Trinity 6 July 3, 2016

Trinity 6
Matthew 5:17-26
July 3, 2016

“I’m Dead. I’m Alive.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Jesus says in the Gospel reading today, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who’s angry with his brother or insults his brother or says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

If only “fool” was the worst thing we’ve called other people.  “Fool” sounds awfully tame compared to the some of the things we’ve called people.  People whom we should be loving.  People whom Jesus gave His life and blood and tears for.  We’ve called them much worse than “fools”.

When we’ve been behind the wheel driving and gotten cut off, the names we’ve called people that we don’t even know…  When someone has ridden our tail or not gotten over so we could merge in—“fool” probably wasn’t the word we chose for them.  That’s too nice.  When an umpire has called a strike that we thought was outside—what have we called him?  When a ref has called a foul on your son or daughter, or grandson or granddaughter, what words have you had for him?  When you’re with friends, all of you talking about other friends, have you spoken kind words or have you murdered them with insults?  When you’re with family talking about other family members, have you called them much worse than “fools”?  We’re murderers, Jesus says.  All of us.  Murderers.  So many people, even people we don’t know, have been victim to our anger, insults, and names worse than “fool”.  Lord, have mercy.

But we have a hard time thinking of ourselves as murderers, right?  No, we’re nice, good people.  Let’s think about this a bit this morning.  How is it that every one of us thinks we’re good people?  We would all probably agree that there are some bad people in the world.  But we would also just as quick assert that we’re not one of those.  We’re good folks.  How is it we can all say that?

The reason is…because we all change the rules to make ourselves the good ones.  Like calling someone a fool.  Oh, that’s not that big of a deal, we say.  We just change the rules to fit whatever we ourselves do.  Here’s an easy one…we’ll go to driving again.  All of us think the right speed to be driving is whatever speed we are driving.  If people are passing us, they’re going too fast.  If people are blocking our way, they’re going too slow.  Good people drive the speed I am driving.

The speed limit is another one easily changed.  We say, “Well, I drive five to ten miles over the limit because the cops usually won’t pull you over for that.”  Oh, how easy that little rule was changed.  I’m a good person because I don’t get pulled over.  Okay.  Or texting and driving.  Many of us say, “I only do it when there’s no one around me on the road” or some similar little rule change.  Even though we’re still obviously putting ourselves and others in danger.  We just change the rule to make ourselves feel good about it.

We do this with everything.  Talking about other people.  Gossiping.  We’ve changed the rule there to give a thousand different exceptions about when it’s okay to gossip.  “I’m not a gossip, no!” and in the next breath we say, “Well, I shouldn’t gossip but….”  It’s very easy to be a good person when you make up the rules for what makes a good person.  That’s why every single one of us thinks we’re a good person.  Because we ourselves have set the rules for what’s a good person.

This isn’t just Christians, by the way.  In our country right now, we’re seeing new rules made up almost daily for what makes a good person.  A good American.  Right now, if you don’t support abortion, you’re a bad person.  That’s the rule of many people in America and of many in the media.  Good people support abortion.  That’s the rule.

This last week the Supreme Court of the United States had an important case before it on abortion.  The state of Texas had passed a law that doctors performing abortions needed to have privileges to admit patients to the hospital when something would go wrong.  Also, the abortion facilities had to be on the same level of safety as hospital surgery rooms.  These are good policies.  These policies will keep women safer.  Yet because some of the abortion clinics in TX would have had to close and women would’ve had to drive further away to get an abortion—this was deemed an “undue burden” by the Supreme Court.  They said TX was wrong.  And the decision was praised and celebrated by Americans far and wide.  Even though women will be less safe, this is good.  Because abortion will be easier to get.  And that’s the rule.  Abortion is good.

We’re murdering innocent babies and calling it good.  The law is, “You shall not murder.”  But see how far we change a rule?  Luther says in a sermon on this text, “These are the two true colors which the devil carries in his kingdom, namely, lying and murder.  In the world they must have the name, reputation, and praise of being the highest holiness and righteousness.”  Lying and murder become the highest good.

You Christians, are bad because you don’t support abortion.  You want to limit it.  You’re breaking the rule.  You’re not good people.  It goes the same way with homosexuality and transgenderism.  The rule is that if you want to be a good person you need to support homosexuality and transgenderism without any conditions.  To be good you must even celebrate them.

This is why we are all hypocrites.  It’s why we’re all Pharisees.  We all make up our own rules and want everyone else to follow them.  We will decide what’s good, thank you very much.  Calling someone a “fool” is no big deal, we say.  Everybody gets angry now and then, we say.  And so and so deserved that insult, we say.  But Jesus says, “You’re murderers.  All of you.”  To us hypocrites, Jesus speaks these words today about God’s rules.

See, we don’t make the rules about what’s good.  God does.  And His rules don’t show us how good we are—they kill us.  They kill us.  God’s rules aren’t there to show us how good we are.  His rules show us what good really is.  And, by doing that, they show us that none of us are good.  We’re all hypocrites who have made up our own rules.  So God’s Law comes and shows us we’re all murderers.  We’re all idolaters.  We’re all thiefs.  We’re all adulterers.  And so forth.  His rules kill us.  That’s where they’re supposed to do.  Because our only hope isn’t being good—it’s being with Jesus.  Dying with Jesus.

Would you like to know what is really and truly good?  It’s simple.  He is Jesus your Savior.  Jesus came to fulfill all of the Law.  He is good.  He loves us and all other people perfectly.  He doesn’t make up His own rules for what’s good and right.  He lives the law of God perfectly.  Look to Jesus to find what is good.

He who is good gave His life for yours on the cross.  And through God’s Word, through Holy Baptism, and through Holy Communion—we are made good in Jesus Christ.  We sinners are made good.  Not by changing the rules to fit our sin.  But by putting sin to death with Jesus, receiving His full forgiveness and righteousness, and living in Jesus.

Here’s the crux of the problem—Paul explains it for us in Romans 6 today.  The crux of the problem is…what do we do with our sin?  Do we change the rules to make our sins look like they’re actually good?  Do we insist and insist that we’re good people and ignore all the sin?  None of these work.  You can call abortion “good” all day long but it doesn’t change what it is.  We can call our anger and insults and name-calling good all day long—but we’re still murderers in our hearts.  What do we do with this sin?  We hand it over to Jesus.  We bury it with Him.

“Do you not know,” Paul asks you today, “That all of us who have baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  For the one who has died has been set free from sin.”  That’s you.  You have been set free from sin.  Forgiven and redeemed.  When it comes to sin, Paul says consider yourself dead to sin.  “Sin, I’m dead to you.  You can’t hurt me.”  All of your sin, whether it be anger, gossiping, name-calling…whether it be abortion, or road rage or any other sin—to all of it—you are dead.  Because that sin has been buried with Jesus and you are free from it.

Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  “Sin, I’m dead to you.  God, I’m alive to You in Jesus.”  You are alive in Jesus.  Paul asks, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?”  Now you are to live by God’s rules.  His rules are good.  To love Him and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  This is good.

Yes, you will fail and you will sin.  But what do you do with sin?  Cover it up?  Change the rules to make it look good?  No, you’re dead to that sin.  It is forgiven in Jesus.  We don’t change the rules to cover it up.  We look to Jesus to take care of all of it.  Every day.  We say, “I’m baptized into Christ.  Therefore I’m dead to sin.  It’s can’t hurt me.  And I’m alive.  Alive to God.”  Every day is a new day in God’s grace.  A day to die with Jesus and live with Jesus. Amen.