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In
the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Paul
asks a question in Galatians every one of us should be able to answer,
especially as Lutherans! "What
purpose then does the law serve?"
The
world hates the Law of God sometimes.
Other times it loves it. The
fallen, sinful world obviously hates it because God's Law shows just how
wrong, and selfish, and hurtful, and destructive that we can be because of
our sin. That's why atheists
raise a stink about getting the Ten Commandments out of government
buildings and why homosexuals try to sue Bible publishers.
God's Word of Law convicts them of wrong and of damaging
themselves, and their neighbors in society.
So they hate it. They
want to silence it. However,
there are other times when sinful mankind loves God's Law, but in a very
twisted, diabolical sort of way. They
love to take His Words and distort the meanings and ideas behind our
Lord's Commandments, and use generic notions about morality and good deeds
to fashion some sort of "highway to heaven" or great tower of
achievements (not unlike the one folks tried to build in Babel) to climb
their way into God's favor, not to mention look good in front of the rest
of mankind. Entire
false religions are built on this kind of understanding of God's Law, even
religions that claim to be Christian.
They try to do the very thing that Paul tells us can't be done.
"If there had been a law given which could have given life,
truly righteousness would have been by the law.
But the Scripture has confined all under sin..."
So
blind and misguided sinners sometimes have fondness for the Law even as
they abuse it, misinterpreting it to declare themselves "good"
and "righteous", meanwhile using it also as a club to beat down
their neighbor who isn't as pious or superficially "holy".
But
thanks be to God that we've been shown the more excellent way from the
entirety of God's Word. As
Paul says, the promise of righteousness and salvation comes to us by faith
in Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit makes us able to believe!
Or, in a Word, we also have the Gospel!
And
this comes back to my initial point: being able to answer the question,
"What purpose then does the law serve?" Because when you understand and confess the Gospel of God's
Word to others, especially to those who love a perverted version of God's
Law, you are going to be hit with that question!
Such was the case with Jesus and the lawyer in our lesson from St.
Luke's Gospel. People
who are blinded by sin and falsehood cling to God's Law because their
hearts cling to their own works. They
fool themselves into thinking they've kept God's Law and therefore they
have made themselves righteous, important, and safe.
But the Gospel takes all that away from them! Because according to the Gospel of Christ, all mankind's
works are worthless, nasty rags and waste when it comes to making
ourselves righteous, and important, and safe.
The Gospel makes our attempts at self-salvation completely
obsolete, which is unbearable to a self-absorbed sinner's ears.
The Gospel says simply that Jesus did all that was needed for our
righteousness and salvation. That's
it! He took our sins, and our
suffering, and our death upon Himself and finished our redemption on the
cross. So
when you tell people that their sins are forgiven only by what Jesus has
done, they want to justify themselves, and say "Well, if we're only
made righteous by faith in Jesus, then what's the point of God's Law?
It sounds like I can go do any bad things that I want and it
doesn't matter because Jesus forgives us!"
And they accuse us of being foolish and ignorant about God's Word.
So
again, think about how you would answer the question. What is the purpose of the Law, considering that God
tells us plainly that it's not to save ourselves?
Jesus has already taken care of that part. What's the point then? Well,
the first part of the answer should be easy.
It shows us our sins. It
makes us aware of our transgressions and our trespasses, making it clear
that we need to be saved from them by the promise we have in Christ.
But the other part of the answer comes from Jesus' illustration of
the "Good Samaritan". An
expert in the Law tries to test Jesus' expertise in the Law, and says to
Him, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Of course, keep in mind, this man already had his own ideas
about righteousness and eternal life.
He was, after all, supposed to be an expert in the Law, or as we
sometimes translate it, a "lawyer".
But
as we see, Jesus is not about to be sucked in.
He asks this man, "What is your reading of it?"
