Law and Gospel
Romans 3:19-28
A
positive COVID-19 test prevented this from being preached on
Reformation
Sunday October 30, 2022
at the
Lutheran
Church of the Reformation, Washington, DC
Are you ever hard on yourself? Do you ever beat yourself up when you don’t
do as well as you should have done?
Today, on this the first day of a
new week that God has given us, we gather here to offer up to God what has been
happening in our lives over the past week: our joys and sorrows, our successes
and failures. Here we return to our
baptisms. We confess our brokenness and
the ways we have, indeed, fallen short.
We hear again those words of forgiveness for that sin; words of grace that
are so radical that it’s hard, even, to believe them!
This past week, when did you refuse
to believe those radical words of grace-filled forgiveness? When did you beat yourself up, instead? Was it because of some stupid mistake you
made, or some thoughtless comment you uttered?
What should you really have done better?
(That’s the particular sin of us who are first-borns: we always could
have done a better job! We first-borns
absorbed that neuroticism before we were even conscious of it!)
* * *
Some Lutheranism 101 – since, after
all, it is the Sunday of the Reformation: there is law. And there is gospel.
When we beat ourselves up over something
we didn’t do well enough, when we’re hard on ourselves for falling short of how
well we should have done, then we are experiencing the condemnation of
the law. We know it acutely, when we
fall short of how well we should have done in performing “works
prescribed by the law,” to use St. Paul’s terminology in today’s reading from
Romans.
But here is the gospel: after our sentence
of condemnation, our guilt according to the standards of the law, God, the
unjust judge declares, “Case dismissed.”
Why? Because of the crucifixion
and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
Here’s how St. Paul puts it, in these
words that express the core of Lutheran theology: Now we know that
whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that
every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to
God. For ‘no human being will be
justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law
comes the knowledge of sin.
But now,
apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by
the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus
Christ for all who believe. For there
is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his
blood, effect through faith.[1]
Who is under the condemnation of God’s
law, according to St. Paul? Every single
human being: “so that every mouth may be silenced”; “For ‘no human being will
be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law.”; “For there is no
distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
The Lutheran contribution, in the plethora
of Christian traditions, is incredibly radical: no human being can please God
by what she does. Indeed, no human being
has ever been able to please God by what he has done!
This is entirely counter to our human
need to justify ourselves.
Which is why Luther begins his Small
Catechism the way he does: with the law
(more Lutheranism 101!). As he
explains each of the 10 Commandments, in very few words, Luther does his best
to emphasize what we read from St Paul this morning: that “all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God”; in other words, that we can never be good
enough to please God. Luther pushes each
Commandment to its logical conclusion, to make it clear that you and I cannot
fulfill a single one of them; that we cannot justify ourselves! Not a single one of us can be judgmental over
another person.
For each Commandment, Luther writes what
we are not to do – and, certainly, most of us are ok by that minimum
standard. Most of us have not killed anyone,
for instance. But, to take that Fifth
Commandment, “You are not to kill”; Luther explains what we are not to do: “We
are to fear and love God, so that we neither endanger nor harm the lives of our
neighbors.” (Well, ok. Most of us do pretty well with that, right?) But then Luther pushes, with what we are to
do to fulfill the Commandment: “We are to fear and love God, so that we neither
endanger nor harm the lives of our neighbors, but instead help and support them
in all of life’s needs.” Do you see what
Luther has done? Who among us can
possibly do that? “All of life’s
needs?” Don’t we have our own needs to take
care of? This is impossible!
Exactly.
The law condemns us.
I realize that you already know all of
this, from when you memorized the Small Catechism during confirmation
classes, but here’s another one! Luther
explains the Seventh Commandment, “You are not to steal,” in this way: “We are
to fear and love God so that we neither take our neighbors’ money or property
nor acquire them by using shoddy merchandise or crooked deals, but instead help
them to improve and protect their property and income.” Well, I do a good job of not stealing my
neighbor’s money and possessions, and not swindling my neighbor. How about you? The problem is, you see, that that’s not
enough to fulfill the law according to Luther!
if I’m helping my neighbor improve and protect her property and income –
painting her house and fixing her gutters and filling in for her at her work
when she’s not able to perform her job – then what about my property and
income? And what about the property of
those neighbors in Florida, who will be rebuilding, for years, after Hurricane
Ian? And what about those neighbors in
Ukraine, whose property has been destroyed by Russian missiles? It’s impossible!
Exactly.
The law condemns us. We fall
short of what we should do.
Here's the one I find hardest, the
Eighth Commandment: “You are not to bear false witness against your neighbor.” Luther writes, “We are to fear and love God,
so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or
destroy their reputations. Instead we
are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they
do in the best possible light.”
We are to come to everyone of our
neighbors’ defense, to speak well of them, and to interpret everything they do
in the best possible light?! Let me just
let that one sit there.
* * *
The Lutheran contribution to the
plethora of Christian traditions, is incredibly radical: to declare that St.
Paul is right, that, ultimately, no human being can please God by what she
does.
In fact, you know that, don’t you? That is your daily experience, isn’t it? Every time you beat yourself up, you know it
anew: You have fallen short again. You can
never be “good enough!”
Lutheranism 101: There is law. And the law condemns us. But, does there come a time when this opens
us up to actually believing those words of forgiveness we hear each Sunday? There is gospel! There is incredible grace in realizing that,
if I can never be good enough to please God, then I can only do the best I can
do. I cannot save myself. God has saved me, though the death and
resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
* * *
So, where are we – those of us who are
so good at beating ourselves up when we fall short of how well we should do? How might we come to actually know that we
cannot save ourselves and, instead, come to believe that it’s not what we do;
it’s what God has done through the death and resurrection of Jesus the
Christ?
On this Sunday of the Reformation, I
invite you to believe this good news, the gospel that overcomes the law.
May I suggest a practice to help with
this? It’s something to incorporate into
your daily prayer. Pull out the insert
that’s in your bulletin.
For Your Daily Prayer
God
of all mercy and consolation, come to the help of your people, turning us from
our sin to live for you alone. Give me
the power of your Holy Spirit that I may confess my sin, receive your
forgiveness, and grow into the fullness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and
Lord. Amen.
Most
merciful God, I confess that I am captive to sin and cannot free myself.
Moments for reflection: How have you
been beating yourself up today?
God,
rich in mercy, you have loved me and made me alive together with Christ. By grace I have been saved. Because of the death and resurrection of
Jesus the Christ, my sins are forgiven.
Almighty God, I pray that you strengthen me with power through the Holy
Spirit, that Christ may live in my heart through faith. Amen.[2]
* * *
Could this be something that you and
I would actually come to believe, through daily repetition, in prayer?
When that happens, then our daily actions
are our joyful response to this good news, this gospel! We act, in the places God has put us, to
participate with God in the healing of the world.
In the name of God, who is Father
and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pastor Andy Ballentine
[1] Emphasis mine.
[2] Adapted from Confession
and Forgiveness, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, page 94-96
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