+ 7th Sunday after
the Epiphany – Feb. 23rd, 2014 +
Redeemer Lutheran, HB
Series A: Lev. 19:1-2, 9-18; 1 Cor. 3:10-23; Mt. 5:38-48
In the Name of the Father and of
the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Command and Promise. That
summarizes the entire Scriptures in two words. In the Old Testament it sounded
like this: “Love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind; and love your neighbor as
yourself. For I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of
Egypt and out of the house of slavery.”
In the New Testament it sounds
like this: “All have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus.”
Command and Promise. God’s Word
to Israel. God’s Word to his disciples. God’s Word to us. Christ speaks to all
of us in command and promise. And if we get that, Jesus’ Words about loving
your enemies and giving sacrificially to your neighbor make a bit more sense.
Command and Promise.
Same is true in Holy Baptism: “Repent and be baptized every one of you for
the forgiveness of sins.”
In Holy absolution: “Whoever’s sins you forgive they are
forgiven and whoever’s sins you retain are retained.”
In the Holy Supper: “Take and eat; this is My body; take and
drink, this is My blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
And it’s true for the
proclamation of Christ’s Holy Word: “Repentance
and forgiveness of sins should be declared to the ends of the earth.”
Command and Promise. This is how
our Lord speaks to us. This is how he exposes our unholiness of sin and death
and gives us His holiness of life and salvation.
We heard it again today. You therefore must be perfect,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the
congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I
the Lord your God am holy.
Command and
Promise.
When it comes to
holiness, the Lord has the corner on the market. Only the Lord is intrinsically
holy, Like we confess in the Lord’s Prayer. Hallowed be Thy name. God’s name is
certainly holy in and of himself but we pray that his name would be hallowed
among us. And so we also sing our confession of the Lord’s holiness. We sang it
just this morning in the Gloria. For You alone are the holy one. You alone
are the Lord. You alone are the Most High Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.” Try counting how many places the
word holy is in the liturgy…you’ll be busy!
What is holiness? Holy is
separated, consecrated, set aside by the Lord. It also means perfect.
And so, Jesus’
command couldn’t be any clearer. Be
perfect. No moral or spiritual deficiencies. No measuring your perfection
against your neighbors’. There’s only one standard of holiness – not yours, not
mine, but the Lord’s holiness. Be perfect…As your Father in heaven is perfect. We
can’t hide behind the old excuse, “Well, no one’s perfect.” Be perfect, Jesus says. Not average. Not
good enough. Not trying your hardest. When it comes to God’s commands there is
only do or do not. There is no try.
The command is clear:
Perfection. Completion. Holiness. And this makes our predicament all the more
clear. Apart from Christ, we’re nowhere near perfection. In fact it’s quite the
opposite: we’re broken. Imperfect. The Biblical word for this is Sin. Unholy.
Only Jesus is
holy. And sinners are unholy. The two can’t mix, like people and electricity.
We’re not safe in the presence of God’s holiness. At least not without a
mediator, not without a proper means of receiving God’s holiness. Just like you
have power lines and outlets to properly administer electricity.
This is what the
Old Testament tabernacle and temple were all about: a place and means for God
to give his holiness to his people and do away with their sin without doing
away with the sinner. For though God’s holiness is not safe, He is good. He
provided the sacrifices for his people. He provided atonement for their sins. He
gave them his holiness.
And so he does
for us.
What our Lord
commands, He gives. The holiness His law requires He credits to your account.
The perfection he demands, He supplies – and abundantly so.
Holiness in the Old and New Testament is not about
human accomplishment. Holiness is never achieved; it is received. Holiness is a gift from the One who is holy to
us who are not. Holiness is shared with
us. Given to us. Declared of us. It is the complete opposite of what we expect
and what we deserve, but this is how the Lord works.
Remember…Command and Promise. The same is true
when Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel. His words are unexpected, outrageous even.
But full of that same command and promise.
“You’ve heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor, hate your enemy.” “But I
say to you love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, so that you may
be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” Sons are called to reflect their
father. So it is with our heavenly Father and His only Son, our Lord. Our
Father loves His enemies and does good to those who hate Him. He causes His
rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike. There are no little local
showers over the good people. There are no local rains and bits of sunshine for
the religious people. Everyone gets the same rain, the same sunshine. The same
Jesus. The same command and promise.
Behold what manner of love the
Father has given unto us. That while we were yet enemies, sinners Christ died
for us. Enemies. That’s what Sin made us – enemies of God. If God were to love
His neighbor and hate His enemy, then it would simply be Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit and no one else. A closed community of Three. God loved the world. God
loved His enemies. He sent His Son Jesus. He was slapped and offered the other
cheek. He was forced to go one mile and went all the way to the cross. They
stripped him of his cloak and his seamless robe. He gave to all who asked of
Him. He prayed for His persecutors – “Father, forgive them, they don’t know
what they are doing.” He did it as the only-begotten Son of the Father so that
you might become sons of your Father who is in heaven.
Christ did it to completion, and
when it was completed He said so. It is finished. Tetelesthai is the Greek word. It means complete; accomplished, fulfilled,
finished. It’s the same word Jesus uses in Matthew: “You will be complete,
whole. Teleios. As your Father in heaven is teleios, complete. So if you’re
looking to yourself for holiness you’re looking in the wrong place. There on
the cross is your holiness. There in Jesus’ death is your perfection. There, in
the crimson streams flowing from his hands and side and head, is your
completion. It is finished. Complete. Holy. Perfect. All for you.
Jesus, the Most Holy One comes
right into our lives, interrupts our busy schedules, and takes all our rotten,
stinking, unholiness – our sin – in His body. He carries it all to the cross.
Dies for you. Becomes unholy and imperfect and broken for you.
And in exchange He bestows His
holiness to us sinners in His Spirit-filled Word, Baptism, and Supper. That’s
why water and blood gush from His side at Calvary. Water – Holy Baptism. Blood
- Holy Supper. The means by which the Spirit bestows Christ’s holiness. Here
you are covered with Christ’s perfection. Here the Lord shares his holiness
with you.
Because if Jesus’ command is
clear, His promise is even clearer. You will be perfect, complete, whole,
entire as your Father in heaven is perfect, not because of something you’ve
done, but because of everything that Jesus has done for you. Not by the
holiness of your life for God, but by His perfect life lived in your place. Not
by your perfect living out the Law, but by His becoming Sin for you, by His
death on the cross, by His resurrection and ascension, and by the outpouring of
His Spirit upon you in Baptism. You are
holy. And more than that you are God’s temple, you have the Holy Spirit, Paul
says. For God’s temple is holy, and you
are that temple.
It’s all in Jesus’ words of command
and promise.
In the Name of the Father and of
the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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