WEBVTT 00:00.730 --> 00:03.418 Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord 00:03.434 --> 00:04.800 and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:07.570 --> 00:09.950 I love the liturgy. 00:10.450 --> 00:13.246 The liturgy is chock full of God's word. 00:13.348 --> 00:15.070 The liturgy is good for you. 00:15.220 --> 00:17.600 I hope that you love the liturgy too. 00:18.690 --> 00:21.070 I love the liturgy. 00:22.610 --> 00:25.174 At the same time, loving 00:25.212 --> 00:27.640 the liturgy will not save us. 00:28.170 --> 00:33.320 And as our text shows, fasting will not save us. 00:33.770 --> 00:36.758 Humbling ourselves, bowing down will not save us. 00:36.844 --> 00:42.940 Spreading sackcloth and ashes before us will not save us. 00:43.950 --> 00:48.874 Our text describes a situation where the Israelites are trying to get 00:48.912 --> 00:51.440 God to do what they want him to do. 00:52.210 --> 00:56.654 They are trying to manipulate God, they are trying to coerce God. 00:56.852 --> 00:59.760 They're trying to use God to get what they want. 01:02.310 --> 01:05.730 And we can commit the same sin. 01:07.510 --> 01:14.386 Perhaps we want God to give us some desire of our hearts, to help us 01:14.408 --> 01:15.640 in a time of need. 01:17.290 --> 01:24.534 Perhaps we want God to take our side and to show that we are better 01:24.732 --> 01:25.720 than others. 01:27.870 --> 01:32.730 We want to be able to argue that God's with us and against my brother. 01:33.150 --> 01:34.700 He prefers me. 01:35.310 --> 01:38.060 I'm better than others. 01:42.200 --> 01:44.870 And so often we have this frame of mind. 01:45.800 --> 01:51.876 We set the grace of Jesus Christ aside and we focus on some small 01:51.978 --> 01:59.944 detail of liturgy or of belief or of practice, something that is 01:59.982 --> 02:03.108 neither commanded nor forbidden in scripture. 02:03.204 --> 02:06.764 And we spend all of our time and energy talking about that and about 02:06.802 --> 02:11.310 how we're doing it right and someone else is doing it wrong. 02:12.720 --> 02:16.668 You notice how when you do that, you stop talking about the grace of 02:16.674 --> 02:17.420 Jesus. 02:19.220 --> 02:23.984 You stop even applying the grace of Jesus to the person you are 02:24.022 --> 02:32.400 judging, because it is so tempting to treat people in this way. 02:34.210 --> 02:39.746 And we can quite literally be sitting in chapel taking part in the 02:39.768 --> 02:43.700 liturgy and be thinking about how someone else isn't doing it right. 02:44.150 --> 02:45.940 And so I'm better than that person. 02:47.670 --> 02:52.238 We can quite literally be in the process of fasting. 02:52.334 --> 02:56.050 We can be engaging in some act of piety. 02:57.550 --> 02:58.680 And at that very moment 03:00.730 --> 03:05.200 writing things or reading things, or forwarding things on social media 03:07.090 --> 03:15.662 that communicate the most vile messages about other Christians. Things 03:15.716 --> 03:25.206 that are purposefully inaccurate, that put the worst construction on 03:25.228 --> 03:25.960 the situation. 03:28.970 --> 03:32.374 Approaching our lives this way can be very tempting, in part because 03:32.412 --> 03:33.190 it's so easy. 03:33.260 --> 03:36.200 It requires no real work from us. 03:37.130 --> 03:43.146 We simply sit back and feel better than others. 03:43.328 --> 03:46.906 We've got that feeling of arrogance and self righteousness, that 03:46.928 --> 03:50.814 wonderful feeling when you judge someone else and by pushing them down 03:50.852 --> 03:59.836 and driving them lower, you feel better about yourself, as if there 03:59.858 --> 04:02.460 were no 8th Commandment. 04:07.000 --> 04:13.296 Know this our sinful nature is winning the day when we think we're 04:13.328 --> 04:17.507 making God like us more and take our side, while we are actually 04:17.673 --> 04:22.744 violating the 8th Commandment and sinning against other Christians and 04:22.782 --> 04:23.770 hurting them. 04:26.300 --> 04:31.144 Oh, the Lord sets the bar high with the 8th Commandment you shall not 04:31.182 --> 04:34.300 give false testimony against your neighbor. 04:34.720 --> 04:36.190 What does this mean? 04:36.640 --> 04:39.676 We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our 04:39.698 --> 04:45.436 neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend 04:45.468 --> 04:53.090 him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way. 04:56.920 --> 05:01.624 And even when the Lord corrects us, as He does in this text, we can 05:01.662 --> 05:03.880 continue our misunderstanding. 05:04.220 --> 05:08.563 We can mistakenly believe that we don't win God over by fasting. 05:08.611 --> 05:11.870 We win God over by doing kind works to other people. 05:12.800 --> 05:18.270 But we're still trying to get God to do what we want. 05:21.960 --> 05:26.416 When you do that, you treat God like an idol. 05:26.608 --> 05:30.230 You treat Him like a means to an end. 05:31.159 --> 05:35.830 You're more concerned about what you want than what He wants. 05:38.800 --> 05:42.587 You may take part in the liturgy, you may fast, you may serve others, 05:42.674 --> 05:46.044 but you're just going through the motions to get what you want from 05:46.082 --> 05:46.669 God. 05:47.360 --> 05:54.296 And when you judge others based on the petty details that you've 05:54.328 --> 05:59.560 decided to focus upon, you are insisting that God judge 06:00.330 --> 06:00.974 you. 06:01.172 --> 06:06.702 You are insisting that God judge your actions and your words and your 06:06.756 --> 06:13.230 thoughts and your motives, and you will be found wanting. 06:19.830 --> 06:21.300 So let's start again. 06:23.910 --> 06:26.450 You are a sinner. 06:27.190 --> 06:29.810 I am a sinner. 06:30.270 --> 06:35.130 There is nothing that you can do to contribute to your salvation. 06:36.510 --> 06:41.850 There is nothing that you can do to make God prefer you to someone 06:41.920 --> 06:42.540 else. 06:43.490 --> 06:50.334 The only hope you ever had of being saved was that God would 06:50.372 --> 06:51.390 intervene. 06:53.090 --> 07:00.190 And that was a very good hope to have, because he has intervened. 07:00.270 --> 07:03.700 He has done what you could not do for yourself. 07:05.030 --> 07:08.594 And just a few chapters before our text, the Holy Spirit speaks 07:08.642 --> 07:12.920 through the prophet Isaiah and talks about just that. 07:14.570 --> 07:19.926 Isaiah 53 surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet 07:19.948 --> 07:23.526 we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 07:23.638 --> 07:26.758 But he was pierced for our current transgressions. 07:26.854 --> 07:28.933 He was crushed for our iniquities. 07:29.062 --> 07:32.290 Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace. 07:32.470 --> 07:35.550 And with his wounds we are healed. 07:36.610 --> 07:38.670 He paid the debt that you couldn't pay. 07:38.820 --> 07:43.840 He received the suffering that you deserved, and he saved you. 07:45.510 --> 07:46.659 And there's more. 07:48.310 --> 07:54.242 Out of the anguish of his soul, He shall see and be satisfied by His 07:54.296 --> 07:58.086 knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be 07:58.108 --> 08:02.310 accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities. 08:04.090 --> 08:08.630 He has made you to be accounted righteous. 08:10.330 --> 08:11.626 He has done the work. 08:11.728 --> 08:13.594 He has lived the righteous life. 08:13.712 --> 08:17.834 He has earned salvation by his behavior, and He has given his 08:17.872 --> 08:21.050 righteousness to you as a gift. 08:21.789 --> 08:28.426 The Holy Spirit has led you to faith and salvation through the gifts 08:28.457 --> 08:29.520 of Jesus Christ. 08:31.810 --> 08:39.758 And so you are living the Christian life. You live in your baptism 08:39.933 --> 08:46.334 each day, the Lord drowns your sinful nature and raises up a holy 08:46.382 --> 08:48.210 nature that He has created. 