Trinity 19 – Thanksgiving October 10, 2021
Matthew 9:1-8
It’s All About...the “F” Word
v.2-3 And behold, some people brought to Him [Jesus] a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
Dear friends in Christ, what are you thankful for? Today being the day in Canada that we typically reserve for pondering the many blessings that we have received and giving thanks and praise to the One from Whom all blessings flow, it is good to ask this question. House, home, goods, honour, child or spouse? Perhaps, all of the above—and even some others, like health and happiness. What about our government? "Hold on now, let's not get too crazy, pastor!"
In our text for today, the paralytic man certainly had much to be thankful for. After all, before meeting Jesus he had been restricted to lying on his mat, which served him for a bed; unable to work, unable to properly care for himself or his family, he was reduced to a life of shamefully begging from others in order to try and eke out a meagre existence.
Of course, after meeting Jesus, that all changed. For, in the course of his encounter with the living God made flesh, this crippled man received a new lease on life. He received the use of his limbs back—a truly life-changing experience I am sure we would all agree. Thanks to his friends. Thanks to God!
And yet, as wonderful as that was, as great a blessing as this man received from the hand of the Lord, yet that is as nothing compared to the real miracle our Lord Jesus imparted to this man. For, even before Jesus restored his mobility, before the man even got his mouth open to beg the Lord for healing, Jesus looked upon him with compassion and satisfied his real need when He said, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
And really, beloved, isn’t that what the Christian life is all about? Isn’t that what each and every single one of us truly and really needs in our lives? Though we can easily be distracted by the many other gifts and blessings the Lord freely bestows upon us and all other people: gifts like food, clothing, family, friends, shelter, etc., yet the best gift—the one that is to be absolutely central to us in our Christian life—is that of the free forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ Jesus.
And you all know how absolutely vital forgiveness is—especially when you are the one who has screwed up! When you have hurt those closest to you—either by accident—or on purpose! Ask anyone who has been married for a few years—and they can tell you just how crucial it is to be able to forgive! Without it—no relationship can long survive—either those with other people—or, more importantly, our relationship with God.
You see, forgiveness is at the very heart of the Christian Gospel—for this is what Jesus came to win for us with His own perfect life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Yes, we receive many other gifts as well from the gracious hand of the Lord, just as the paralytic also received physical healing (and for ALL these gifts and blessings we give thanks and praise to our merciful and gracious God who loves us so much and provides for us so in so many ways), but it is the gift of forgiveness in Christ that we truly need, and that which heals our greatest ailment of deadly sin that corrupts and infects our very natures with its evil and death.
For that is our greatest problem—not that we have hurt others by thought word, and deed—not that others have hurt us by the same—though these are indeed grievous problems, but rather our biggest issue is that our right standing before God is hopeless apart from Christ. For as we receive His forgiveness, so also we receive His righteousness—His perfect holiness. Apart from Him, our sin clings to us and we are left, quite literally, dead in our sin. Our own holiness, our own righteousness counts as nothing before God. And just as we need His forgiveness to fully live—so also do we, as Christians, need to forgive and be forgiven by each other.
Sure, we can do many wonderful things in the sight of the world—great acts of charity and kindness that serve our neighbour. We do many good works like protecting the weak and the helpless (speaking out for the unborn, the aged and the infirm), caring for those less fortunate than ourselves (bringing casseroles, squares, and teas to the sick and the dying), taking food to the hungry, clothing to the naked, providing shelter for those with no home, etc. And all these things are good and right—yes, God truly wants and commands that we, His Christian people, do such things in order to care for our neighbours. But, these acts of mercy and kindness, good though they may be—mean nothing before God in terms of our salvation. They do nothing to solve our greatest problem of sin.
No indeed, the solution to our sin, the righteousness that we require before God is not one that we can earn with our good deeds or buy with our wealth and power. Rather, it must be given. It must be given freely by the grace of the One whose right it is to give it—God Almighty. For just as the paralytic man could not heal himself physically, couldn’t by his own force of will or effort or by any means, make his legs work properly, so neither could he (nor you or I) ever do anything to earn forgiveness or righteousness in the sight of God.
We need the pure and perfect righteousness of Jesus to stand before God—what He gives us in the forgiveness of sins. This forgiveness that flows from the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross for us on Calvary is our very greatest need. And He had to earn it. He had to earn it with every breath He took in which He fulfilled God’s holy Law in our place. He had to earn it with His innocent suffering—the beatings, the mocking, the cruel nails, thorns, and spear. He had to earn it with His own innocent death, by giving up His life freely on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and mine.
So, God does not want us to glory in our own righteousness—our strengths, freedom of will, our wisdom, etc.—all this must be mortified (killed)—despaired of—and then, when we are in hell because of our despair over our sin and rebellion against God—our lack of worthiness and honour in His sight—then the sweet words of the Gospel come to us and give us hope. He declares you forgiven—not for your sake—but for the sake of Jesus Christ alone—He who suffered and bled on the cross. By His dying He has destroyed death. By His life He has earned life and salvation for you and all who believe. He gives you these great gifts in His Word and Sacraments--concrete things outside of yourselves--so that you may always be comforted and assured that God is at work in and through these means to seal unto you the forgiveness for all your sins--by the blood of Jesus. Truly, thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Matthew 9:1-8
It’s All About...the “F” Word
v.2-3 And behold, some people brought to Him [Jesus] a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
Dear friends in Christ, what are you thankful for? Today being the day in Canada that we typically reserve for pondering the many blessings that we have received and giving thanks and praise to the One from Whom all blessings flow, it is good to ask this question. House, home, goods, honour, child or spouse? Perhaps, all of the above—and even some others, like health and happiness. What about our government? "Hold on now, let's not get too crazy, pastor!"
