DAY OF HUMILIATION-1
Text: 2 Corinthians 12:20-21
Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.
God, holy and righteous God, who art not a God who hath pleasure in unrighteousness, he who is wicked doth not stand in Thy presence; who destroyest them that speak lies and abhorest the bloody and deceitful man, behold', we have gathered here today in order to observe a day of repentance and humiliation in Thy holy presence. We know that Thou alone art the one who can work true repentance in our sinful hearts. We, therefore, beseech Thee, who dost not desire the death of the sinner but that the sinner turn from his way and live, have mercy upon us and grant us repentance; oh, give us repentance unto life !
Protect us from Ahab's repentance, who in dread of Thy Judgment outwardly bowed himself before Thee but did not let his heart become soft; rather, grant that we may really come to know the abomination of our sins and give us that godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation and brings no regrets. Protect us also from Cain's repentance who truly knew his sin but regarded it
greater than could be forgiven; let us rather, oh Thou God of mercy and comfort, not despair in our sine but open to us Thy grace in Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and let us through faith in him find forgiveness of all our sins and comfort and rest and peace in his wounds. Oh Lord God, do not pass by any soul here today, but grant that everyone may seek grace for his sins and find grace. Oh Lord, behold how we lie before Thee in the depths of our sins, poor, wretched, helpless, weak; oh then, have mercy upon us! Hear us! hear us! Amen! Amen!
My dear fellow sinners, but fellow redeemed friends in Christ Jesus.
Nothing can anger the great holy God more than for a person to want to live on securely and carelessly in spite of all his sins, not to want to be a sinner but righteous, or not to want to confess his sins nor humble himself before God. Though they may walk ever so blamelessly in the eyes of men, the self- righteousness and pride of their heart causes them to be abominated before God; for all who want to be self-righteous, mighty, and great in God's eyes are an abomination to him. So it was when Israel once was in this state of mind, the Lord, full of anger and abhorrence over this nation, cried out through the mouth of Isaiah the prophet: "Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God; they ask of me the ordinance of justice; they take delight in approaching to God." Is 58:2. "They have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace." Is 59:8. The Pharisees and scribes were in the same condition. The Lord, therefore, cried to them: "Ye are they which Justify your selves before men, but God knoweth your hearts." Lk 16:15. "Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." Mt 21:31. "If ye were blind, ye should have not sin; but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth," Jn 9:41; that is, if you would perceive the blindness and wickedness of your heart, you would be forgiven; but since you want to see, be righteous, and pious, your sin remains upon you and must, therefore, finally force you down into eternal death.
My friends, as greatly as God's wrath may be aroused when the individual does not want to see and confess his sins, so easily does God give up his anger and bestow grace upon the sinner if he truly perceives and repentantly confesses his sin. Scarcely had David, this deeply fallen sinner, uttered the word: "I have sinned against the Lord," then he immediately receive the divine answer by the mouth of the prophet Nathan: "The Lord hath also put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." 2 Sam 12:13. Scarcely had the whole sinful city of Nineveh from the king to the beggar cast themselves into the dust before when they heard they were to be destroyed, then the prophet Jonah indeed continued to be angry, but God quickly let his anger go; we read immediately: "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." Jonah 3:10. Yea, when Peter had been most unfaithful to his Lord and Master and had denied him in his very presence, even swearing and cursing, but soon bitterly bewailed his deep fall, behold! he, the deeply fallen Peter, was the only one to whom at the command of the Resurrected the message of his victory was especially brought!
Oh, our gracious, good, amazingly friendly, merciful God ! Scarcely does the damnable sinner open his mouth and say: "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son," (Lk 15:21) when God opens his fatherly heart to comfort faint-hearted sinners and takes him in his father's arms, presses him to his heart, and kisses him with the kiss of love and eternal peace !
What now, my dear friends in Christ? what shall we do today? today
on our yearly day of penitence? Do we perhaps wish to justify ourselves today and convince ourselves that we are a nation which has done righteously and had not forsaken the law of its God? Oh, far be it! No, let us in deepest humility bow before the holy, but at the same time, gracious, God; let us allow our sins to be shown to us and repentantly confess them to the Lord; then certainly he will be gracious also to us. Before we today look into the mirror of the divine Word with this purpose in view, let us on our knees cry to God for his mercy in singing the hymn: "Oh Christ, Thou Lamb of God," and then in the Lord's Prayer.
The text. 2 Corinthians 12:20.21.
On the basis of these words once directed by Paul to the congregation at Corinth, let me now answer the question:
WHY DO WE HAVE URGENT REASONS FOR MOST DEEPLY HUMBLING OURSELVES TODAY BEFORE GOD?
I answer:
1. Because Also Our Congregation In Spite Of All The Good Which God
Has Word In It Is Still In God's Eves Spotted With So Many Sins,
and,
2. Because We Also Must Fear That There Still Are Many Members Who Have Not Really Repented Even Of Their Old Sins.
I.
My friends, if our text were taken from Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, its contents would perhaps amaze us less. In the First Letter the apostle had to reprove the congregation at Corinth because they had a person guilty of Incest, who, even though he remained in this sin, had not been excommunicated by the congregation. Because of this one abominable stain, the congregation definitely deserved a most sharp and earnest reprimand. But in the Second Letter to the Corinthians, from which our text is taken, we read that the incestuous person, as well as the entire congregation, had repented because of Paul's reproof, and had been filled with divine sorrow and remorse. Yes, we read, the apostle feels compelled to give the most wonderful testimony to the congregation. He writes: "Ye are our rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus." 2 Cor 1:14. "Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." 2 Cor 3:3. "Ye about in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us." 2 Cor 8:7. Many "glorify God for your professed subjection unto the Gospel of Christ." 2 Cor 9:13.
After the apostle had lavished all this praise upon the congregation, how could he then add in our text: " For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such ayve would not; lest there be debates, envying, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults" ? V.20.
Sad to say, we can best see how this was possible in our own congregation. God has also done so much good in our congregation. If we wanted to deny it, we would have to deny the revealed work of God himself, and become unthankful for God's grace which he has poured out upon us so richly. Like the one in
Corinth, our congregation has cleansed itself by the use of excommunication from many known sinners who wanted to disgrace it; and also we, your unworthy servants, had to say to you: You are our rejoicing; you are our epistle of Christ; you abound in everything, and many glorify pod because of your subjection unto the Gospel of Christ. However, since we walk among you, we must also today not only express the " fear " but also unburden before you the loud, sad complaint that despite the beauty with which God according to his great mercy has adorned our congregation, it is still burdened with and disfigured by many serious blemishes.
There are certain sins which, when a congregation is awakened by God's Word and is torn from the godless ways of the world, usually remain behind like the dregs, like sticky sediment; these are the sins which the apostle above all reproves in the Corinthian congregation, namely: " debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults." or what this word really means according to the original, " a state of disorder." Alas ! as is only too easily known, we also bear these blemishes in the body of our congregation.
Or is that perhaps not so? Is not slander with its mothers and children going appallingly strong among us and considered the fashion? Do we not have daily examples of the fact that instead of reproving the brother or sister privately as Christ commanded, we speak evil of him behind the back of the member who is stumbling? Yes, do we not speak of sins which our brother and sister should have committed without being certain of the facts, merely because we are suspicious, distrustful? Do we not see how this evil worm is industriously gnawing at the root of the tree of our congregation and threatens its death? Do we not see how this sin wants to poison our brotherly fellowship in love and kill all frankness, joy, and the sweetness of Christian fellowship among us?
Alas, my friends, if we but think of this, who of us must not smite his breast and say: "God be merciful to me a sinner"? Oh, let us all really see this sin in all its shamefulness and destructiveness, confess it today publicly and privately, be cleansed of it by the blood of Jesus Christ our Intercessor who speaks only the good thing for us before his Father, and from now on watch more carefully over our malicious, loveless, and suspicious heart and our evil tongue, this world full of unrighteousness.