08:48.550 --> 08:50.706 The Holy Spirit is at work in your heart. 08:50.808 --> 08:53.540 The grace of Jesus is at work in your life. 08:54.230 --> 08:58.990 Cultivating in you a love for others and a desire 09:00.170 --> 09:03.146 to serve our Lord and to pray 09:03.338 --> 09:07.120 Lord, your will be done. 09:09.650 --> 09:14.382 And as a baptized child of God, when you take part in the liturgy, you 09:14.436 --> 09:16.110 receive the gifts of Jesus. 09:18.690 --> 09:23.646 We still stumble, we may get distracted, think of sinful thought 09:23.748 --> 09:28.306 during the service, ask the Lord for forgiveness, refocus and receive 09:28.338 --> 09:29.270 the gifts. 09:29.690 --> 09:34.918 Receive the Word, remember our baptisms, receive absolution in the 09:34.924 --> 09:41.994 Lord's Supper and join together with the church receiving the grace of 09:42.032 --> 09:42.940 Jesus Christ. 09:44.990 --> 09:50.665 And if you fast, when you humble yourself, when you bow down, if you 09:50.688 --> 09:54.426 use sackcloth and ashes, if you have some other activity that reflects 09:54.458 --> 09:57.566 your personal piety and your relationship with the Lord and your 09:57.588 --> 10:02.882 growing in that relationship, you do it as someone who has already 10:02.936 --> 10:06.066 been entirely saved by Jesus and knows there's nothing else to 10:06.088 --> 10:06.930 contribute. 10:07.990 --> 10:09.460 It's part of the relationship. 10:11.190 --> 10:17.160 It's part of what He has done for you and is doing in your life. 10:20.810 --> 10:26.502 And when he uses you to help those in need, it will be for the same 10:26.556 --> 10:27.160 reason. 10:28.190 --> 10:32.826 Because the Holy Spirit is cultivating in you a genuine love for your 10:32.848 --> 10:40.898 neighbor and a desire to be genuinely helpful, whether that is losing 10:40.934 --> 10:47.582 the bonds of wickedness, or sharing your bread with the hungry, or 10:47.716 --> 10:49.630 covering the naked. 10:50.690 --> 10:57.194 Jesus Christ is using you to show his love to others, to help them and 10:57.252 --> 10:58.660 meet their needs. 11:02.350 --> 11:06.730 Then your light will break forth like the dawn. 11:07.410 --> 11:10.800 Then your righteousness will go before you. 11:11.890 --> 11:16.830 Then the Lord will be your rear guard. 11:18.530 --> 11:22.994 Your light will break forth like the dawn, the light that the Lord has 11:23.032 --> 11:27.234 given to you, the light of his salvation, the light of his work in and 11:27.271 --> 11:29.620 through you as you love and serve others. 11:30.790 --> 11:32.982 Your righteousness will go before you. 11:33.036 --> 11:36.214 Not a righteousness based on your own works, but a righteousness based 11:36.252 --> 11:37.960 on what He has given to you. 11:39.290 --> 11:47.126 You will lead with that righteousness, and the Lord Himself will be 11:47.148 --> 11:48.230 your rear guard. 11:48.650 --> 11:53.400 He will have your back and He will care for you. 11:54.650 --> 11:56.280 That's the Christian life. 11:57.090 --> 11:59.770 We go forward in righteousness covered by the Lord. 12:00.410 --> 12:04.240 Receiving his grace, living in Him and serving Him. 12:07.730 --> 12:15.614 And when we have needs, when we have desires, our prayer is always, 12:15.732 --> 12:17.760 Lord, Your will be done. 12:19.410 --> 12:24.110 And when we are hurting, when we are broken, when we are exhausted, 12:24.530 --> 12:31.558 when we are discouraged, we know that the Lord is with us and that he 12:31.564 --> 12:33.320 is caring for us. 12:33.770 --> 12:42.006 When you find yourselves in these situations, you shall call and the 12:42.028 --> 12:43.640 Lord will answer. 12:44.410 --> 12:49.400 You shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. 12:51.210 --> 12:52.150 Amen. 12:53.170 --> 12:56.766 And now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep 12:56.788 --> 12:59.290 your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12:59.450 --> 12:59.850 Amen.