And Jesus works to make the point to this man, and to everyone
else, that the inheritance of eternal life doesn't come through man's
efforts. Using the man's own
answers, Jesus confronts him with the fact that man fails at keeping God's
Law. He asks the lawyer to
give answer from his own understanding of the Law, and if one truly
understands God's Word of Law AND Gospel, you can see the subtle
profoundness of Jesus' reply. "You
have answered rightly; do this and you will live."
In other Words, He's saying, "Yes, if you can keep this Law
completely, then you will live."
But we can't, so we don't, and we know it, or at least we should.
And
so the lesson continues. The
lawyer knows he doesn't love EVERYONE as himself, so he looks for the
loophole in the word "neighbor" to restore his legalistic faith
in his own efforts, and at that point Jesus tells the familiar story of
the Good Samaritan. The
priest and the Levite, who are considered holy and righteous in the eyes
of the world, and especially their own eyes, are anything but merciful and
loving to a neighbor who is as good as dead.
But the Samaritan was merciful.
And that's the second part of our answer to "What is the
purpose of the Law?" For
the sinner, the Law teaches humility.
It exposes us as the poor, miserable sinners that we are.
It speaks the painful truth that we're in the same place as the man
who fell among thieves, striped of our righteousness and beaten down, and
as good as dead. But for
those who have been raised up and healed by Christ's mercy and compassion,
as He washes us, heals us, and provides for us, we understand the Law to
be His teachings for us by which we are to reflect His own mercy!
The
Law shows us our sins, but once we are in Christ, it also shows us those
works of mercy that He would do in us and through us for the good of our
neighbor! That's the purpose
of the Law. The
sinner tries to identify himself by his works according to the Law.
But according to faith in the Gospel, we are identified by Jesus
Christ! And our works
according to the Law are simply fruit, the acts of mercy and compassion
that serve as lessons and testimonies to the most important work of all,
Christ's mercy for us on the cross. That’s
where folks get confused and where the reasoning of the world falls flat.
The Law doesn’t show us how to save ourselves, it shows us what
our life should look like when Christ lives in us according to the
promises of the Gospel. A
lot of times Lutherans are really good about emphasizing the Gospel and
how Jesus does all the work in saving us, but sometimes we forget the
purpose and value of the Law. We
even get nervous that others might think we’re like the legalistic
folks, trying to save ourselves, if we talk about God’s Laws.
But again, God’s good and holy Law teaches us to show mercy, like
the Samaritan did to the beaten man, and even more so, like Christ Himself
has shown toward all mankind from His cross.
If
we do simply say, “Jesus loves me; I’m forgiven” and then just sit
there doing nothing, that does give a confusing impression to those who
abuse God’s Word. God
teaches us, and illustrates to us the fullness of life that we can enjoy
through being merciful. In
our Old Testament lesson from Leviticus, He teaches His people not to fall
into the bad habits and sinful doings of the pagans around them.
The life of His people, who live according to the promises of His
mercy, is reflected in our works of mercy!
Even
Abraham was made to understand this by the Holy Spirit working faith in
him. He trusted in God.
He trusted that the Seed, the offspring that would eventually come
through his flesh and blood would be the one who did all the necessary
work to give us eternal life. And
of course, that Seed is Jesus. And
as God works in us to do the things of His Law, to do works of mercy and
bear fruit in helping and loving our neighbor, it’s in that fruit that
He can also place the message of the one Seed of Abraham, God’s own Son
who takes away our sins. So
again, we shouldn’t avoid the Law, being worried about being called a
“pietist” or a “legalist” for no good reason.
We should remember its true purpose, and be ready in season and out
to confess why God’s Law IS good and wise.
One, it shows our sins and teaches us how desperately we need
Christ’s flesh and blood sacrifice for our salvation, and two, it shows
us the works of mercy that Christ endeavors to continue working, in us and
through us, as we love our neighbors as ourselves.
That’s
the purpose that the law serves. And
as Jesus said to the lawyer, I also say, let us go and do likewise, as we
reflect the same mercy and compassion that Jesus showed for all of us in
His life and crucifixion. In
His name, Amen.
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