With Sins Forgiven, Come Forth :: Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, let us come forward with boldness to the throne of grace in order that we may receive mercy and find grace for well-timed help (v 16).
[Catechism: Lutheran Service Book, 326]
What is the Office of the Keys?
Where is this written?
What do you believe according to these words?
[Prayer]
Heavenly Father, you delivered your Son for our offenses and raised him for our justification. Grant that we may trust in the word of forgiveness that you have given your pastors to proclaim, that clinging to your good and gracious promises, we might be brought to eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[Introduction]
Woe is me! For I have been cut off. I am a man of unclean lips (Isa 6:5a).
Depart from me Lord, because I am a sinner (Lk 5:8). I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. My sin is ever before me (Ps 51:3). I have not loved you with my whole heart, let alone my neighbor as myself (Mt 22:37). I am not doing the good I desire, but the evil I do not desire, this I practice (Rm 7:19). Pastor, I am unworthy to receive the sacrament. I cannot return to church until I get my life together. I am too ashamed. I am afraid of the consequences. I’m afraid of what others will say. I know ... that nothing ... good ... dwells ... in me (Rm 7:18).
1.
Many years ago ... as I sat in pews like yours ... when I sat in them ... I confessed all of these thoughts from Isaiah, Psalms, Matthew, Luke, and Romans. And so I asked, how could I be a pastor? Why would I be a pastor? How can I draw near and stand before men, let alone God?
There were many who are still with us who once asked the same questions. When we look in the mirror and see our sin ... when we feel shame and guilt ... we withdraw. We question the faith. We become afraid. We hide our faces. ... Or at least we should feel that way.
How can any of us even step up to the foot of the chancel ... let alone into it? We are sinners who sin. And we keep on sinning. We tell white lies. We take pleasure in talking about the faults of other people. We assassinate each other’s character. We lose our temper. We manipulate one another. We cast blame against one another to deflect our faults and failures, our pain and shame. We break our confirmation vow to listen to God’s Word and to receive the Supper faithfully ... to continue steadfast in our confession ... to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it.
So it’s only natural that ... like the man and the woman in the Garden ... we do NOT EVER ... WANT ... to be seen ... by God ... let alone to hear his voice.
It’s been this way from the beginning ... from that first shameful thought in the garden you heard about in our Old Testament reading. After falling to the serpent’s temptation to twist God’s Word, to distort God’s Word, to add to or take away from God’s Word ... man and woman did indeed begin dying just as God had promised. Then their eyes were opened, and they knew they were naked, our Old Testament reading from Genesis 3 says (3:7).
Oh, the shame!
Oh, the guilt!
It’s so OVERWHELMING!
They tried to cover it up. We try to cover it up.
They tried to conceal themselves. We try to conceal ourselves.
They became afraid. We are STILL afraid. We keep it to ourselves. We never want anyone to know what we have done. The man and his woman hid themselves from the face of YHWH Elohim (... the Lord God ...) in the midst of the trees of the garden (Gen 3:8).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, that’s evil! And that is not the way it is supposed to be!
We were supposed to know only good. God created us to be in fellowship with him ... in communion with him ... in unity with him and each other ... to confess him ... to participate with him and each other in all goodness and righteousness and harmony in the land of milk and honey ... paradise. He has made you and me and all creatures. He has given us body and soul, eyes, ears, reason, and all our senses, and he STILL ... TAKES CARE ... OF US.
Where are you? God began calling ... after we broke fellowship with Him.
Where are you? Are these not the three scariest words in Scripture?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, repent every one of you ... that is, mourn your sin, but rest in faith, knowing God has come to you and still calling you, gathering you, enlightening you, sanctifying you! As God’s Own Word reminds us, he does this through Jesus, who has become like us in every way so that he will always be with you.
2.
We know this is true because ... God ... is not ... dead.
This is our confession. Let us hold fast to this confession.
We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. ... We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize (... or better yet, suffer with) ... our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
He who created the heavens and the earth, light and life, land and sea, sun and moon, the sky and birds, the cows and corn, you and me ... He has become like us in every respect. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God With Us (Isa 7:14) ... took on flesh as a babe in Bethlehem, yet without sin. He experienced all that we experience ... pain, sadness, anger ... yet without sin. He has suffered with our weaknesses, yet without sin. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
Though we could not go to him because of our sin, our great high priest has passed through the heavens to earth and back again. He did what no other priest could do ... offer the blood of the Lamb, his own blood, to atone for our sins ... yours, mine, the world’s.
It’s all gone! All the sin you confessed and left unconfessed ... all the sin you did this morning and will do after walking out those doors ... it’s all gone. He carried all that sin to the cross, where it was crucified for you ... He died for you!
But God would not have the sinner ... you and me ... die without hope. So he raised Jesus from the dead, giving all who have faith in him, the real hope of eternal life too. Therefore, as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians [6:1-2]: We appeal to you not to receive the gift of God in vain. For he says, In a favorable season, I listened to you, and in the day of salvation, I helped you. Behold, now is the favorable season. Behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:1-2).
3.
Now we are able, with boldness, to come toward the throne of grace in order that we may receive mercy and find grace for well-timed help (v 16).
WITH SINS FORGIVEN, WE CAN NOW DRAW NEAR
You who cling to God alone, his Word alone, his sacraments alone ... all of which proclaim Christ alone ... you who hold fast to the confession that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, you should be sure that he will show you mercy ... the forgiveness of sins ... in your time of need, and that he will deliver his grace ... life and salvation. More than that, you should celebrate with all the faithful that being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him (Hb 5:8). This promise is not only for you, but it’s for your children, and your children’s children, even to a thousand generations of those who love him.
[Conclusion]
As our days of penitential prayer continue, as we continue wandering through the wilderness, remember that God blesses you, his chosen ones. Remember that Jesus not only sympathizes with you, his chosen ones, he has compassion on you, and will always be with you. Therefore, let us come forth with boldness to the throne of grace (v 16).
We have in our Lord Jesus, not only a Savior, but a Keeper, a Guardian over our souls, one who knows our failings and hang-ups, one who understands the trials and conflicts that come our way, and one who will grant us the grace to come through unscathed. There will be wounds ... and the scars that remind us of those wounds ... but victory is assured on account of Jesus ... in his precious name.