GAUDETE MIDWEEK
16 December Anno + Domini 2009
Sermon Series: "My Soul Waits
for the LORDâ€
Part 3: "Waiting for the LORD in
Surenessâ€
Luke 11:37-54 (Ps. 23; Gen. 22:1-14; Rom. 8:31-39)
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.†Tonight, we wrap up our Advent focus on what it means to wait for the Lord. We've learned that we wait for the Lord in stillness by trusting in Him and not in ourselves. We've learned that we wait for the Lord in seriousness by taking our sins serious enough that we continue to make diligent use of our Lord's means of grace, through which He applies the forgiveness, life, and salvation we need. Tonight, we meditate upon the certainty of our salvation as we consider what it means to wait for the Lord in sureness.
To be certain of the salvation that comes through Jesus you have to first be certain about who He is. This is what stumped the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers. They knew there was something special about Jesus, but they were unwilling to hear the truth about Him. A teacher or a prophet? Sure. But, not the Son of God come in the Flesh. That's going too far. And, make no mistake; this is what caused their downfall. Jesus is the Key of knowledge and by refusing to acknowledge Him for who He truly was, they took that Key away. The truth was closed to them, for, taking that Key away, they formed for themselves a religion that was contrary to the Scriptures; a religion based solely upon the Law; a religion of works-righteousness, where one earns salvation by keeping the commandments of God.
So, Jesus lets them have it. This isn't the "buddy Jesus†or the "smiling Jesus†we like to picture in our minds. He holds nothing back. An invited guest at their dinner, He reveals them for the fools they are. He points them to their sins, unveiling the hypocrisy in which they revel.
He begins with the Pharisees, showing them how futile their efforts are at keeping the Law, for they think they keep it through their outward actions, failing to realize that the Law demands inward perfection as well. They are pretenders. They put on a show for people, playing the righteous Pharisee for them to see, but their hearts are far from God. They may be able to fool the people, but they can't fool Jesus. He sees right through them. He knows what's in their hearts. "Woe to you Pharisees!†He says, calling them to repentance.
The lawyers at the table don't like what they're hearing. If Jesus is insulting the Pharisees, how much more is He insulting these so-called experts in the Law? No, they don't like it at all, and tell Jesus so. But, they'll not get an apology from Jesus. Far from it. He lets them have it, too. He points them to their sins by revealing their hypocrisy as well. They load the people down with burdens they themselves do not even attempt to bear. Not only that, but they follow in the footsteps of their fathers, who killed the prophets because they would not bear the truth the Lord declared through them. Here is the Truth Himself reclining at table with them, and they reject Him. "Woe to you lawyers!†Jesus says, calling them, too, to repentance.
But, neither the Pharisees nor the lawyers nor the scribes heeded Jesus' call to repentance. Instead, they continued to challenge Him, trying to trap Him and reveal Him to be a false prophet. No matter how many times Jesus was equal to the task - all times - they continued to play this game. And, as you know, unsuccessful in their attempts to discredit Jesus, they end up plotting to find ways to put Him to death, just as their fathers had done with the prophets.
The Jewish religious leaders were not waiting for the Lord in sureness. By adopting and adhering to a religion of the Law, they placed salvation beyond the realm of sureness or certainty, for they based their salvation upon their own abilities and failed to recognize the perfection the Law demands - a perfection that was quite obviously beyond their reach. So stuck in their false religion were they that they failed to recognize the One who came to fulfill the Law in their place.
But, what about
us? It's easy to bash the Jewish
religious leaders and see through their hypocrisy. But, what about our hypocrisy? How often do we fall prey to the temptation
to believe that we are somehow better than others? It is especially tempting for we who are
gathered here for a Wednesday Service in Advent to want to pat ourselves on the
back and look down our noses as those less dedicated than we obviously must be. "Woe to you Christians at Peace in
And, dear friends, responding to this call with truth and honesty is the first step in waiting for our Lord in sureness, for a truthful and honest examination of ourselves will reveal that, on our own, we are lost and no better than any other poor, miserable, sinner. That's a fact, as sure as two plus two equals four. The only thing certain about ourselves is that we deserve God's temporal and eternal punishment for our sins.
But, Jesus would have us look at Him and not at ourselves. He invites us to cast all of our burdens upon Him, for He has taken our sins away and welcomes us into His rest. What the Jewish religious leaders failed to recognize about Jesus has been revealed to you. He is the Son of God, who came down from heaven to save you. He fulfilled God's Law with His perfect, sinless life, and He satisfied God's wrath and punishment with His perfect sacrifice on the cross. And, He did it all for you.
And, we can be
sure of our salvation through Jesus precisely because He is who He claimed to
be, despite what you see on the History or National Geographic channels or any
other documentaries on TV; He is who He claimed to be, and He did accomplish
what He came to accomplish. He is the
Ram caught in the thickets to take Isaac's place on the altar. He is the Lamb provided on
I am always deeply saddened when I hear Christians doubting their salvation, wondering if they've done enough, or believed enough, to be saved. There can be no comfort, no joy, no peace when people find themselves asking these questions, and nothing hurts our Lord more than when they do. Perhaps you have even fallen into this way of thinking from time to time, during moments of weakness. Hear the truth, my friends: You have not done enough. You have not believed enough. But, Jesus has. That's the Good News. You need not doubt. You need not wonder. You need not despair. For Jesus has done everything necessary to save you. You can rest secured, you sinners who repent and believe.
For, as
Look there, my friends, upon the altar, where the Lamb of God comes to take away your sins. There, in the Holy Supper He provides, He is the pledge and guarantee of your salvation. This is His last will and testament, bequeathed to you, His follows, His disciples, that He would distribute His true, His very, and His precious Body and Blood, the Flesh and Blood He sacrificed on your behalf, in the Holy Supper. There is the Tree of Life, and as you eat and drink its fruits, you can be sure that forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation are yours.
Wait for the
Lord in sureness, my friends. Continue
to receive Him in His Holy Word and in His Holy Body and Blood, that you would
be led to confess in boldness, as Dr. Luther did, that even if God tried to
prevent your entrance into heaven when you died, you could look Him square in
the face and say, "You have to let me in.
Jesus lived and died for me, and I believe it. You cannot go back on Your promise.†Indeed, God cannot go back on His promise,
nor would He. You can be absolutely
certain that eternity in
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting. Amen.