God Has Had Mercy on You, in Christ :: Luke 18:9-14

But the tax collector, standing from afar, was not even wishing to lift his eyes into heaven, but he kept beating his chest, saying: O God, Make atonement for me, the sinner (v 13).

Please now open your service book to Page 327 and join me in confessing our faithful doctrine on the Sacrament of the Altar. 

Who receives this Sacrament worthily? Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training. But that person is truly worthy and well-prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe.

1.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, how can we stand before a perfect God without being consumed by his burning anger against our sin? 

This question ... was ... and honestly, still is ... at the heart of the Reformation. How do we sinners become right with God? How do we become worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven? If you haven’t asked yourself this question lately, I suggest that you do so sooner rather than later.  

Luther had been taught to rely on his own piety and good works to become right with God ... that is, worthy. When he was a monk, he spent up to six hours a day confessing his sins to a priest, trying to prepare himself. He sweated every detail of his life. He worried that if he forgot to confess even one sin, that that one sin would leave him unworthy and unprepared ... unforgiven. How can I stand before a perfect God without being consumed by his wrath, he asked himself. As Saint Paul reminds us in Romans, the wages of sin is death (6:23). So death is ever looming before us. The pain we feel in body and mind is a result of sin. We do not do what we want, we do the very thing we hate ... we sin (Rm 7:15-20). We deserve to die ... that is, to be separated eternally from God in the wrath of Hell. That is the just and right punishment for sin. 

So how can we stand before a perfect God without being consumed by his burning anger for self-reliance, which is idolatry ... for our mysticism, moralism, rationalism? 

2.

I don’t think I can honestly find even one person in this room who doesn’t feel like the tax collector in the parable Jesus told us today. Every week I hear you say ... just like the tax collector ... O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. But let’s be honest with ourselves today: Can we identify more than just a small fraction of the sin in our lives? 

To understand, you first need to know: Sin is not determined by what we think or feel. To sin means to do what God forbids (Gen 2:17). It means to disregard what God tells us to do (Jas 4:17). It means to think our way is the right way, the only way. It means we are being something other than what God wants us to be (Lv 19:2). Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4). 

Sin’s rebellion begins with doubt ... doubt of God’s Word and the goodness he provides. Like Adam and Eve, we question whether God really said. Like Cain, we give our leftovers to God instead of his firstfruits and deny that we hate our brother. Thus, our confession teaches that we are all “full of evil lust and inclinations.” 

That’s a hard word for some of you sweethearts to hear, isn’t it? 

It means that we are unable to have true fear of God. So we deny the sin in our lives, and then we begin comparing ourselves to someone else, saying things like the Pharisee in the parable: O God, I thank you that I’m not like other men: Swindlers, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like that tax man. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all things which I acquire (vv 11-12). In other words, we think like the Pharisee that we are worthy and well-prepared because we come to the temple to pray every Sunday ... because we study every day. We think like the Pharisee that compared to others, we are worthy and well-prepared. We think that God is therefore pleased with our worship. We then tell ourselves: Thank you Lord for making me me ... Thank you that I’m not like other men. 

3.

And this attitude is why Jesus is telling us this parable. When you start telling yourself ... “Well, he started it!” ... or “I’ll forgive them when they come and apologize to me first!” ... or “He had it coming!” ... that I’m not like other men, then you need to hear the Word of God from our Lord’s parable. Jesus is directing this parable to people who have persuaded themselves that they are righteous (v 9). He is calling on all of us ... to repent ... that is, to mourn your sin and to recognize where our righteousness comes from ... only from the atonement of God. 

Repent of looking down on your brother. 

Repent of taking pride in your works of mercy. 

Repent, like the tax collector, knowing that ... 

GOD HAS HAD MERCY ON YOU, THE SINNER, BY PROVIDING THE ATONEMENT OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

This is where our parable is leading. This is what the tax collector pleaded for ... God’s atonement, not mine. And this is what awaits us today.

4.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how can we stand before a perfect God without being consumed by his burning anger against our sin? Only when we are covered in the blood of Jesus. That is the point of the parable. 

Without innocent blood, there is no atonement. The forgiveness of sins requires the shedding of blood (Hb 9:22). Our sweat and blood won’t suffice because we are sinners who sin. But God’s blood does! And the tax collector knows we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8)! Listen to his plea: O God, make atonement for me, the sinner! That is grace.

The word the ESV translates as “Be Merciful” is better rendered as “Make Atonement.” The Greek word used here is not just mercy; It actually describes the sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat of God on the Day of Atonement (Lv 16). When he sees the blood of the Lamb, he shows mercy on us ... by passing over sin (Ex 12:13). That is the atonement for which we plead. 

The tax collector of the parable is reflecting the one true faith ... faith that rests on God’s Word which promised that The Christ would provide the final sin offering. 

Like the tax collector, in faith, we know that God alone is holy and righteous ... That he alone was born without sin, and lived life without sin ... That he alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world ... That he alone is the only one whose sacrifice covers all sin. ... That he alone would humble himself, fulfilling all scripture, being born of the Virgin and suffering under Pilate. That his atonement alone provides for all we need to save us. 

Because we are sinful, we will always be tempted ... like the Pharisee ... to look within ourselves for righteousness. But because of God’s promises ... like the tax collector ... we can remember that God is merciful to us in Christ, reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor 5:18). This is the Gospel that Saint Paul proclaims to the Corinthians: For I delivered to you [what is] most important, which I also received: that Christ died in the place of our sins in accord with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accord with the scriptures, and that he was seen (1 Cor 15:3-5a).

Jesus has atoned for your sins. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. His blood is enough to deliver the forgiveness of not just your sins, but the sins of the entire world. His sacrifice ends all sacrifice. And He has given and continues to give his body and blood for you. He gives it to you. That is the atonement. That is the Gospel. 

Your sin died with Jesus. On the cross, the body of Christ bore all of the wrath of God for your sin. On the cross, Jesus shed his blood for you, which continues to be poured out into the cup of salvation given in the Lord’s Supper. 

5.

Like the tax collector in the parable, when we confess our sin, God is gracious and just to send us home forgiven and free, justified in his sight, not because of anything we have done, so that no one can boast, but precisely because the atonement of Jesus covers us all (v 14, Eph 2:8-9). As Jesus said, I tell you that this man, [who recognized his sin and need for a savior,] went down to his house having been declared justified. For everyone who lifts himself up will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be lifted up (v 14).

Brothers and sisters in Christ, you can now have confidence in this Gospel. God has washed you in the blood of the Lamb. He has sanctified you in Holy Baptism ... cleansing the temple of your body. And he has lifted you up in the resurrection. He speaks his Word of Holy Absolution to you in his Divine Service. This promise is just as valid and certain as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us himself. He finally feeds you the fruit of his atonement in the Sacrament of the Altar. Now we all can stand tall in full confidence before the throne worthy and well-prepared because we have faith in these words ... Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins ... Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say ... in Jesus’ name.