Sixth Sunday After Trinity (8 July, 2018)

Law and Order

And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  "You shall have no other gods before me.  "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.  "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.  "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.  "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.  "You shall not murder.  "You shall not commit adultery.  "You shall not steal.  "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."  Exodus 20:1-17

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,  which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.  Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.  Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.  Psalm 19

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.  We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Romans 6:1-11

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.  Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny."  Matthew 5:17-26

The Law is not bad.

Some people struggle with this, especially after realizing that the Law condemns us to hell but Christ died to save us.  That means He paid the price.  So clearly we don't need the Law anymore, right?  After all, Christ said He came to fulfill the Law.

We are often too stuck in the idea of the "action and consequence" side of the Law.  We have no difficulty understanding that there is a Law, and that without Christ we must keep it in order to get to heaven.  But the Law does not go away simply because we are baptized into Christ.  Quite the opposite.

The Law of God was established long before He taught the Ten Commandments to Moses.  And the fact that the only way to be perfect is to keep the Law is just as true today as it was in the time of the Patriarchs.  How can salvation be by faith in Christ alone and yet reaching heaven is through obeying the Law.

Jesus says quite clearly that "unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."  But we know that we are all by nature sinful and unclean, having fallen short of the glory of God.  How then can we get to heaven by keeping the Law if we cannot keep it perfectly?

We cannot.  But Christ did for us.  His righteousness is imputed to us, covering us so that on Judgement Day we shall be counted as righteous and blameless.

This has lead some to think we are free from the Law.  That it is no longer a burden, keeping us from achieving our desires and goals.  And since we are saved we can live life as we please without concern.

That would be false.  Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law, not abolish it.  The Law is still in play.  St. Paul expands on that, calling out supposed Christians who think that can do as they will "since God loves to forgive sinners."  This false understanding of the Law and its place is antinomianism.  Without the Law, the Gospel is meaningless.  Also, without the Law, there is no order.  We need Law for our everyday living.  The Law is the foundation for the Kingdom of the Left: the State.  Good government protects us, creating rules and regulations to guard us from harm and allow us to thrive.  the Law is not a bad thing, though it is true that like many things it can be abused.  The Jews had very much abused the Law, making it an idol.

But that does not mean Christ has abolished it.  The Law is still valuable, and not just for the unbeliever to see that they are in desperate need for a savior.

The Christian needs the Law, as a mirror to show us how we have fallen, which we acknowledge in Confession.

The Christian needs the Law as a curb to show us where the limits are, keeping us from sin, as we pray in the Lord's Prayer.

The Christian needs the Law as a guide to show us how to love our neighbor, leading us to not only care for the physical needs of others, but bring to them the good news of the Gospel.