{"id":9670,"date":"2024-01-16T07:11:12","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T14:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=9670"},"modified":"2024-01-16T07:12:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T14:12:14","slug":"the-lord-does-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=9670","title":{"rendered":"
The Lord does it.<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark 1:15<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the beginning of the Gospel of Mark the theme is announced. Jesus says: \u201cThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel\u201d (Mark 1:15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the whole thing. What in the world does it mean? It says: \u201cYou have to repent. You have to believe.\u201d You have to believe in the gospel, whatever that is. This text, Mark 1:15, becomes an important exercise in how to use the Bible and what we are doing in our worship service when we confess our sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commonly we think of sin and sins in terms of certain bad behaviors. We say this is a sin, and that\u2019s a sin, and that\u2019s a sin. This sin is worse, and that one is not as serious. In fact we divide sins by saying: There are little sins and big sins, and we sort of tie them in with the Ten Commandments. Those are the big ones, and then there are lesser ones. Then there are also those sins that we think about, ones we\u2019d like to do, but don\u2019t do. And just thinking about them is not as bad as actually doing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also talk about sins of commission and sins of omission. Regarding sins of omission we then we distinguish those sins we omitted because we didn\u2019t know better. We say they were inadvertent or unconscious. We distinguish between those we knew, and those we didn\u2019t know. Some churches use in their worship services 1 John 1:8-9: \u201cIf we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth in not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d This suggests that there are sins and we confess them, and they are taken care of because we confess them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the same book of 1 John it also says this: \u201cNo one who abides in him sins\u201d (1 John 3:6). And a few verses later: \u201cNo one born of God commits sin; for God\u2019s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God\u201d (1 John 3:9). In other words, if you\u2019re a Christian, then you don\u2019t sin. Otherwise, you\u2019re not a Christian!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know that Catholics distinguish between mortal and venal sins. And in 1 John 5 it says there is sin that are mortal and sin which is not mortal (I John 5:16). But 1 John 3:15 states: \u201cWhoever hates his brother is a murderer.\u201d Here one\u2019s inner thoughts and feelings are as bad as doing the deed. We are more familiar with Matt 5:28: \u201cWhoever lusts commits adultery.\u201d It is a far different way than our common way of saying this is what sin is and that\u2019s what it is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is really too bad that the confessional portion of our worship service does not include what Luther so often emphasized: Isaiah 64:6: \u201cAll our righteous deeds are filthy rags.\u201d In other words, it\u2019s not just the bad things we do but the good ones, too. They, too, are riddled with sin. It\u2019s a devastating judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lest one dismiss this saying: \u201cThat\u2019s just one verse, and it\u2019s from the Old Testament,\u201d we remember what Paul writes in Romans 3:10-20:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2019None is righteous, no not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one.\u2019 \u2018Their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive.\u2019 \u2018The venom of asps is under their lips.\u2019 \u2018Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.\u2019 \u2018Their feet are swift to shed blood, in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they do not know.\u2019 \u2018There is no fear of God before their eyes.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a devastating judgment. In the study of these things there\u2019s a sentence about this: \u201cIt is not possible not to sin.\u201d There are no degrees of sin. In fact it is even incorrect to say that sin is in the plural. Yes, the plural is used but these are simply examples, illustrations throughout the Bible of things that are sin. But basically, sin is a totality, a power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great temptation we have is that we then define sin. We think we can determine what it is. It is really best illustrated by what happened to Adam and Eve. The snake came and tempted them: \u201cOf course you can eat from all the trees except this one.\u201d Then the snake subtly assures them that they can determine what to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real temptation is to think that we can define sin. Most people know Matthew 7:1: \u201cJudge not that you be not judged.\u201d But few know the passage in 1 Cor 4:3-4: \u201cI do not even judge myself. I am not thereby acquitted. . . It is the Lord who judges me.\u201c We think we\u2019re able to judge ourselves, but we are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How then does one know what sin is about? That\u2019s very specifically there in Scripture. Through the cross. The cross tells us that sin is something so enormous and so awful that only God could handle it and he handled it this way. It is the cross which defines what sin is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We talk about sin and big sin and little sin, but every sin is against God\u2019s holiness, against the Lord being Lord. That\u2019s our problem. We don\u2019t want to have the Lord be the Lord. We want to have some say in this. We want to interpret and distinguish, but the Lord is the one who determines what this is all about. That\u2019s something we don\u2019t do and can\u2019t do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you know, Luther\u2019s explanation to the Third Article of the Creed starts out: \u201cI believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him.