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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is the greatest in your home: you, or your spouse, or one of your children? Who is the greatest in your workplace or school: you, or one of your coworkers or classmates? Who is the greatest in the church: you, or one of your fellow-believers (or maybe your pastor)? In some aspects of our society we sometimes rightly merit and seek such recognition as the greatest, such as for doing an exceptional job at work or earning straight-As at school. But, when it comes to the Kingdom of Heaven, traditional models of merit are turned upside down. As we heard in today’s Gospel Reading, the one who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven is humble like the child whom Jesus placed in the midst of the disciples, before speaking of Himself among us (or, more literally, “in our midst”) in connection with the forgiveness of sins. Today we consider the Gospel Reading under the theme, “Jesus is among us to forgive us”.
Jesus Himself may have caused His disciples to ask who the greatest was, since Jesus had on at least two occasions taken Peter, James, and John with Him and left the other disciples behind (Mark 5:37; Matthew 17:1). Their question about the greatest prompts Jesus not only to answer about true greatness but also to warn them about temptations, to tell a parable about a lost sheep, to teach about reproving a fellow Christian, and to speak about Himself being present with His Church for forgiveness. Perhaps strikingly, as I noted a moment ago, today’s Gospel begins with the greatest, the humble, in the midst and ends with Jesus, arguably the greatest, in the midst.
Parents and others can keep children or anyone else from faith in Jesus. And, just as we must guard ourselves against the devil, the world, and our sinful nature—which do not want us to hallow God’s Name or let His Kingdom come (Small Catechism III:11)—so the Church must also guard Herself from those who live in open sin and who do not repent. Our Father in Heaven does not want even one person to perish in the eternal fire of hell. So, just as the Son of Man came to save the lost, so the members of His Church at first deal individually with one another over the sins they commit against one another, and, if anyone does not repent, ultimately the Church deals with them, binding their sins and so cutting them off from the forgiveness of the Communion of the Church, where “Jesus is among us to forgive us”.
Whether at home, in our workplace or school, or in the Church, probably no one likes to confront others or to be confronted him or herself, essentially either telling someone or being told that he or she is not the greatest. Parents, employers and teachers, and pastors especially have vocations (or “callings”) that at times require such confrontations, but children, employees and students, and members of a congregation at times may also need to confront others. And, no matter our vocations, we all need to be confronted by God’s law, which shows us our sin against God and against one another—including at times our failing to confront others as we should and at times our failing to repent when so confronted. Today’s Old Testament Reading touched on the pastor’s responsibility to warn the wicked at the risk of the pastor’s own soul (Ezekiel 33:7-9), and today’s Epistle Reading described our obligations not only to the governing authorities but also to one another in love (Romans 13:1-10). Out of God’s love for us, His mercy and grace towards us for the sake of Jesus, God shows us our sin, and He turns us and enables us to become like children, who recognize our need for His forgiveness, who are receptive to His forgiveness, and who receive it confidently in faith. When we are so turned and humbled—or, as today’s Appointed Verse put it, when we are “poor in spirit”—then we are truly blessed, blessed with the forgiveness of sins for Jesus’s sake.
As I mentioned, our Father in Heaven does not want even one person to perish, so His Son came in human flesh in order to save all of those lost in sin and death. Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, in order to save you and me; therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every Name (Philippians 2:8-9). Yet, that exaltation does not keep Jesus from us, but, as God was present at His Tabernacle and Temple in the Old Testament to forgive sins, so Jesus remains present with us to forgive us as we are gathered here in this place where He has put and we invoke His Name. Here, we bind sins when necessary, but, more importantly, we loose them with the result that they are loosed in heaven. We agree here, and it is done also there, because Jesus is present and working here. Here, by grace through faith in Him, He gives us His own righteousness, which exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees and everyone else, and so enables us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and be among the greatest in His eternal presence there (Matthew 5:20).
At the Baptismal Font, even children are received in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (And, we note that in today’s Gospel Reading, those who keep children from Holy Baptism are warned of the consequences of doing so!) In Holy Baptism, we died to sin and our sinful nature was crucified with Jesus (Romans 6:5-6). Yet, since our sinful nature still clings to us, by daily contrition and repentance that nature drowns and dies again and again, with all sins and evil desires, and our redeemed nature daily emerges and arises to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. When sins that we know and feel in our hearts particularly trouble us, we privately confess them to our pastor for the sake of individual Holy Absolution in that same Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—that is the exercise of the Office of the Keys where only two are gathered, as we heard in today’s Gospel Reading (confer Smalcald Articles III:iv). So absolved, we are sent to this rail and this Altar for bread that is Christ’s Body and wine that is His Blood, His greatest presence with His Church, for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
The forgiveness that we receive from God for our sins against Him, in turn both leads us to forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ the sins that they commit against us, and leads them to forgive the sins that we commit against them. In the Lord’s Prayer’s petition “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”, we, in effect, promise to sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us (Small Catechism III:16). As we will hear in next week’s Gospel Reading, when we fail so to forgive one another, God does not forgive us! With the goal that we all live together in the forgiveness of sins that we receive from God and in turn extend to one another, we as necessary confront one another over the sins that we commit against one another, whether or not we particularly like doing so. And, with excommunication we warn those who sin openly and do not repent, and so those who are not turning and becoming like the child in the midst of the disciples, joined by Jesus in the midst of His Church.
Though we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment (Small Catechism III:16), for Jesus’s sake our Father in heaven does not look at our sins. Remember: “Jesus is among us to forgive us.” He humbles us so that He then can exalt us, and His salvation brings forth our good works, including our forgiving one another and our thanking and praising Him for His salvation. Indeed, as we sang in the Introit (Psalm 92:1-4; antiphon v.5), giving thanks to the Lord and singing praise to the Name of the Most High are good, for the Lord’s works are great, they make us glad, and at them we sing for joy.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +