of this change, that now you must believe in God’s Way. That
He can become a man, that man can forgive sins, and that a man is now and ever
shall rule the universe, return for His Own, and bring them with Him by faith
alone.
Instead, be healed, turn back, pray, praise and give thanks.
Amen.
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