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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.
Tonight we consider the third in our midweek Lenten series of eight “Snapshots of Repentance”, namely King David. The account that was read, however, may not have been the account you might have expected, that of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite and of David’s subsequent repentance and forgiveness of sins, but the account was of other events from David’s life, events that provide us examples of both repentance and forgiveness of sins, examples that are not only instructive but also comforting for us today, helping us not only imitate David’s repentance over his sin as we repent this Lent and always, but also helping us receive God’s forgiveness for our own sin.
Apparently some time near the end of David’s reign, as you heard in the Reading, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, most-likely as punishment for some sin (Chemnitz, Loci, 1:197, cited by TLSB, ad loc 2 Samuel 24:1, 524), perhaps specifically the rebellions of Absalom and Sheba (Keil-Delitzsch, ad loc 2 Samuel 24:1-9, 503). For reasons ultimately known only to the Lord, the Lord in His wisdom tested David, permitting Satan, as we know from a parallel account, to tempt David with the idea of a military census (1 Chronicles 21:1). Against his own in-this-case-better judgment, Joab, David’s commander‑in‑chief, and his sub‑commanders spent nine months more-or-less completing the count, which the Lord had not commanded and which may have stemmed from David’s sinfully finding the strength and glory of his kingdom in the number of its people and their readiness for war (Keil-Delitzsch, ad loc 2 Samuel 24, 502), instead of finding the strength and glory of his kingdom in the Lord, Who had once reduced Gideon’s forces 99 percent, from 22‑thousand to 300, in order to prevent the people of Israel from boasting in themselves (Judges 7:1-8).
In our lives, a certain concentration on numbers seems to be somewhat necessary. Just today Barbara and I met the Missouri Synod’s deadline by electronically submitting our congregation’s statistical report for 20-17. In the next six weeks or so, if we have not already, many of us, in one fashion or another, will be filing our federal tax returns. In these cases, we are obeying those whom God has placed over us, so gathering such numbers themselves is not in and of itself sinful, but that does not mean we cannot make sinful use of such numbers. We might wrongly take credit for numerical or other growth of the congregation, or we might wrongly take credit for increased income or decreased tax liability, without recognizing the Lord as the ultimate grower of the Church and giver of every good and perfect gift. We may wrongly think that we can apply business or other strategies in order to increase the congregation’s numbers, or we might wrongly think that we are in control of how much money we make and when and where we work. Or, like the people of Israel under King David, maybe we are innocent of the specific evil of which he was guilty, but that hardly means we are not sinful by nature or guilty of other sins, any one of which on its own merits death here in time and torment for eternity in hell.
As the Holy Spirit working through David’s conscience led him to repent, to take personal responsibility for what he had done, so the Holy Spirit calls and enables us to repent of, to take personal responsibility for, our sins: our sins related to numbers and all our sins—whether at work or school, church or home, or even against our own bodies, in our own minds and hearts. As in tonight’s Psalm (Psalm 32; antiphon v.5), we acknowledge our sin, do not cover up our iniquity, confess our transgression to the Lord, and He forgives the iniquity of our sin. When we so repent of our sin, then God forgives our sin, all our sin, whatever it might be, for the sake of His and David’s Son, Jesus Christ.
As we heard in tonight’s Reading, when the prophet Gad, David’s seer, brought David the Lord’s three choices for the consequences of David’s sin, David opted for three days of pestilence, trusting in the Lord’s great mercy. And, when the Angel of the Lord, perhaps the Pre‑Incarnate Christ Himself, was by the threshing floor of Ara-u-nah, standing between earth and heaven, with a sword in His hand drawn and stretched out over Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 21:16), David, clothed in the garments of repentance (1 Chronicles 21:16), as a good shepherd should, offered himself and his family line in place of his sheep. As the Lord directed David through the prophet Gad, David raised up an altar to the Lord there, and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and the Lord delivered the people from the judgment He had issued. Later the Temple was built on that site (1 Chronicles 22:1), and sacrifice after sacrifice for sin was offered until the Angel of the Lord that is the Christ, incarnate in the fleshly-temple of the man Jesus, a descendant of David, sacrificed Himself on the altar of the cross once and for all. On account of God’s love, mercy, and grace for the sake of Jesus, we are, as tonight’s Psalm said, blessed with our transgressions forgiven and sin covered. Jesus is the greatest of mediators and intercessors.
Yet, as David did for his people, those God appoint as “shepherds” or “pastors” over us mediate and intercede for us. As Gad did for David, those pastors read and preach the Word of the Lord to us. They proclaim and effect the Lord’s forgiveness with water in Holy Baptism, with the touch of the hand in individual Holy Absolution, and with bread and wine in Holy Communion. A far better sacrifice than those David offered on his altar, from this Altar, we eat Christ’s Body and drink Christ’s Blood, sacrificed on the altar of the cross, which Body and Blood cleanses us from all sins and keeps from us the judgment of eternal death and hell (Kretzmann, ad loc 2 Samuel 24:10-25, 555). Here on earth is the place of God’s mercy for us in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, the Holy Spirit builds us who believe into a dwelling place for God, a holy temple in the Lord (Ephesians 2:20-22).
Until that construction process is complete and judged on the Last Day (1 Corinthians 3:11‑16), we live in the vocations that God gives us—at work and school, church and home, and even with our own bodies, in our own minds and hearts. We work with numbers as we have to, but we recognize the Lord as the grower of the Church and the giver of every good and perfect gift. As God in His wisdom permits, we experience warfare with the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, and, when we lose battles, we repent and live in the forgiveness of sins from God Who has won the war for us in Jesus Christ. We may see change and decay in all around us (Lutheran Service Book 878:4), but that is not the final state of affairs! As tonight’s Psalm said, many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love—the Lord’s “mercy”—surrounds those who trust in the Lord, until creation is finally and fully restored.
The “Snapshot of Repentance” that is the case of David’s “sinful census” has been not only instructive but also comforting for us today, helping us not only imitate David’s repentance over his sin as we repent this Lent and always, but also helping us receive God’s forgiveness for our own sin. So, with the psalmist, I can say to all who repent and who are so forgiven: Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +