CHRIST DWELLS ONLY WITH SINNERS
At the Synodical convention, President Harrison commented on his reelection as Synodical President that (the) Missouri (synod) has once again done what it always does, voted a sinner as their president. It is a thought that he has shared the previous two times he was elected, and it is very true. We have elected a sinner to be the president of our church body. Fitting, for it was sinners that elected him – and we would be very wise to always remember it!
My family in Christ, Pastor Luther instructs us with the following:
My dear brother, learn Christ and him crucified. Learn to pray to him and, despairing of yourself, say: “Thou, Lord Jesus, art my righteousness, but I am thy sin. Thou hast taken upon thyself what is mine and hast given to me what is thine. Thou hast taken upon thyself what wast not and hast given to me what I was not.” Beware of aspiring to such purity that you will not wish to be looked upon as a sinner, or to be one. For Christ dwells only in sinners. On this account he descended from heaven, where He dwelt among the righteous, to dwell among sinners. Meditate on this love of His and you will see His sweet consolation. For why was it necessary for Him to die if we can obtain a good conscience by our works and afflictions? Accordingly you will find peace only in Him and only when you despair of yourself and your own works. Besides, you will learn from Him that just as He has received you, so He has made your sins His own and has made His righteousness yours.
If you firmly believe this as you ought (and he is damned who does not believe it), receive your untaught and hitherto erring brothers, patiently help them, make their sins yours, and if you have any goodness, let it be theirs. Thus the apostle teaches: “Receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.” And again: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” Even so, if you seem to yourself to be better than they are, do not count it as booty, as if it were yours alone, but humble yourself, forget what you are, and be as one of them in order that you may help them.
Cursed is the righteousness of the man who is unwilling to assist others on the ground that they are worse than he is and who thinks of fleeing from and forsaking those whom he ought now to be helping with patience, prayer, and example. This would be burying his Lord’s talent and not paying what is due. If you are a lily and a rose of Christ, therefore, know that you will live among thorns. Only see to it that you will not become a thorn as a result of impatience, rash judgment, or secret pride. The rule of Christ is in the midst of his enemies, as the psalm puts it. Why, then, do you imagine that you are among friends? Pray, therefore, for whatever you lack, kneeling before the face of Jesus Christ. He will teach you all things. Only keep your eyes fixed on that which He has done for you and for all men in order that you may learn what you should do for others. If He had desired to live only among good people and to die only for His friends, for whom, pray, would He have died and with whom would He ever have lived? Act accordingly, my dear brother, and pray for me. The Lord be with you.
Luther (as well as President Harrison) is not saying that we are to be sinners in that we live in sin. For our Lord has told us that we have died to sin, so how can we live any longer in it? (Romans 6) Rather, he is speaking about attitudes and being judgmental toward those around us. Though we have been saved from spiritual death and raised up unto new life in Christ, righteous and holy before God having been covered in the Blood of Jesus, we are not to look down on those without Christ, or even those who might be struggling in their faith as if we are somehow better than they are, and thus treat them as such. To treat them in any unloving fashion, including ignoring them, is to deny Christ with your very life.
By the grace of God, let us do two things: Let us see others as we are – sinners in need of Grace in Christ, and let us treat others as Christ has first treated us – with love and compassion. When we see someone, particularly an enemy, we are not to look down upon them as if we by nature are any better than they. We are not. Let them serve as a reminder of what we are and the incredible need for God’s grace and forgiveness in Jesus (as well as we also being reminded how much they need that forgiveness and new life as well!) – that we would be reminded to daily fall before the throne of God, confessing our sin, and trusting in the blood bought forgiveness of that sin. Then, moved by the incredible love and forgiveness given to us by grace, we are moved to live lives of thanksgiving and love toward those around us. And if we are to treat our enemies and those who despise us in this way, imagine how well we are to treat our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, especially our fellow members here at St. Johns!
God grant each of you the grace to remember to look upon those around you and see them as you are, and by the strength God gives you, treat them as Christ has first treated you.
Pastor Reiser
