Text:
Like Other Men
Grace to you and peace from
God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
You’ve
probably heard the story. A pastor sits down in a restaurant or a hospital
waiting room or wherever. Someone sits down near him and, noticing the pastor’s
clergy shirt, says to him, “I don’t go to church because you Christians are too
judgmental.” This person claims that they condemn no one…but in saying so, they
condemn everyone. How did the Pharisee address the Lord? He said, “I thank you that I am not like other men.”
How
easy it is to fall into the camp of those to whom our Lord is speaking, those
who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with
contempt.” We Lutherans easily become smug and superior. And there’s a certain
amount of justice to it. If we believed we weren’t teaching and practicing
according to the Word of God, then it wouldn’t matter where we went to church.
We could happily worship at any church, take communion anywhere, and it
wouldn’t matter. However, in our churches, the Gospel is preached purely and the
Sacraments are administered rightly. Because this is so, we think we’re better than
other churches. Dear Christians, if that is how we treat our straying brothers
and sisters in Christ, then we are sinning. It’s important to preach as our
Lord taught, and it’s important to practice what we preach. But we must not
forget that we are still sinners who need forgiveness for our own errors.
You’re
not so judgmental, are you? You’re not so closed-minded as to think that we’re
the only ones who have it right. When you visit other churches, you pretend there’s
no difference. It doesn’t matter if they have women pastors. It doesn’t matter
that they approve of homosexual marriage and ignore heterosexuals living
together before marriage. Maybe you even commune! If you have ever wondered why
we Lutherans think we’re better than everybody else, you too have fallen into
the trap of the Pharisee.
The
trap of spiritual smugness and superiority is all around us. We Lutherans do
fall into it. I certainly do! I look at other churches and think, “How can they
not get it? The Lord makes it so simple. Thank God I’m not like those who do
not seem to get the Gospel!” The minute you think like that, even if you are
right, you are lost. Have you ever thought, “The Church sure seems to be filled
with a lot of hypocrites”? You are lost. Have you ever thought, “Why aren’t
more people involved, like I am?” You are lost. Have you ever thought, “Why
does Pastor take this doctrine so seriously?” If God should justify you as your
hearts deserve, you would be lost. If you stand in condemnation of anyone and
think you’re any better, more likely to be saved on your own merit, you’ve
fallen into the trap from which Christ wants to rescue you today. Fall to your
knees before the Lord. Acknowledge your sin. And then, like the tax collector,
pray, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
And
for the sake of Jesus, the Father does have mercy! Two men went up to the
temple to pray. One was justified. The other was not. One could see that he was
special. The other could only see his sin and beg God for mercy. One hopes that
God can see some his sincerity, his devotion, his faith. The other is only sure
of this: he is a sinner, and God is full of grace. God does not teach the way
we would want to teach. The doctrine Jesus gives the Church is this: You have a
God Who came to be like you, even though He had no sin. Even though He was
tempted and did not falter, He did not thank the Lord that He was different
from the rest. Instead, He was baptized, just like any other sinner. He
received the Holy Spirit, just like anyone who needs God’s help. He fasted and
prayed. And then, instead of a mere tithe, He gave Himself into death for your
salvation. In none of that did He exalt Himself. In fact, the Scriptures say
that He Who knew no sin became sin for us on the cross. Jesus died like any
other sinner. What saves is not that God is different from the rest of us, but
that He’s more at ease with being counted as a sinner than we are admitting our
sin.
No
one gets saved by not being a sinner—not even little babies. See why Christ’s
doctrine is so important? No baby is saved by being different than you. Like
anybody else, a child is only saved through faith in Jesus. That’s why we
baptize babies. We’re all sinners! That’s why we urge our people toward private
confession and absolution. You need confession and absolution to return you to
your baptism. You need daily reading in God’s Word. You need daily prayer. You
need the body and blood of Jesus. You need these things because you are,
indeed, a sinner.
And
then, because you are a sinner like everyone else, come. Come and hear His word
of forgiveness, spoken to you by the pastor as by Christ Himself. Come and be
instructed and confirmed, and continue to study. Partake of Christ’s body and blood
in bread and wine for your forgiveness. He is always ready to teach you true
repentance, faith, and humility. He is always ready to raise you up with the
forgiveness He won for you on the cross, so that you may thank Him—not that you
are unlike other men, but that He made Himself to be like you, so that you
would in turn be like Him. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The
peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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