St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church,
Watertown, WI-WELS
Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz
Reformation October 31, 2004 Jeremiah 31:31-34
“The time is coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I
took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “This is the covenant I
will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will
put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,
and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man
his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their
wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
People of God—saved by grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone:
There is something wrong with the tail lights of our little white station wagon—the little car with the license plates that say “Pumpkin Pie”! There is something wrong with those little lights—that have white and orange and red plastic around them. Sometimes they light up when you turn the running lights on—but then when you tap on the brakes—it’s dimmer instead of brighter. They get brighter when you take your foot off the brake. What happens when you turn on the turn signal and pump the brakes—I have no idea. I just know if I don’t fix it—I’m sure to be stopped by Watertown’s finest. How scary is that? If you stop at the car parts place the first thing they ask is—what year is it? The little plate on the inside back edge of the front door has 1991 etched in it. So I get a fist full of new light bulbs. But what if the problem isn’t the bulbs? What if the problem is a loose wire or a bad connection? Will I get a shock trying to fix that? If I can’t fix something as simple as the little lights on Pumpkin Pie—how could I ever think I could fix the horrible hurtful deadly problem of my sins? I can’t—and neither can you! This Reformation Sunday we are reminded very powerfully:
We Are Saved By Grace Alone!
The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on today—is from the scroll of the prophet Jeremiah. What does that mean to you—the scroll of the prophet Jeremiah? If we sit back in our padded pew and say to our self—it’s the job of pastors and teachers to know who Jeremiah was—we are painfully like the people of Martin Luther’s time. 500 years ago—people were content with being ignorant of God’s Word. They were content to have their pastors knowing God’s Word for them. That was bad enough. The fact is the pastors didn’t know God’s Word either. They knew complicated church rituals. They knew the complicated and often times painful lives of the saints. But they didn’t know the Scriptures. They didn’t understand the essential difference between law and gospel. The leaders of the church were ignorant of the Scriptures and their people were too. The shepherds didn’t know God’s Word and the sheep were starving! Could it be argued that today the situation is equally grave? Do we know the difference between Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and Hosea and Joel and Amos and Obadiah or don’t we? Are we content to think there are experts who have read the Scriptures for me? It’s enough for them to know?
It has been said the LORD called Jeremiah to preach God’s Word at the most wicked and desperate time in Israel’s history. Technically speaking “Israel” had ceased to exist! The Northern Kingdom—ten of the twelve tribes of Israel had been hauled off into captivity in Assyria—never to be seen again. The people of the north had been dragged off into oblivion! All that remained were the two tribes of the south—the Kingdom of Judah. Good King Josiah was dead. The kings that followed him were weak or corrupt or both. The judicial system was corrupt—judges taking bribes. How is it going today? If you have enough money—you can hire a dream team of lawyers—and suddenly whether you are guilty or not—doesn’t really matter—does it? Priests got drunk—literally drinking too much wine—before serving in the Temple. How is it going today? Again and again it’s reported in the newspapers that children have been molested and abused by the people who are supposed to be teaching them about Jesus. People who do such horrible things should be put in prison for until the day they die. And instead—they have been moved from place to place to place—so that they continue to do unspeakable hurt and harm to more and more victims! 600 years before baby Jesus was born—those who were entrusted with speaking God’s Word faithfully said what people with itchy ears wanted to hear. People preached what was popular instead of what was right and true. Wickedness and gross evil was excused in a perversion of love that tolerated what God has called hurtful and wrong. 600 years before baby Jesus was born business people cheated their neighbor. Sound familiar? If you can’t afford the “things and stuff” you want—don’t practice self discipline—work extra or save more. Charge it! Buy it now and pay for it later. And if you can’t pay for it later—we will just charge you interest upon interest. Advertisers tell us again and again that our life consists in the abundance of our possessions. There’s more for your life—at their store! It’s not! Our life does not depend on the sticker on our shoes or the label on our clothes or the coats of wax on our SUVs. 600 years before baby Jesus was born—physical and spiritual adultery were everywhere! Families were coming apart. Little children and big children need their mommy and their daddy to build for them—a home—not an expensive house with big screen TVs in every room. They need their parents to build for them a home—a place of spiritual safety and sanctuary—where there is unconditional love and forgiveness and encouragement.
Because the LORD loved his people so much—he was going to discipline them. His love meant this discipline would be sharp and painful. The LORD was calling his people to repent. God’s Word says, “The time is coming,”—literally the days are coming—declares the LORD, “When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” The LORD is renewing his promise to save his people from all their sins. A covenant in Bible times—was much more than people signing on a line at the bottom of a piece of paper. In Bible times—you cut a covenant. Animals were sacrificed—cut in half. And the people who were making the covenant walked together—between the animal halves. People understood the graphic truth—without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness! Jesus blood would ultimately be spilled—for us to be saved. The LORD made the promise—and he alone kept that promise to rescue us from all our guilt.
