Ephesians 4:17-32 * Matthew
9:1-8
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power
on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take
up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
It may appear strange that
Jesus addressed the need of a sick man, in fact a completely paralyzed man, by
speaking an ever so bold absolution: “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” The Pharisees
thought he was blaspheming, because their religious system allowed no man to
speak so boldly. They figured that we may hope for forgiveness of sins, but
they were offended by the bold declaration that any particular individual’s sins
actually have been forgiven. That much faith was more than they could swallow.
Today people may find the words of Jesus to be an affront to their
sensitivities, wondering how He could address a suffering person about sin.
They might assume it is fine to feel empathy, to address the obvious visible
needs of a man paralyzed.
But, Jesus addressed the man’s spiritual and moral
need first and foremost, because that is most important. The highest priority
of all is to have a fully restored and meaningful communion with God, to be
reconciled to God and to be free from any hindrance in that fellowship that is
the highest priority, that knowledge of God before which even the fear of death
yields and retreats. Compared to that greatest need of all, mere paralysis is
trivial. So is blindness, deafness, and even premature death, all of them among
the many conditions that Jesus healed as “with power” He “went about doing
good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38).”
Right now, just like the offended Pharisees, many
people would like very much to have a religion in which the subject of
forgiveness never comes up, because the seriousness of sin is treated as either
non-existent, or as trivial. They want a more “spiritual” religion, and they
even use the word “spiritual” or “spirituality” because it is non-threatening.
It has, in modern times, no moral significance whatsoever.
If that is the kind of religion you want, the kind
that allows you to flatter yourself and convince yourself that you are
righteous, wise and “spiritual” - whatever you imagine that the word is
supposed to mean- then you are in the wrong church. The Book of Common Prayer
has a General Confession of Sin in every major service, followed by Absolution
that a priest declares (if one is present), and that is because we must
approach God based on the truth, not based on our own feeling or our self-appraisal.
Furthermore, if you want a religion that flatters you and makes you feel
affirmed and tells you how wonderful you are, you should avoid the Book of
Common Prayer, yes, but even more so never, ever, under any circumstances, read
your Bible.
The wisdom of the Book of Common Prayer, all of
which comes from the Bible (as anyone can see, anyone who actually knows
the Bible), is that it approaches God always based on His revelation of
himself, and of His Gospel, that He has given for all people for all times. If
you must ask the origin of any portion of the Book of Common Prayer, or wonder
where it came from, then you should “read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” the
Bible more often and more thoroughly. Otherwise, you would see the words in the
Prayer Book, and know where they came from; they have all come right out of the
Bible, ultimately, as the actual source (and that includes the content of the
Creeds). And, among them you would recall the words of Jesus, quoted in Morning
Prayer as we begin:
“The hour cometh, and
now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him (St. John
iv. 23).”
You cannot worship God in
spirit by flattering yourself that you are “spiritual,” because the spirit that
pleases God is one of humility. And, you cannot worship God in truth without
acknowledging the truth He has revealed as He has revealed it. Once upon a time
I was concerned about the spiritual malady called “self-righteousness” as
merely a problem of hypocrisy. I have become aware of a deeper kind of
self-righteousness, and that is the kind that is delusional. Some individuals,
despite the clear words of Scripture in which God speaks to us even now, really
believe in their own righteousness. That delusion is a sickness worse than
paralysis, and one that will create a wall of division separating a person from
communion with God, and from communion or fellowship within His Church among
His people.
We see this delusion
expressed as a doctrine among some Fundamentalists who openly say. “I was a sinner, but now I am a saint.”
But, Saint Paul
said, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (I Tim. 1:15)
He was a saint, but he did not say, “Of whom I was chief,” past tense:
He said, “Of whom I am chief,” Present tense. The Doctrinal formula for
this is Simul Iustus Et Peccator. That is, "simultaneously just
(righteous) and a sinner." At best, that is the condition we are in as we
walk through this life.
Taking St.
Paul ’s words from I Corinthians 15:20-22, we see this
in terms of our ultimate hope, the sure and certain hope of the resurrection on
the Last Day:
“But now is Christ risen
from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man
came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Ultimately, if we are in
Christ and live in Him, we will live by Him, drawing our whole life from His
immortal resurrected life, risen from the dead, and glorified with Him as
“partakers of the Divine nature (II Peter 1:4).” But, we are not there yet.
Right now we are in two fathers. In Adam we die, and in Christ we live. That
is, we live in the reality of Simul Iustus Et Peccator. There is, in
this life in this world, no escaping the mortal condition we have in Adam, nor
is there any escaping the need to pray as our Prayer Book guides us, confessing
our sins as we approach the Holy God on His throne. But, because the other fact
is also completely true for all who believe, we really do approach His throne
with boldness because we are “in Christ.”
“Now where remission of [sins] is, there is no more
offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an
high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the
profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised (Heb.
10:18-22).”
This is what Martin Luther meant when he said to
sin boldly. He did not mean to be bold in how you sin, nor did he mean that you
should presume to live in willful unrepentant sin (for, that is the way to
eternal death); rather he meant that you should be bold about entering God’s
presence with faith, because in Christ you are truly justified. You may enter
just as the writer to the Hebrews says, with boldness, and that is not boldness
for just any old reason. You do not enter with boldness into God’s presence
because you see yourself as righteous, wise and spiritual. You enter in “with
full assurance of faith,” only because you have been granted entrance into the
most Holy Place
before the throne of God “by the blood of Jesus.” That alone is how you have
been granted entrance, and that alone is why you are accepted – in Him.
Our Confession of Sin is not morbid. It is not
gloomy. It is not the Confession of people living in terror of the grave,
unsure if they have enough merits for eternal life (which, you may be sure, no
one has; not even the people with word “Saint” placed before their names). Our
Confession of sin is based on our certain faith in God’s love and forgiveness,
not because we feel that he is forgiving, but because, in fact, Jesus Christ
died for our sins and reconciled us to the Father. And, in fact, He rose from
the dead so that we may live in Him, now and forever, eventually, on that
glorious Day, shedding what it means to be “in Adam” and taking on only what it
means to be “in Christ.”
We worship God in spirit and in truth, if we grasp
the meaning of today’s Collect:
O God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to
please thee; Mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and
rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
That comes directly from
the words of Jesus:
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me
ye can do nothing (John 15:5).”
So, just as Jesus began by speaking words of
Absolution, and healing the soul of the paralyzed man before meeting his
physical need, I will continue to address, in my preaching, the true diagnosis
of what ails us all. Along with that, I will continue to proclaim God’s
revealed prognosis for everyone who takes the medicine He prescribes:
As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive.
Thank you lord; amen.
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