Today we celebrated a joint Divine Service of
Reconciliation with Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alexandria. Both Pastor Esget of Immanuel and I preached homilies. This is mine on
the Old Testament and Epistle.
“Not a Status Quo God;
Not Status Quo Christians”
Text:
Daniel 7:9-14; 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:2
In
the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Deadlines are good for
me. They force me to focus on what matters and put aside what does not.
So the End of the Church
Year is good for me. That I hear each year that there is an
end to this world. There is a Judgment Day. There is
coming a new heavens and a new earth. The resurrection of the
dead. The bridegroom soon will call us to the heavenly wedding feast.
Such a call each year re-focuses me, and brings clarity again to what matters
and what does not.
And what we are doing
here today matters.
The reading from Daniel
today helps me to see that; to realize it once again. That the day of judgment is coming. The day when the Ancient of Days
will sit on His throne, the court will be called to order, and the books
opened.
Now if you are a financial person or even just
from your own personal finances, you know about balancing the books. Some
people think about Judgment Day like that. That as long as I balance the good
and the bad, as long as there’s more income than debt, more good than bad, then
I’m good. My books are in order.
But of course, with the Ancient of Days it’s not
like that. The debt of my sin, the debt of your sin, can never be balanced.
Yet it seems to me that’s what we keep trying to
do. For when we hold grudges, when we refuse to forgive, when we withhold mercy
and love, I’m telling God that I’ll balance that part of the books myself, my
own way, not your way. But we don’t. We can’t.
Then we get used to the status quo, or the
way things are. We get used to hard feelings, grudges, disagreements, sin, divison. It’s easy to just let
things be, let things go, let sleeping dogs lie. It’s easy, but not good.
So the good news for us is that God is not a status
quo God. Never has been, never will be. He is a speaking God, an acting
God, because He’s a loving God. And love speaks. Love acts.
And so God is never leaving His people alone. He
is always coming to us, speaking to us, loving us, serving
us, caring for us, disciplining us. Because we are His.
From the very beginning, when Adam and Eve hid themselves from God, to the end,
to the Last Day, God will continue to come and speak and act. He can do no
less. He will call us to repentance, and He will send His Son. Not to judge;
not yet. Rather now, St. Paul said, is the day not
of judgment, but of salvation. Now is the day for repentance and
forgiveness.
And so the Son of Man came, and He
balanced the books - no, more than that, He paid the debt, completely, with His
blood. Knowing no sin, having no sin, He became the sin offering, so that
in Him we might become the righteousness of God. So that in Him, we be reconciled
to God. At peace with God. And so we are. You
are as you are baptized into Christ. You are as His Blood is poured into You. You are as eating His Body,
His flesh becomes one with your flesh. There is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). In Jesus you are new, a new creation,
St. Paul said. A new you, for the new heavens and the new
earth.
But if you’re like me, you don’t feel very new.
Each day you wake up and the old Adam wakes up right there with you, in you. He’s
stubborn, and persistent. That’s why Luther said that when you wake up each
day, make the sign of the cross and remember that you are baptized and drown
that old man again. That’s not who you are. That’s not how you will live this
day.
And it’s also why we are gathered here this day.
To hear our speaking, acting, loving, serving God speak to us again, through
His ambassadors. To repent our Old Adam, and hear the voice of Christ say to us
again: I forgive you all your sins, and know that those words are true
and sure. The Spirit working through these words and bringing
the goods, the gifts. The Spirit creating in us new
and clean hearts, and renewing a right spirit within us (Psalm 51). So that we be reconciled
not only with God, but also with each other.
For how can we not? How can we all be together,
one in Christ, and yet divided, separated from each
other, unforgiving and unforgiven? It cannot be.
And so Christ has given to His Church the
ministry of reconciliation. That what God has joined together and sin has rent
asunder may be made whole again in the forgiveness of sin. That we never be
satisfied with the status quo, the way things are, but again as St. Paul
said, controlled by the love of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, we
too speak, act, love, serve, and forgive one another.
And all the more as we see the Day approaching,
bringing clarity to what matters and what does not. This
matters.
My sadness today is that not everyone is here who
was here in those sad and tumultuous days so many years ago. Some are at rest
and awaiting the day of resurrection, some have moved
away, and some have left for other reasons or to other confessions. May the
Lord complete what we are unable to do.
But my joy is that we are here
today, kneeling side-by-side in repentance, and receiving side-by-side the
forgiveness of Christ. Embracing one another again, as our Saviour,
in love, embraced us. No longer living for [our]selves,
but for Him who for our sake died and was raised. And
living for each other. For I am my brother’s keeper,
and he mine. I need him and he me. And so not
receiving the grace of God in vain, but living the life we have so
graciously been given.
Living
in the grace of God that has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous
light.
Living in the grace of God that has made us one
flock, under one Shepherd.
Living
in the grace of God that has made us brothers and sisters, one in Christ.
Living in the grace of
God that gives joy and peace and unity.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.