In our text for today, the paralytic man certainly had much to be thankful for. After all, before meeting Jesus he had been restricted to lying on his mat, which served him for a bed; unable to work, unable to properly care for himself or his family, he was reduced to a life of shamefully begging from others in order to try and eke out a meagre existence.
Of course, after meeting Jesus, that all changed. For, in the course of his encounter with the living God made flesh, this crippled man received a new lease on life. He received the use of his limbs back—a truly life-changing experience I am sure we would all agree. Thanks to his friends. Thanks to God!
And yet, as wonderful as that was, as great a blessing as this man received from the hand of the Lord, yet that is as nothing compared to the real miracle our Lord Jesus imparted to this man. For, even before Jesus restored his mobility, before the man even got his mouth open to beg the Lord for healing, Jesus looked upon him with compassion and satisfied his real need when He said, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
And really, beloved, isn’t that what the Christian life is all about? Isn’t that what each and every single one of us truly and really needs in our lives? Though we can easily be distracted by the many other gifts and blessings the Lord freely bestows upon us and all other people: gifts like food, clothing, family, friends, shelter, etc., yet the best gift—the one that is to be absolutely central to us in our Christian life—is that of the free forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ Jesus.
And you all know how absolutely vital forgiveness is—especially when you are the one who has screwed up! When you have hurt those closest to you—either by accident—or on purpose! Ask anyone who has been married for a few years—and they can tell you just how crucial it is to be able to forgive! Without it—no relationship can long survive—either those with other people—or, more importantly, our relationship with God.
You see, forgiveness is at the very heart of the Christian Gospel—for this is what Jesus came to win for us with His own perfect life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Yes, we receive many other gifts as well from the gracious hand of the Lord, just as the paralytic also received physical healing (and for ALL these gifts and blessings we give thanks and praise to our merciful and gracious God who loves us so much and provides for us so in so many ways), but it is the gift of forgiveness in Christ that we truly need, and that which heals our greatest ailment of deadly sin that corrupts and infects our very natures with its evil and death.
For that is our greatest problem—not that we have hurt others by thought word, and deed—not that others have hurt us by the same—though these are indeed grievous problems, but rather our biggest issue is that our right standing before God is hopeless apart from Christ. For as we receive His forgiveness, so also we receive His righteousness—His perfect holiness. Apart from Him, our sin clings to us and we are left, quite literally, dead in our sin. Our own holiness, our own righteousness counts as nothing before God. And just as we need His forgiveness to fully live—so also do we, as Christians, need to forgive and be forgiven by each other.
Sure, we can do many wonderful things in the sight of the world—great acts of charity and kindness that serve our neighbour. We do many good works like protecting the weak and the helpless (speaking out for the unborn, the aged and the infirm), caring for those less fortunate than ourselves (bringing casseroles, squares, and teas to the sick and the dying), taking food to the hungry, clothing to the naked, providing shelter for those with no home, etc. And all these things are good and right—yes, God truly wants and commands that we, His Christian people, do such things in order to care for our neighbours. But, these acts of mercy and kindness, good though they may be—mean nothing before God in terms of our salvation. They do nothing to solve our greatest problem of sin.
No indeed, the solution to our sin, the righteousness that we require before God is not one that we can earn with our good deeds or buy with our wealth and power. Rather, it must be given. It must be given freely by the grace of the One whose right it is to give it—God Almighty. For just as the paralytic man could not heal himself physically, couldn’t by his own force of will or effort or by any means, make his legs work properly, so neither could he (nor you or I) ever do anything to earn forgiveness or righteousness in the sight of God.
We need the pure and perfect righteousness of Jesus to stand before God—what He gives us in the forgiveness of sins. This forgiveness that flows from the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross for us on Calvary is our very greatest need. And He had to earn it. He had to earn it with every breath He took in which He fulfilled God’s holy Law in our place. He had to earn it with His innocent suffering—the beatings, the mocking, the cruel nails, thorns, and spear. He had to earn it with His own innocent death, by giving up His life freely on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and mine.
So, God does not want us to glory in our own righteousness—our strengths, freedom of will, our wisdom, etc.—all this must be mortified (killed)—despaired of—and then, when we are in hell because of our despair over our sin and rebellion against God—our lack of worthiness and honour in His sight—then the sweet words of the Gospel come to us and give us hope. He declares you forgiven—not for your sake—but for the sake of Jesus Christ alone—He who suffered and bled on the cross. By His dying He has destroyed death. By His life He has earned life and salvation for you and all who believe. He gives you these great gifts in His Word and Sacraments--concrete things outside of yourselves--so that you may always be comforted and assured that God is at work in and through these means to seal unto you the forgiveness for all your sins--by the blood of Jesus. Truly, thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.