\u201d It would be possible to restate that in terms of \u201crepent and believe\u201d in Mark 1:15: \u201cI believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot repent.\u201d I can\u2019t and I don\u2019t. Thank God he has taken care of it. He took care of it on the cross and that settles it. It\u2019s over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We go back to another favorite verse of Luther\u2019s, 2 Corinthians 5:21: \u201cFor our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He takes our sin. We take his life, his holiness. The Happy Exchange. The Sweet Swap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If all this is true, then why do we begin our worship service a confession of sin? Why are we called upon to repent? Why are we called upon to confess our sins?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can borrow an illustration from the Old Testament. The prophets were continually fighting with the people because the people turned \u201csacrifice\u201d into the same thing that we do with \u201csin\u201d and \u201crepentance.\u201d The people figured out: \u201cO.K. if you commit this sin, then this costs you three sheep, and that sin costs you a bushel of grain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, that\u2019s not what God says in the Old Testament and the prophets are continually going after that by pointing out: \u201cYou can\u2019t buy off God.\u201d It\u2019s not like this: \u201cIf you kill somebody, you can take care of that by sacrificing a whole ox.\u201d No, that\u2019s not possible. Rather, out of the Lord\u2019s mercy he is calling you to repent as a help to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same is true in the confession in our worship service or when we are called upon to repent sins in the plural. This is simply a way that the Lord says: \u201cThis helps you a little bit to wake up.\u201d But it\u2019s not that you depend on your confessing, or that you confess all of the sins you are aware of, or that you confess them seriously, earnestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luther has some advice on this matter (Large Catechism; Confession 18-22):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should set little value on our work but exalt and magnify God\u2019s Word. We should not act as if wanted to perform a magnificent work to present to him, but simply to accept and receive something from him. You dare not come and say how good or how wicked you are. . . But what you must do is lament your need and allow yourself to be helped so that you may attain a happy heart and conscience. . . . The Word or absolution, I say, is what you should concentrate on, magnifying and cherishing it as a great and wonderful treasure to be accepted with all praise and gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then finally, we come to the final temptation, thinking we can avoid sin. There is a religious saying that speaks to this: \u201cIt is not possible not to sin.\u201d Not even good deeds make the grade. In fact, as Paul mockingly writes in Romans 3:8, 6:1, and 6:15: \u201cLet us sin that grace may abound.\u201d Or in 3:8: \u201cWhy not do evil that good may come?\u201d Paul then says something that is the closest thing to a swear word that you find in the New Testament, although this doesn\u2019t really come through in the English translation. He says: \u201cGod forbid!\u201d He writes (paraphrase): \u201cYou have misunderstood the whole thing. The fact that sin is so terrible and that God has taken care of it does not lead to: \u2018Hey, let\u2019s sin some more that grace may abound!\u2019 No, you\u2019ve misunderstood what it\u2019s about because what it\u2019s about is that he has done it all. You are a heartbeat away from death, on your way to nothingness, and he rescues you and gives you life, a future, and \u2018the glorious freedom of the children of God\u2019 (Romans 8:21).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are free now, free to live and do what is needed to foster life in this time and place, free to serve the neighbor. We don\u2019t have to worry about earning merit or balancing our account with the Lord. He has taken care of it. Sin, death, and the devil are taken care of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To have the Lord be Lord of our lives, and that means in every aspect of our lives, is something we can\u2019t quite stomach. But thank God, he takes care of it. Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark 1:15<\/p>\n

A sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany<\/p>\n

In the beginning of the Gospel of Mark the theme is announced. Jesus says: \u201cThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel\u201d (Mark 1:15).<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the whole thing. What in the world does it mean? It says: \u201cYou have to repent. You have to believe.\u201d You have to believe in the gospel, whatever that is. This text, Mark 1:15, becomes an important exercise in how to use the Bible and what we are doing in our worship service when we confess our sins.<\/p>\n

Select here<\/a> to read more or here <\/a>for a pdf document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9670"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9679,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9670\/revisions\/9679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}