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Some time ago I was asked to offer a sermon on Lutheran theology and practice. Though I don't normally preach topical sermons, I seized the opportunity to preach on a topic that is biblical and, therefore, theological and Lutheran. I jumped at the chance to preach what I practice!
I limited myself to just one topic. And it's appropriate for this month, not only because this month, January, marks a new year, but because in this month, the first month of a new year, we observe and celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord (January 13th), harbinger of our Baptism into Him, as part and parcel of the Epiphany of Our Lord and the beginning of His public ministry for us and for our salvation.
Hence, my topic is the essence of our Lord's forerunner, John the Baptist's forerunning, where John hit the road running, dug in his heels and didn't just spin his wheels, wherein we're told that his preaching and baptism, which sum up his entire ministry, were unto repentance for the forgiveness of sins, or for a repentance receiving the forgiveness of sins, and that by God, by faith--which is the same thing.
It is also the heart of our Lord's preaching. The first words out of His mouth in St. Mark's gospel are, "Repent and believe the good news!" (Mk 1:15). This repentance is not that lukewarm, halfhearted, halfway measure that dominates the petition invoked from the Romanist pulpits of Luther's day when public absolution was announced to the people, "Prolong, O God, my life, until I can make satisfaction for my sins and amend my life."
According to this system of repentance, if a sinner is really contrite, truly confesses, and renders satisfaction, he merits forgiveness. He has paid his dues, paid for his sins before God and, therefore, deserves pardon not punishment.
But am I really contrite? How do I judge? Being sinful, I don't; I can't. If I can't be sure whether I'm contrite, do I want to be contrite? Of course! (Wanting to be contrite they call attrition and count it as contrition in confession.) Who, except the devil, wouldn't want a deal like this?
Be that as it may, a deal like this I call lukewarm, halfhearted, a halfway measure. Similarly, how do I know if I truly confess and render sufficient satisfaction to pay off my debt and merit forgiveness? I'm told to do my best. For the rest, I'm directed to purgatory.
What a penitentiary! Would I forever be doing penance and never coming to repentance, much less forgiveness? "Then the Holy See at Rome, coming to the aid of the poor Church, invented indulgences. With these, it forgave and remitted satisfaction. They distributed them among the cardinals and bishops. . ." (For our denomination's governance read, District Presidents).
"But the pope reserved to himself alone the power to cancel the entire satisfaction" (Sm. Arts., Part III, Art. III.24). Here read, the Council of Presidents. "Since indulgences began to yield money . . . the pope devised the golden jubilee year--a truly gold-bearing year. . ." (Art. III.25). This would grant the cancellation of all punishment and guilt.
I only wish our golden jubilee observances at Peace Lutheran Church had been as lucrative! "Ultimately, [the pope] made an inroad into purgatory, among the dead. First, he founded Masses and vigils, and, afterward, indulgences and the golden year. Finally, souls became so cheap that he released one for a penny" (Art. III.26). Our church body's program of indulgence, Ablaze, is a bit more lavish, what with inflation and devalued currency--about a dollar a soul--at $100 million per 100 million souls. I call that cheap at twice the price!
I call that lukewarm also; halfhearted; a halfway measure that never measures up and never cuts the mustard, never cuts the distance between us sinners cutoff from God. But my sin is not lukewarm, though halfhearted, a halfway distancing of myself from my God. I've run the gamut, run amok, a total cutoff. And this tepid response and these halfhearted, halfway measures which never measure up afford no welcome home and no halfway house back to God.
I need that fiery preacher of repentance, John the Baptist. I need the Epiphany of Our Lord and the Baptism of Our Lord. I need my baptism into Him and His epiphany. I need this first month of a new year--and every month and every week and every day of the month, every hour and every minute, too--in which to repent anew.
Yes, I need that fiery preacher of repentance, John the Baptist. I need that white-hot hammer brought down on my too, too tepid flesh. "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance" (Mt 3:7-8). Any other kind of fruit is unkempt, ruined by the Serpent entwined with its tree, spoiled rotten by his venom, destined for hellfire.
"The ax is already laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire" (v 10). The winnowing fork is in the harvest Lord's hand, "and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into his barn" (v 12). But the chaff He'll burn up with unquenchable fire.
That, my friends, is what it means to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That's what it means to be baptized therewith, by this Baptizer! He has a baptism to undergo, and how distressed He is until it is completed. Marked by Him, we share His baptism and His distress until our Baptism into Him is completed.
That isn't bacon you hear frying in the frying pan. That's my flesh! That's your flesh! No more halfhearted, halfway measures that never measure up, that never half the distance we've put between ourselves and God, but whole-hearted, whole hog repentance, having bitten off more than we can chew.
"Repent, for the kingdom of God is here" (Mt 3:2), John strikes while the iron is hot, striking sparks from flint hearts with his hammer blows and igniting a firestorm and a fire fight. Repent, for God the King is here! No more flailing the flesh. No more flaunting it either. No more fleshpots. No more mock confession. No more stabbing at satisfaction, a stab in the dark!
Here, at the baptismal font of our church, the Fount of every blessing, the blessed One, Jesus Christ! Here at our altar, the Word made flesh, the body and blood of your Savior broken and shed for your forgiveness, given to you to eat and to drink for the same.
From Peace's pulpit, the Word of the Word made flesh, of whose fullness "we have all received, grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16), grace piled on, God's grace piled high, crème de la crème, a la mode. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Repent and believe the good news.
Herewith I offer that petition built on that absolution of His which is never lukewarm but always gospel-hot, which is never halfhearted but ever the whole hog, and which can never fail--never!
Prolong, O God, our lives because your Son has made satisfaction for our sins, and that, not halfheartedly but going the distance for us and bringing home the bacon--us!--k—ping us out of the frying pan and out of the fire of hell for your larder. Grant us your grace, so lavished upon us in Him, to amend our lives. In His name we pray, Amen.
- Pastor Erickson