Trinity 11

Good Shepherd

2004 Pass Rd, Biloxi, MS 39531

Draft Gen 4:1–15; 1 Cor 15:1–10; Lk 18:9–14; Ps 50:7–23; antiphon: v. 14   –     8/16/26

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

In the time of the Reformation, there was a doctrine of the faith which Luther, Melanchthon, and the other reformers thought was completely agreed upon by both sides since it was so clear in Scripture. However, when at Augsburg the Germans presented the document called the Augsburg Confession, the representatives of the pope disagreed and said that the reformers were themselves denying the true doctrine of the church. The article in question is the theme of the Gospel reading. St. Luke records, [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ (in the Greek he says, make atonement for me, a sinner) I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” The theme of this Sunday is how one is justified before God.

When we hear these men the Pharisee, the teacher of the Law, brags to God about himself and all he does, how he is faithful to the law and therefore superior to other man, using how he keeps the custom of fasting on Tuesday and Thursday every week and how he keeps the law of tithing perfectly as examples. In effect, he argues God owes the declaration of his righteousness because by all he does in accord with the Law and the laws of the elders— manmade laws invented during the exile—he’s made himself right before God, he’s justified himself.

When we hear the tax collector, on the other hand, we see a man so beat down by the guilt and shame of his sin that he will neither stand with other men no dare raise his eyes to God. He is crushed and in a state of hopelessness. Thus he cries out, God, make atonement for me, a sinner. He speaks of no good he has done; he only admits to his state as a sinner. He makes no excuses; he lays out his guilt. He does nothing himself for he knows that he is so thoroughly covered in sin that he could never pull himself out of this pit of despair. Therefore he comes as a beggar before God trusting in the word of the Psalm when God said, call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. He cannot make himself righteous, but he knows that God can and that God is merciful.

Between these two men we see two ideas about how salvation works. The Pharisee thinks his good standing before God relies on his own efforts and sacrifices; the tax collector knows his good standing before God relies on God’s mercy not his efforts and sacrifices, after all, God also said, Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.  Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice in the temple is not what God wants, nor is that alone sufficient to justify a man. So the Pharisee is wrong about animal sacrifice. But what about when God said, The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God! doesn’t that prove his point, that his own works are necessary? Look again at what Psalm 50 says and ask yourself what is implied by the wording: The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God! (pause) Thanksgiving for what? What is the hearer thankful for? For help already delivered; righteousness already declared; sins already forgiven by God. The work of thanksgiving and the work of ordering one’s way rightly are only possible for the one who already believes, who has already been made right before God.

Take Cain and Abel from the Old Testament reading. They show yet another example of salvation by faith versus the works and opinions of man. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” The acceptance or rejection of the sacrifice has nothing to do with what each man offered. Rather, Abel sacrifices by faith, while Cain trusts in himself and therefore does not do well. How can we tell? For that we need to go to what Eve says when she gives birth to Cain versus what she names her second son. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man, the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Both Cain and Abel’s names are puns, but they are also confessions of what Eve believed. She had hear what God said to the serpent, the devil before casting her and Adam from the Garden, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. She understood that meant that a woman, herself, she thinks, will give birth to a boy who will save humanity. Thus she calls Cain “Possession” for she thinks she has given birth to God, I have gotten a man, the Lord, which is how the verse should be translated rather than what is in your bulletins and Bibles. A very pious woman, but wrong. Meanwhile Abel is superfluous, therefore she calls him “Vanity.”

Thus Cain grows up thinking he is the savior of mankind, while Abel grows up in humility. Cain comes to the sacrifice trusting in his own greatness while Abel comes knowing he is inadequate and thus he trusts in God. Because of Cain’s pride and false belief his sacrifice is rejected. Meanwhile since Abel offered in faith his is accepted. The one man lived by works, the other by faith. What then of the argument during the Reformation?

Here is the article our forefathers in the faith presented at Augsburg, if you want to look it up it is the fourth article: “ Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight (Romans 3 and 4 [3:21–26; 4:5]).” (Ap IV) We call this the doctrine of Justification, that we are saved by grace, through faith, apart from works, as St. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8–10: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. And in Titus 3:4–7: But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. God saves us while we were still dead in our trespasses and sins, as St. Paul said earlier, and then God leads us into a life of good works afterward, into thanksgiving afterward. There are more verses like these which you can find in the sermon notes on our website: Jn 6:63; Rom 3:28; 4:1–3; 5:1–5; 8:32–33; 9:30–33; Gal 2:15–16; Philippians 3:8–11; 2 Tim 3:15; Hebrews 11; etc.

Here is what Rome said in reply to our Confession: “In the fourth article the condemnation of the Pelagians, who thought that man can merit eternal life by his own powers without the grace of God, is accepted as Catholic and in accordance with the ancient councils, for the Holy Scriptures expressly testify to this” in John 3:27, James 1:17, 2 Corinthians 3:5, John 6:44, and 1 Corinthians 4:7. Then they say, “For if any one should intend to disapprove of the merits that men acquire by the assistance of divine grace, he would agree with the Manichaeans rather than with the Catholic Church. For it is entirely contrary to holy Scripture to deny that our works are meritorious.” And they then quote these passages of Scripture which I would encourage you to go look up later—you can find them in the text of the sermon on our website. They are, 2 Timothy 4:7–8, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Genesis 15:1, Isaiah 40:10 and 58:7–8, Genesis 4:7, Matthew 20:8, 1 Corinthians 3:8, and 3:6. And lastly they say, Nevertheless, all Catholics confess that our works of themselves have no merit, but that God’s grace makes them worthy of eternal life. Thus St. John says: ‘They shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy,’ Rev. 3:4. And St Paul says to the Colossians 1:12: ‘Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.’” (Confutation)

When they mention the Pelagians, these are a group of heretics who claimed essentially what the Pharisee did in the Gospel reading. We have always rejected the Pelagians. Where the problem arises with what the Romans said here comes when they attribute salvation to the merits of men—and by merit we mean a labor or deed which earns repayment. When they say, “For if any one should intend to disapprove of the merits that men acquire by the assistance of divine grace, he would agree with the Manichaeans rather than with the Catholic Church. For it is entirely contrary to holy Scripture to deny that our works are meritorious.” They claim that the works are owed the repayment of eternal life, but give the caveat that the works are assisted by God’s grace. They make the error of bringing the work of man before the salvation of God. God justifies the tax collector because of his faith and God accepts Abel’s sacrifice because of faith, not because of their works. Rather, their good works only come after they have been given faith and salvation. If you were to look up the passages the Romans cite you would see that the intended hearers of those verses are already Christians, have already received faith and been declared righteous. But what the Romans are arguing is that before faith men are able by the assistance of God to work for their own salvation. Nowhere in the Bible do we see anything like that, anything so Pelagian-like. Rome puts the cart of works before the horse of faith. If you want to read the reformers’ response—it is a terribly long one—look for article four of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (apology in the old sense meant “the defence of an argument”).

The Pharisee and Cain would teach you to trust in yourself and rely on your own merits, but listen rather to the tax collector and to Abel, or Paul who was essentially dragged into salvation, confess your sins and look to Christ who saves you apart from your works, call upon Him and He will answer you. Look to the cross, for there Christ won your salvation, and here on the altar He delivers it to you freely. Amen.