My friends, we cannot deny, that after our congregation has been awakened by God's Word, not only the usual dregs of censorious spirit, slander, and a loveless life has remained behind; while we have slept the enemy, that is, Satan, has again sown the tares of all manner of other sins upon our field which are now springing up thickly.
How do matters stand in our homes and families? God says, that as spiritual priests we are to use God’s Word in our homes with our families, above all inculcate it upon our children, and teach it to our servants; but what laziness shows itself in most families in this holy duty of holding family devotions!
God says that the parents should bring up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord; but what wretched discipline many parents exercise on their children! what wretched obedience they demand! What terrible examples of untrained children have, as a result, arisen amongst us! Therefore, what a fearful prospect is opened for our congregation if we look at our youth! What shocking disobedience, what unchristian acts, what worldly-mindedness, and what conformity to the world is revealed amongst them !
God says that the husband should love his wife as his own flesh, and the wife should reverence her husband and be subject to him in all things as the Church is to Christ; but what perversion of the divine ordinance shows itself in many of our families! The husband is angry and bad-tempered; the wife wilful, disobedient, yes, bossy. Are these Christian spouses?
And how do we carry on our earthly calling? Dο we labor only because God wills it, expecting the blessing, our daily bread, alone from God's kind hand and being satisfied with what we have? Alas no; by their running and chasing, by their worries and speculating, by their careless borrowing and usurious lending only too many reveal that they forget that the blessing comes from above, that they are striving to become rich, that their heart has again begun to cling to earthly things, that the concern for the one thing needful is being driven more and more from their heart and the cares of this world intend to gain the upper hand again. Oh, happy day when we were poor and could thank God from our hearts for good and clothing in this strange land, whither are you gone?
Still more: How is our fellowship faring? Are not our social gatherings becoming ever more vulgar, our baptismal and especially our wedding celebrations more frivolous, so that earnest Christians instead of being refreshed often leave these gatherings with wounded hearts, and the beginners in Christianity instead of being stimulated are often greatly offended? Is it, therefore, a wonder that whenever we gather with the blind children of the world we howl with them, or are silent, do not confess Christ, do not shine as lights, are not salt? is it a wonder that we lack the courage and the love which not only desires but also attempts the conversion of the blind, when we also lack the true, chaste spirit of missions ?
Alas, what will finally happen to us? Has it not come to the point, where many of us think that they could be good Christians and still sit where the scornful sit, and enter the public taverns where the world shamefully serves the gods of its flesh and celebrates uproariously, heathenishly? Is it a wonder that many not only almost never come to a church service or an hour of devotion but even when many begin, become lazy, negligent, and dilatory in coming to services, especially the afternoon and week-day services ?
Ah, my friends, let us not deceive ourselves. We are in a dangerous situation! We are traveling the very way which the congregation at Sardis once went, of which we read: "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." Rev 3:1. Oh, let us not commit the horrible hypocrisy of today having published a day of penitence for our congregation without all actually repenting. Let us rather remind each other of our sins and confess them one to another, above all show our wounds with sad heart to God and ardently beseech him to heal them.
II.
But my friends, I cannot close yet. I still have a heavy burden upon my heart which I must today throw off and lay down before you and God; this is the second important reason why our congregations today must humble itself before God in true, heartfelt repentance; in the second place, we must fear that many of our members still have not truly repented of even their old sins.
I indeed hope that none of us is so blind as to think that only the heathen and Jews must be converted; baptized Christians need no longer be called upon to be converted. As long as our congregation has existed, it has been preached continually, almost every Sunday, that everyone who after his Baptism has fallen back into a knowing and dominant sin must once again repent and be converted. It has been constantly preached to you from God's Word, that by no means all who are baptized are also reborn Christians, but that everyone who after his Baptism has again lost the Holy Spirit from his heart by unbelief and service to sin must be born again, otherwise he cannot see the kingdom of God. As I have said, I have no doubts that we all without exception understand this point.