“It will not be like the covenant I made
with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the
LORD. Again and again God’s Word uses how the LORD led people out of sore
bondage and horrible slavery in Egypt as a picture of how the LORD rescues us
from slavery to sin. The LORD sent Moses to tell the mighty Pharaoh—this is what the LORD says—let my people
go! The LORD led his people to freedom. How did they repay him? With fear
and panic—before the LORD parted the water of the Red Sea and drowned the army
of the Pharaoh. How did they repay him? With grumbling and complaining—when the
LORD gave them manna from heaven—birds to eat when they complained about having
meat—with water from a rock when they complained about nothing to drink. How
did they repay the LORD? With gross idolatry and spiritual and physical adultery
while the LORD was giving the law to Moses. The LORD was faithful to his
people—even when they were unfaithful to him. How great is the love the LORD
lavishes on us—that in spite of our countless failures, sins and mistakes—that
we should be called children of God—by grace alone!
Only because the LORD is
gracious and compassionate can he say--“For
I will forgive their wickedness…” The Hebrew word for wickedness—literally
means something bent, twisted or distorted. Bent, twisted, distorted—misshapen—the acts of wickedness and the
results of wickedness. Everything gets out of whack! Consider the violence in
our country. Little grandmas the victims of violent unspeakable crimes—not in
Chicago or New York but in Milwaukee. Consider the violence in Darfur—in the
western part of Sudan. This is genocide—the planned extermination of an entire
group of people. Think about Anne Frank’s diary. Think about “Schindler’s
List”. Think about 70,000 people put to death—today! The death of 70,000 people
in the last few weeks and months. Do we care? Do we care if all those people
are dying—without knowing for sure how Jesus suffered to save them? Think about
one and a half million little unborn babies put to death in these United States
of America every year! Does that matter to us or not? Think about the most
popular video games—that involve stealing cars—stealing drugs—stealing
money—buying hugs and kisses—playing at taking the lives of police officers.
Children’s games that involve reducing people to pieces! Pretty soon it will be
Thanksgiving. And people won’t call it thanksgiving—they will call it turkey
day. They will reduce this day of giving thanks to the LORD for the harvest and
for the abundance of practically everything—into a day of eating too
much—drinking too much—gossiping in the kitchen and cursing around the TV at
professional athletes. And then will come the mad dash to buy clothes that are
too small and too thin—high tech equipment capable of doing a thousand things
we aren’t smart enough to ask them to do. Will we spend the time from now to
New Years doing everything possible to indulge ourselves? Or will we spend
these precious days—with a renewed determination to have right priorities—to
hear God’s Word—read and study God’s Word and to grow in faith?
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” The Hebrew word for sins is the most basic and essential word for wrongs. It is missing the mark. It’s breaking the law. It’s doing the wrong thing. It’s doing the right thing for the wrong reason. It’s doing good things because you think somehow this makes up for your bad stuff. It’s excusing yourself for your pet sins by saying nobody’s perfect. It’s the idea that I might be terrible—but I know people that are even worse! It’s the attitude that says there is no limit—no end to the gross and disgusting evil that I would do—if only I were more confident that I wouldn’t get caught. That’s the problem—I’d get caught—I’d be exposed for the nasty person I am. So I don’t do half the things I want to do—not because they are wrong—but because I’m afraid I’ll get caught. How wrong is that? We are guilty of wickedness and sin. Only Jesus could forgive us.
It is by grace alone that the LORD says—“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” The word for forgive—has at it’s root the concept of sprinkle. Again this would resonate with the Old Testament believer—the concept of blood sprinkled to cover sin. Jesus’ innocent blood—shed once—covers all our sins. The LORD will remember our sins no more. This is the ultimate reality—to forgive and forget. People say again and again—I can’t forget—I won’t forget what someone did to me. That’s wrong. Do you remember something somebody did to you yesterday? Jesus doesn’t! Do you remember something somebody did that upset you when you were in school last year—when you were in a different grade? Jesus doesn’t! If I remember something somebody did to me at my last church—in Dundee—or way back in Loves Park—or when I was at the Seminary or Northwestern or West Chicago Community High School—that’s wrong! I don’t care if you think it’s reasonable or understandable or everybody does it. It’s wrong! It’s wrong because God’s Word says forgive like Jesus has forgiven us—and Jesus remembers my sins no more! Here is room for us to grow. Here is reason for us to come to Lord’s Supper. Here is reason for us to read God’s Word more and more—so that we will forgive and forget—even as the LORD forgives me. Amen!
To God alone all glory!
Rev. Anthony E. Schultz