The text this morning is from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, the 13th chapter:
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Once upon a time, God made a special covenant with a chosen people, the Israelites, that if they kept it, if they sought after the fulfillment of the Law, they would inherit eternal life. Now, the Law was never given so that one could fulfill it completely; just the opposite, the Law was given to make one despair of their lack of holiness, the lack of righteousness that plagues humankind in their sin. Yet, to look to God to forgive the sins of those who had gone astray from absolute perfection is the entire point. And if the Israelites had sought after that, they would have been welcomed into everlasting life and eternal righteousness in Christ.
It’s true. Even those Israelites who were born before the incarnation, before the Son of God came to earth and put on our flesh, would have been made righteous through the Christ who was to come. For a group of people who had seen God part the Red Sea, seen Good open the ground to swallow a group of people inciting rebellion against Moses, seen the glory of God following them as fire and cloud, seen the presence of God in the Tabernacle and later the Temple, you would think this would be easy.
How often have you thought that if you could just see God, if you could just hear His voice, it would be so much easier to follow after Him, to believe in Him, to believe in His promises? Probably as often as I do. Yet, the Israelites lusted after other gods, looked to the gods of other nations and believed they could save them, because, after all, those other nations were so much larger, so much more powerful, so much more rich than they were.
This is what we do: when the going gets tough, the tough get going to other gods, idols of their own making. We seek after the idols of our hearts, whether that be money, fashion, material gain, comfort, power. We think that these things can provide that which we seem to lack. And when we do this, we are guilty of breaking that first commandment: You shall not have any other gods beside me.
Every sin we commit actually is a breaking of this commandment. It’s as if we are saying to God that we do not trust Him to provide for our natural life so we’ll handle it on our own. We will get our way, we will get our security, we will get our comfort, because, God knows, those things are so important, aren’t they. When we do this, we break the Law so severely, that there is no coming back from it, or so it seems.
That’s the way it was for the Israelites. They broke God’s Law so often and experienced His chastisement. Sometimes, the discipline they encountered was that God let them go their own way and they suffered. Look at the book of the Judges. Every man did what was right in his own eyes. That’s not freedom; that’s complete anarchy. Sometimes, they would be killed by invading countries. Sometimes they would be sent into exile. Sometimes, their entire kingdom would be divided and they would be given such lovely rulers such as Ahab and Jezebel. And if you know anything about them, you could pick any president of this country you haven’t liked, multiply them by a thousand, and then add murders, orgies, and just absolute pleasure seeking on top of it.
These were God’s chosen people and they rejected Him at almost every step of the way. Sure, for a while, things went well. And sure, there were always faithful people who would follow after the ways of the Lord, and they were definitely saved. But the vast majority of people went after their own ways, did what they wanted, and they may have been more comfortable in their lives now, but if you asked them today, as the fires of hell lick at their toes, if they would take it back, you know that they would.
So it is today for us, that the world seems to be going after its own way. Race riots, governmental policies that support murder through abortion and euthanasia, the homosexual and transgender agendas, these things rule the media airwaves and they impact every moment of our lives. It’s not much better within the world of the Church either. The health and wealth prosperity teaching, seeking after experience more than truth, the celebrity pastor cult, forgetting our past and reaching for some utopian future where we all get along but forget what the Word of God says, we face it, too.
What will it take to bring us all back? Is there even a way? Paul shows us in the text his deep love for those who are lost. He would give up his own salvation if he could for just one person. He would give it all up to save one man. God doesn’t work this way, yet Paul would be willing to do it. And so should it be for all of us. Would that God sent more workers into the harvest field who were faithful and loving, and willing to risk all to save a single person. Pray that God sends workers for the harvest. But Paul knows that so many of these people who had been chosen by God will be in hell. The majority of Israelites would not be saved; the majority of Jews would not be saved. They were chosen, and now they would burn.
Not really a happy thought, is it? It’s true, though. The vast majority of people in the world will not be saved. Who will go to them with the Gospel? Who will preach to your neighbor? Who will tell your coworkers of the promises of God? Who will rebuke falsehood and stand for truth? I pray that you, according to your vocations, according to the roles that our Lord has given to you, that you work out your salvation with fear and trembling, so that, perhaps by your efforts, even one might be saved.
But what do we do about us? Because, remember, we aren’t that different from the Israelites. We go after our idols just as they did, and make no mistake, there are consequences. You go after money, your spouse might leave you after you lose all your money in the casinos. You go after power, and as soon as someone in charge comes along, the rug is pulled from you. You go after moral ambiguity, whatever you want to do is fine as long as you don’t affect me personally, we end up with a country in tatters and failing with the oh-so-wonderful leadership we’ve now had for generations.
The answer isn’t out there in the world, though. When we go astray, we see the effects of our sin. There is one place, though, where the effects of our sin are stayed, where they are suspended, where they are taken away, even. The Church.
In the Church, in this congregation even, the Lord speaks to you and tells you that you are His own. He tells you that by the very crucified and risen body and blood of Jesus Christ you are forgiven. He tells you that you are welcomed into His presence through that shed blood. You are covered. And He tells you that He has elected you, He has chosen you, to be with Him forever.
And how can you trust this? Do you look for a feeling? No. Do you look for the Spirit descending on you? No. Do you look for miraculous healings? No. Do you look for physical security, or anything the world could provide? No. You look to the places where He has promised to be, the places where we can see and taste and touch the promises of God, knowing that if He were lying, they would strike us dead. We look to our Baptism. We look to His Word. We look to His Table.
In these places, the Lord reminds us that He chose us just as He chose the Israelites long ago. He chose us through the child of the promise. He chose us through His very Word. His Word never fails. For the one who believes God, it is credited to him as righteousness. If you have faith, if you trust the Lord’s Word and His promises, approach the wonderful sacraments of the Church, and there, and only there, find confidence that the Lord provides.
And it’s true. These things are all you need for your life. You don’t need a single other thing. Even if you were to walk through the doors of this church naked, cold, homeless, you would be welcomed as a prince, as a princess, of the King. You would be given those things that you would need for everlasting life. And then you would receive from your brothers and sisters that which you need for this life. That’s how it works, or how it’s supposed to work. Here you receive from the hand of God every good thing, then go out into the world with the support of your brothers and sisters of the faith and receive those temporal things.
So, all this isn’t to say that God doesn’t care about your life here and now. He does. For many of us who have work, God provides to you money and support so that you can support yourself and your family. And if you have any left over, you can also support those around you who are in need. And for those of us who have families, God gives to you there the love and support that go so well into providing for your wellbeing. And if you lack those things, or if you lack anything, then the Church is given to you so that you might find what you need here, among those who love you, among those who, like you, are called to be children of the promises of Christ.
It was for your sins, it was for your seeking after the false idols of the world, that Christ was crucified in your place. But, it was for the sake of His love for you that He was raised for your justification, your salvation, your assurance that you would be His own forever. Trust in that. Looking away from the cross is what sends those out into the accursed world and ultimately hell. Yet, to cling to the cross is to find Christ where He promised to be, where He promised to forgive, strengthen, and welcome you. To cling to the cross, to find assurance that you have been chosen for eternal life, is to look to the Sacraments, to cling to your Baptism, to hear the Word of Absolution, to receive the Supper.
You want to know if you are saved, if you were chosen, if God is pleased with you? Take and eat, take and drink, remember your Baptism, and hear that your are forgiven. If you can do these things, Christ is for you, now and forever. You are a child of the promise of Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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