Fourth Wednesday Lent Sermon 3/14/12

Fourth Midweek Lent Date: 03/14/12 Text: Psalm 51 Title: Against You and For Me Our text for tonight is Psalm 51, which we prayed earlier in the service. We will also be continuing to examine the explanation of the Office of the Keys as we read from the catechism earlier as well. Remember the story of King David lusting after his commanders wife who after she became pregnant had her husband killed, so he could take her as his wife to cover up the whole mess. David thought he had come up with the perfect solution to the problem. Everyone would think it was just a kind act after her husband had been killed in battle. That is what King David thought, but we find out later that his subjects knew what he had done and in doing it he had made a mockery of God. God knew that David’s unbelief had driven him to lust, adultery, and murder. So God sent David a prophet to preach the Law to him. Nathan came to David with a story, which we all familiar with; the man who had a favorite lamb that a rich man took to feed his guests instead of using one of his own. When David heard this great misdeed that the man had done, he declared the man guilty, and condemned him to death. Nathan then said the most pointed law in all the Scriptures: “You are the man!” David’s response gets to the heart of the matter. David who knew he had sinned against the lord, but was continuing to ignore his conscience, for after all it is good to be the king; was so struck with the prophet’s accusation that he responded with, “I have sinned against the LORD” David in Psalm 51 writes in verse 14 “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” David knew that any sin he did was fundamentally against God. He knew that because of his sin God had every right to condemn him to everlasting hell and punishment. When we confess our sins to God, as we do every Sunday morning we are saying that God has every right to condemn us, that we deserve nothing but hell and punishment. While some might believe that God is sometimes arbitrary and unjust in His punishment; punishing some, but not others, we confess in this psalm and our confession on Sunday morning that God is right and just in condemning us for the sin we have done against Him. All sin like King David’s sin is ultimately against God; even those little white lie sins where no one is really hurt, for all sin is against the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods.” That is the terror of sin that troubles the conscience. That was Peter’s sin from our reading. His pride would not let him see himself as a weak sinner who needed Jesus. It is that same pride that eats away at you and I when it comes to humbling ourselves when we make our confession before God and each other. I would be willing to bet that some visitors to our church on Sunday morning are offended by the Confession and Absolution at the beginning of the service. “It is negative. I want my religion to be joyful and happy. I want to give God my best; I don’t want to wallow in self-pity.” But confessing my sins is not an act of self-pity. Remember the words of the psalm, as they are written verses 16 and 17 of our Psalm for today. “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” So hear again the words from the catechism: What is confession? Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven. Notice that it doesn’t say, I confess my sin, singular, or even generally speaking, but my sins; plural. Now God does call on us to confess our sinful nature. But what this catechism section is getting at is that when I confess my sins; specifically that that troubles me, I am led to better to understand my sinful nature. So what this explanation is talking about is that God wants me to actually confess my sins. In other words, God wants you to know and acknowledge with your lips what you have done wrong, and that you deserve to be punished for it. But then God desires that you ask for his mercy and forgiveness, which he gladly and willingly gives, for you cannot out sin God’s forgiveness won for you by Jesus. Perhaps an illustration is in order. Part of the discipline of teaching children right from wrong is getting them to recognize that what they did was wrong. So you ask them to tell you what they did wrong. Now the parent knows perfectly well what the child did wrong. This isn’t for the parents’ benefit; it’s for the child’s benefit. It is the same way with confession. God desires you to confess your sins not for him, for he knows perfectly well what you did and will continue to do, but for you. God wants you to see yourself as a sinner. Why? Because he wants you to know that you need Jesus, for Jesus came to seek and save the lost, the sinner, the contrite, the messed up, the ones who know that they live and move only by God’s everlasting mercy. That is why God wants you to confess your sins. But even that is not finally the point. God wants you to confess your sins and see yourself as a sinner, true. But He wants that so that He can forgive your sins. That’s God’s work. God’s proper work is to forgive, to love, to show mercy and pity. God wants to forgive your sins, as King David writes after his confession, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.” What a great prayer! God, give me back the joy of living in you. God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, comes to restore your joy, to blot out your sins, and to save you. He comes to open your lips to sing his praise. He comes to give you a new life in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, God comes to you to forgive you. He comes to absolve you and free you from your guilt of sin. If God can forgive David who had a loyal subject of his murdered, so he could take his wife as his own, God can forgive you. So we pray and sing with the whole Church on earth and in heaven the song in Psalm 30 verses 4 and 5, “Sing praises to the LORD, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” finishing in verse 12, “O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” Amen.