Epiphany 5 A
Here We Stand for Life
Matthew 5:13-20
February 5, 2017 – Life Sunday, Redeemer
On April 18, 1521, in the city of Worms, Germany, Martin Luther stood before Emporer Charles V. In essence Luther was on trial. Twenty-five of his books and pamphlets were laid out before him and he was asked if he was ready to recant them, to take them all back, to admit that he was mistaken in what he said about God’s Word and against the church of his day. Luther’s answer came in two parts. He admitted to writing the books, but said that some of the books contained simple Christian truths to which no one objected. Other books described how the Pope and the Roman Catholic church were destroying his Germany and if he took back those words his country would suffer even more evils. He said in the third kind of books he may have spoken too harshly and for that apologized. But he would not take back what he said from God’s Word. His accusers were not happy with his answer. They demanded, “Martin, answer clearly, without any double talk – do you or do you not recant your books and errors in them?” Luther famously answered, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason … I am bound by the
Scriptures and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me. Amen.”
Here I stand. Today, here we stand, as God’s baptized children, for life. Some would say that to stand for life is a political stand. But that is not the case for us – we don’t have a political test for what we preach in this pulpit or teach in this church. We have one test – the same one that Luther had when asked to recant – what does God’s Word say about life? Even more precisely what does Jesus Himself say? When you read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and listen to our Lord’s own Word what does He say? What does He do? Is He for life or for death? Does He want you to treat others in a manner convenient to you, with the least amount of sacrifice on your part or would He have you love your neighbor as yourself, even your unborn neighbor or your suffering neighbor? Unless you can convince me from God’s Word that Jesus stood against the life of the unborn and against the life of the suffering and the weak, here I stand and here I preach that as baptized children of God, we stand for life.
There are two truths from Scriptures that Lutherans have returned to again and again as the foundation upon which we stand for life.
One is the creation of Adam and Eve. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27, ESV) We believe a number of things from this verse. First we believe that God Himself gives humans life. Humans are not the result of some random accident of evolution. God created us. Your body is not your own to do with as you chose. My life is not my own to live or die by my own decisions. Our bodies and lives are gifts from God and belongs to Him. Second we believe that humans are created in the image of God. We alone are able to receive God’s love, hear His Word, and live in communion with Him. No other created being, including the angels, is made in God’s image. Therefore humans, male and female as God created them are unique among all creatures and hold the highest place in all creation.
The creation of man and woman in God’s own image should alone be the foundation upon which to stand for life, but the foundation gets stronger in Jesus. We confess this every Sunday. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man. Do you want to know the value of human life? Look into Mary’s womb and see God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, growing for nine months. He became a man, not a fuzzy baby seal or a bald eagle or any other endangered species. God’s own son took on human flesh and even now sits in heaven as true man.
Why did Jesus become a man? For us men and for our salvation. Jesus was born a man so that He take our place. He was our substitute. As one man Adam brought sin to all humanity, one man, Jesus, brought salvation to all humanity. Jesus saved us – by keeping every commandment perfectly. Jesus saved us – by bearing our sins in His flesh to the cross. Jesus saved us – by receiving His Father’s anger over our sins. Jesus saved us in His body on the cross. How much is human life worth to the God of Holy Scripture? How much is your life worth? It is worth the body and blood of His only begotten Son, so we stand with God Himself for life.
I don’t think Jesus was Republican. I don’t think He was a Democrat either. He made it quite clear – His Kingdom was not of this earth. In His Kingdom every human life matters. He loved the self-righteous Pharisee and the self-loathing prostitute. He loved you with His incarnation, His life, His death, and His resurrection. Right now He sits at God’s right hand – a real and true man, governing everything on earth for the sake of life. He wants sinners to live.
So we stand for life, from conception to grave. But how do we do that? Well, let’s again listen and look to Jesus in today’s Gospel reading. In his sermon Jesus tells His disciples that they are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. They, we, shine His light of life into the darkness of death in this world and we season this world with the spice of forgiveness and love.
Jesus most interesting words in today’s text are these, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” What does that mean? The Pharisees and Scribes were the most righteous appearing people in Jesus’ day. The Pharisees wore special robes just so everyone could see them. The Scribes were the legal experts – lawyers. They knew the laws better than God himself. But here was the problem with the scribes and Pharisees – they did their good deeds for one reason – to be seen. They wanted the common people to see their deeds and praise their names. Above all they wanted God to see their good works and give them credit for their righteousness.
How could your righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees as you stand for life? Well first, don’t cling to your own good deeds, cling to the righteousness of Christ alone. God doesn’t need your works. He doesn’t want your good deeds. In fact, God is offended when you try buy His favor with your good works, because when you do that you’re telling Him you don’t need Jesus. God sent His only begotten Son into this world for one reason — to accomplish all righteousness. To do what you could never do. Christ has completely fulfilled the Law and the prophets and by your baptism into Christ God declares you righteous. Don’t do a single good deed to please God, do your good deeds because God is pleased with you completely in Christ.
God doesn’t need your works, but your neighbor does. God doesn’t need to see your good deeds, but He hopes your neighbor sees your deeds and gives glory not to you, but to Him. This is how we stand for life – we don’t simply stand against abortion or assisted suicide. We stand for selfless love and sacrificial mercy. Do you want to stand for life? Tell your children to reserve sex for marriage and commit to every child being raised by a mother and father. Then stand beside those single parents who must raise their children alone and support them in that challenging task. Give thanks to God for your children and encourage married couples to have children. Pray for those who cannot have children and support adoption efforts. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved His bride the church. Wives, submit to your husbands as the church submits to her groom Christ. While we stand against the selfish pursuit of pleasure and happiness at the expense of others we also stand for the selfless acts of love and mercy that require our own sacrifices. Love those who are suffering and care for the spouse who is bearing the weight of a suffering or dying spouse.
You won’t learn this in your local state university, sadly not even in most Christian universities, but Christianity changed the Western World and reversed a culture of death to life, a culture soured with sin to a culture seasoned with forgiveness, a culture dark toward women and children and the weak and dying, to a culture where women had rights and children were welcome and the weak and dying were cared for. The Holy Christian Church has a legacy of life, because we worship the only living God – the God who created us in His image and redeemed us from death by His Son’s blood. Here we stand for life because we have life in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
4 February 2017 anno Domini