Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
He Will Lift You Up
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen. In today’s Epistle, St. James states, “Be wretched and mourn. Let your
laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before
the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
Dear Christian friends,
Probably not many people would flock to our congregation if we
advertised in the local newspaper, “Come to Grace Lutheran Church if you wish
to feel wretched and filled with regret. We will wipe that smile right off your
face.”
Today’s Epistle from St. James probably sounds more than a little foolish to
our American society, which has programmed us to believe that entertainment is
what matters, pain is evil, and if all else fails, you at least need to be sure
that you do not step on my cloud. Considering also how many churches have taken
steps to raise the sense of enjoyment that worshippers experience in their
services, St. James might sound totally off the wall, or at least absurdly
outdated, even to many Christians. Since when would people volunteer to “be
wretched and mourn,” especially when we chew up so much time, money, and
medication avoiding that very thing?
“Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.” With these
Words, St. James is telling you that laughter might not be the best medicine
after all, despite what Reader’s Digest says. St. James might even be
suggesting that there is some value to our week-in, week-out recitation of
rather depressing and mournful things:
I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with
which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal
punishment.
Where is the fun in that?
In addition to its lack of entertainment value, our common confession
of sin raises an issue of psychology. Some people might even argue that our
confession of sin destroys a person’s self-esteem. That seems
counter-productive, if not abusive. How can “poor, miserable sinners” feel good
about what they see in the mirror, much less improve upon it? How can we love a
God who seems intent on pointing out only the worst that is in us? Where is the
self-esteem in groveling?
This is not far from the protest made by a prominent television preacher and
popular author who grew up in the Lutheran Church but has since left. This
person complained that, while in the Lutheran Church, the only thing she ever
learned to say was that she was “a poor, miserable, sinner.” She then went on
to declare that she was not poor, she was not miserable, and she was not a
sinner. (Actually, that sounds like a good reason to leave.)
At a certain level, it would certainly seem more welcoming to our
guests if we discontinued our habit of calling ourselves “poor, miserable
sinners” and inviting our guests to join in this self-description. But what
will be the cost of abandoning this confession?
· If I am not poor, that will ultimately mean I do not need my God to
give me anything. I can take care of myself just fine, thank you.
· All things considered, if I cannot honestly call myself miserable, then
I will essentially be saying that this life right here and now is the best life
for which I can hope, and that there is really no comfort or no future I would
care to ask of God.
· If I am not a sinner, what use will I have of the Christ? “The saying
is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). “God shows His love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). His name is
Jesus, “for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). If I am
not a sinner, I have no need of a Savior.
It is for good reason that St. James calls upon Christians to “Be wretched and
mourn. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble
yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Mourning, gloom, and
humility consist of the emptying of yourself, so that you may be filled with
something better—that is, filled with Christ.
One good thing about being “a poor, miserable sinner” is that you never find
yourself in a position to say “No, thanks” to God’s gifts:
· It is because of your poverty that Christ now provides to you “an
inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for
you” (1 Peter 1:4). Such riches, given to you, are the simple fulfillment of
Jesus’ own Word and promise to you: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
· It is on account of your confessed misery—brought about by “trials of
various kinds” (James 1:2)—that Jesus comforts you here in worship. This, too,
is nothing less than what your Lord told you He would continually do for you:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
· Are you indeed a sinner? God your heavenly Father and His Son Jesus
Christ certainly want you to come to that conclusion. The Father and the Son,
together with the Holy Spirit, want you wholeheartedly to embrace the fact that
you are indeed impoverished and miserable in your sin. They do not want you to
make this confession as a way of keeping you down, but they want you to make
this confession so that they may lift you up. As you heard from St. James in
today’s Epistle, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
That, too, is a promise, and in that promise you have the full forgiveness of
all your sins.
Maybe I was wrong about an advertising campaign that makes use of today’s
Epistle. Maybe the good people of Versailles would welcome a church that calls
upon them to admit what you and your God both already know: that all people
everywhere are “poor, miserable sinners.” “Be wretched and mourn,” says St.
James. “Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble
yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Such a message in an
advertisement might be a refreshing change from what most people usually hear.
St. James does not tell you these things in order to impose on you joyless
Christianity. St. James tells you these things so that you may remain assured,
whatever happiness and joy you may experience in this life, the better-by-far
is yet to come. Along these same lines, King David has also written for your
sake:
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may
tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:4-5).
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