II.
However, my friends, this was also preached to the members of the congregation at Corinth, and they also knew this very well; yet what does the apostle write in our text? He continues thus: " And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed." V.21. You see, the apostle also carried the anxious concern and fear in his heart, that many might have slipped into the Corinthian congregation who had indeed been baptized, who outwardly clung to the Christian congregation and confessed the Christian faith with their mouth, but who had remained spiritually dead, unawakened, and unconverted, who had never known true repentance for their old sins, and whose conscience, therefore, had never been cleansed by the sprinkling of Christ's blood in a living faith from dead works to serve the living God. (Heb 9:14.)
Perhaps you will not take it amiss if I, in imitation of the apostle, express the same fear concerning our congregation? Do not the sins which have entered in among us and which were mentioned in the first part of my today's penitential sermon give me the most perfect right to hold the same fears?
Perhaps you will say: Of course, there still are unconverted persons among us as well, but where is there the pure Church on earth in which there were no hypocrites mixed? Does not Christ himself compare his Church to a wheat field in which weeds also grow, to a wedding hall in which guests without the proper wedding garment were found, to a net in which worthless fish were also caught?
It is true, my friends, Christ does describe the Church thus, and we, therefore, need not be surprised when also in our congregation there are members who want to be Christians but who still have not repented of their past sins. Yet shall we not deplore this? Shall this not call us to the most sincere humility in true repentance ? Does not the apostle himself say that this must " humble " him and that he shall " bewail" many, if he should still find people in the Corinthian congregation who had not repented of their old sins? What? this should humble the apostle and he should lament, deplore, groan, and weep over this and we want to brush this carelessly aside.
Or is there, perhaps, someone among us who could absolve himself from guilt if members are still found in our midst who carry the Savior on their tongues but not in their heart? Have we not often seen one, who calls himself our brother or sister, speak and walk in such a way that we must doubt whether he is really converted? Have we then immediately tried to teach, to admonish, to awaken, to arouse, and to bring to true repentance? Have we immediately reprimanded him,whom we saw sinning, in the ardor of Christian brotherly love and with the holy zeal of Christian earnestness? Have we gone after him on his dangerous way and have we warned him in a friendly way? Have we then prayed for him the oftener and the more earnestly the greater the danger is in which we see him? Have we not rather in Pharisaic indifference passed by that member of our congregation of whose sincerity and Christianity we have doubts, just as did the priest and Levite him who fallen among murderers?
Alas, my friends, if we think of this, we must all, teachers and hearers, shepherd and flock, fall in shame upon our face and cry out: "Lord, enter not into judgment with thy servants; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." Ps 143:2. Oh, therefore, let us also humble ourselves before God the Lord in true repentance! What glorious fruits we shall soon see in our congregation !
Yet what should I now say to you who are those among us who in the past have heard God's Word every Sunday, but who still have never truly repented of all your old sins, who still do not deplore and bewail the great misery of your sins before God, who still have not known something of the terror of the Law, of divine remorse and sorrow, who have never experienced a true profound
change of heart and mind through the working of the Holy Spirit? who, therefore, still have no power to hate every sin and to say in divine certainty, even though with broken heart: "I know in whom I believe! I have found grace!"? Oh you unfortunate people! Do not let God's Word be preached to you and longer without finally coming to your senses, truly repenting, and washing your spotted heart and conscience in the blood of the reconciliation. He who hears the Gospel and still does not turn to God from his whole heart, it would be better for him if he would have been bom among the blind heathen; for even the people of Sodom and Gomorrah will find it more tolerable on the day of judgment than baptized Christians who have remained unconverted!
Now Lord Jesus, you have been made a Prince and Savior by your Father to give your called Israel and the whole world repentance and forgiveness of sins, have mercy upon us all; turn us, and we shall be turned; help us, and we shall be helped! Amen! Amen !