Homily for Trinity 6 - 2020

"God's Loving 'No' and 'Yes'"
Exodus 20:1-17 & Matthew 5:17-26

Listen here.

It takes a loving adult to tell a child, “No.” Devoted parents know this. When the toddler starts to dart out into the street, dad will sternly but lovingly yell, “No!” or “Stop!” When the little one puts something dangerous in her mouth—something dirty, something sharp, something poisonous—mama will firmly but lovingly say, “No, no.” The same applies when the child grows into the teen years and tries to experiment with cigarettes, booze, drugs, sex outside of marriage, and other harmful things. A loving adult must say, “No,” because some activities and behaviors are harmful. And a loving adult always wants what’s best for the children.

God is our loving adult, our Father, who must tell us, His human children, “No” to things that harm us. This He does in His Ten Commandments because He wants what’s best for us. God’s firm and loving “No” to things that harm us really is what’s best for us.

To say it another way, God’s commandments—each of them individually and all of them together—are like the fence around the back yard. When the children play inside the fence, they are safe and protected. Life goes well. If there’s no fence, then the children can easily wander off, stroll into the busy street and be harmed. So the curbing commandments really are a blessing from our loving Father.

Knowing God’s commandments brings another blessing. When we know them, heed them, live them, and put them to use, we have an anchor for all of life. We may just need and be able to use such a firm, solid anchor in our time of chaos, uncertainty, and upheaval. In the preface to his Large Catechism, Martin Luther said, “This much is certain: those who know the Ten Commandments perfectly know the entire Scriptures….” If you want to know and understand your God and His will for you and everyone around you, especially in unprecedented times, study, learn, and stay grounded in God’s commandments.

Luther then added this about those who know the Commandments: “…in all affairs and circumstances [they] are able to counsel, help, comfort, judge, and make decisions in both spiritual and temporal matters.” (Luther, LC, Preface, 17; KW, 382). When you know God’s Ten Commandments, you are well equipped to discern what’s going on around you in this crazy, chaotic world. You are anchored to withstand the stormy seas of pandemic and pandemonium. You are made wise to resist the emotional hype and propaganda that intentionally cause so much fear and panic. You are placed on solid ground so that you may give aid to those who are aimless and adrift.

Commandments 9 and 10 erect a protective fence around God’s gift of contentment. But notice how discontent and disgruntled so many people are these days, and that same discontent and unrest infect us, God’s children reborn in Baptism. We want what God has not given and we are annoyed when we don’t get it.

Commandment 8 erects a protective fence around God’s gift of a good reputation for each and every person. But notice how speedily and how frequently reputations are smashed, trashed and cancelled, and with gleeful vehemence. Say, communicate or tweet the so-called wrong message, and let the shaming begin until the target slinks away.

In Commandment 7 God builds a protective barrier around money and possessions. But instead of helping to improve and protect our neighbor’s possessions and income—including statues and store fronts—we witness looting, vandalizing, pillaging and taking what rightly belongs to others.

Commandment 6 is God’s way of protecting the gift of marriage between one man and one woman and the family that comes from that union. Confusion about this and disregard for it in recent years have brought much angst and pain, in the Church as well as in the culture.

The Fifth Commandment, which Jesus highlights in our Gospel reading, protects God’s gift of human physical life. In it God also “wants to remove the root and source by which the heart is embittered against our neighbor” (LC I:186). Think of the anger so evident in the rioting and attacks we now see on a daily basis. Think of the bitterness that leads to treating fellow human beings differently based on nothing but skin color, whichever direction it goes. Think of the suspicion and even vitriol that flows between those who want to wear masks and those who don’t.

In the Fourth Commandment, our Father gives us parents and other authorities as gifts. Parenthood, of course, has the highest place, and other authorities flow from that high office. Yet we also know that sinners occupy these positions of authority. We want and need to honor them, serve and obey them, but it’s quite difficult due to their imperfections and failings, especially when their actions or inactions lead to and even foster the fear and chaos.

Here’s why we need the first three Commandments. Without them the protective fence is rickety and wobbly at best. In our current time, it’s why the fence has collapsed altogether. When the bases, posts, and rails of the first three commandments are removed, it’s no wonder the pickets, or slats, of the other commandments cannot stand upright.

We need to treasure and gladly hear God’s Word and receive His Sacraments. We need to call on His name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks. And, most of all, we need to fear, love and trust in Him above all things. It’s obvious the culture at large knows none of this. What about you?

Do you fear COVID-19, the violent riots, or the downward spiral of our culture more than God? Do you trust science or a promised vaccine more than God? Do you love yourself more than your fellow human being? The answer, of course, is “Yes.” So it’s time to repent of our idolatry, our fears, and our misplaced trust for safety and security. Your righteousness should exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, but thanks to the mirror of God’s Law you know it does not.

And so it’s also time to take comfort in God’s “Yes” spoken and achieved through His Son Jesus. He came not to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them in your place and for your benefit. He submitted Himself to governing authorities and laid down His own life for you. Even as His reputation was trashed, He was content to accomplish your forgiveness and salvation on the cross. And in His resurrection He gives you His new life—new life to consider yourself dead to sin, new life that is alive to God in Christ Jesus, new life that happily and joyfully lives within the fence of God’s care and keeping. In Jesus—and only in Jesus—your righteousness does exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

Since you have been buried with Jesus by baptism into death, your shortcomings and failings are washed away. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead, you too may now walk in newness of life. You may fear, love and trust in Him above all things, including viruses, vaccines and violence. You may call upon Him in all trouble, pray and give thanks for His eternal care and keeping. You may gladly hear and learn His Word and receive His Body and Blood that truly sustain and comfort in all circumstances.

In addition, you may truly love your neighbor, your fellow sinner, just as Jesus does. You may honor your authorities even as you evaluate and sometimes must critique their decrees. You may stand up for the life of every human being, regardless of age, skin color, or station in life. You may live chastely. You may protect possessions and income. You may safeguard reputations. You may live with contentment in all things.

By doing so, you will quite naturally stand out in this world marred by chaos and insecurity. Those who wander aimlessly and who are lost in their fear will notice. Then you will have the grand opportunity to welcome them into God’s “backyard,” into the genuine safety, the only true safety, of His salvation and life with Him in His Church. Amen.