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On Commission and Omission 2 Samuel 11, Matthew 26 Lent Midweek III March 26, 2014 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, In two Wednesdays, we’ve been told (1) that we’re poor, miserable sinners – by birth and nature after the Fall, that’s who we are! – and that (2) because of this nature, we engage in actual sin (meaning, sinful acts – thoughts, words, deeds) as by-products of who we are. Tonight, just in case you have any self-righteous notions of digging yourself out of the pit – we dissect actual sin and look at it more closely… dividing it into sins of commission and sins of omission; and, with this description, we see just how pervasive daily sins are in our lives and just how incapable we are of self-righteously pulling ourselves out of the mire of sin, death, and the power of the devil. The very titles of these ‘categories’ should explain for us what we are discussing: sins of commission are sins that you commit… those things you think, say, or do that you ought not do, but do anyway. I would guess that these are the more blatant of the ways we sin. We often know and feel them in our heart. We often remember these things… the wicked thoughts of hate, lashing out with the tongue, the stealing, the cursing God and His doctrine, the lying down with someone else’s wife. Sins of omission, by definition, are sins we engage in by omitting what godly things ought be done. These are sins which, more often, do not burden us because we justify ourselves by saying, “I didn’t do anything wrong.” The problem is, you didn’t do anything, when God has called you to do something! So what if you yourself didn’t think wicked thoughts about your neighbor; what about the fact that you don’t think about your neighbor at all… because to think about him doesn’t directly better your life! So what if you didn’t lash out with the tongue; you also didn’t defend with the tongue or rebuke/correct with the tongue when necessary! So what if you didn’t steal; you also didn’t lift a finger to protect! So what if you didn’t curse God and His doctrine; you also didn’t bother to learn His doctrine and keep your life grounded in it at all! So what if you didn’t lay with someone else’s wife; you also didn’t defend your neighbor by urging his wife to remain loyal to him. Perhaps these examples make quite clear that sins of commission and sins of omission are not two separate sins, but really two sides of the same coin. So, when Luther explains the commandments, he explains according to commission and omission. He begins with commission and says, “We must not commit a sin against this commandment,” 2 then moves to sins of omission and says, “we must keep true love and the proper carrying out of God’s will in this way.” We could go through most of the Small Catechism’s explanation of the Commandments and see this rhythmic dance, this beautiful relationship between commission and omission, as it rightly teaches us godly fear and holy living. But, we can certainly also employ the Scriptures to teach us. For example, one might think of our Old Testament reading as a better example of “Actual Sin” (from last week) or “sins against neighbor” (our final week), but we can see how both of those ideas find a foundation in this reality of sin being that which commits offense and simultaneously omits Christian love – when I commit sin against a neighbor, I also omit love toward him/her. When I commit sin against God, I also omit faithful obedience to Him.” And, as we’ve said… it’s easy for us to meditate on the sin of commission; it’s often that sin of omission that we fail to think on! How well we know those sins we commit and how well we know the reprimand we hear about how we should not engage in such things… but are we not often left with the idea that as long as I don’t proactively hate God or harm neighbor, I can fly solo? As long as I don’t “do anything wrong,” I need not do anything at all! In fact, some of you may remember the example I heard on a radio show one time where a wrong-headed theologian was telling the show’s host that he could go entire days without sinning – his 3 example was that sometimes he’d sit in his hotel room and do nothing all day but think about God. This was supposed righteousness… Meanwhile, this man is not going about his daily vocation; he’s not working hard for the well-being of his family, or for the benefit of his employer. In his mind, so long as he wasn’t committing sin, there was not such thing as omitting righteousness. (As if we are ‘naturally’ righteous and simply need to limit “committing” sins.) So often, we forget that sin is not just about “actively harming,” but also about not caring for neighbor and trusting God. I’ve occasionally asked whether it means anything to you as the communicant that you stand before the altar with brothers and sisters at your side, and do they mean anything to you … or are you simply making sure that you haven’t proactively harmed them? As long as you haven’t committed sin against them, do you simply see them and their hurts and their needs as ‘none of my business’? That’s sin of omission. Likewise, you may hear constantly the forewarning that if you harbor against a neighbor or despise the Sacrament (sin of commission), you ought not come to the Table. But, what if you simply don’t have any self-examination at all? What if you don’t even really care what’s here offered and simply come because that’s what everyone else is doing… “that’s tradition”? Is such ‘omission’ of self-reflection and need for the Sacrament really true to our Confessions which say that the Sacrament is for consciences terrified by their sins, who know and feel their need for forgiveness? 4 Likewise, in our Old Testament reading, David had some terrible sins of commission: He coveted Uriah’s wife. He took her and committed adultery with her. He intoxicated his servant, Uriah. He schemed to have Uriah killed. And, he took Bathsheba to be his wife in a way that only appeared right. But, through all of this, David equally had horrible sins of omission. He failed to thank God for his own wife and for Uriah and Bathsheba’s God-given marriage. He failed to defend Bathsheba from temptation and her reputation from age-less scorn. He failed to protect Uriah’s life, and he omitted any defense for that which belonged to Uriah… and of course, through all of it, he failed to fear, love, and trust in God above his own lusts, interests, and schemes. Likewise, with Peter. He committed sin against our Lord, denying him, leaving him, mocking him… but he also omitted godly and righteous practice of the faith: he didn’t confess his Lord’s name; he didn’t willingly suffer all, even death, rather than forsake Christ; he didn’t fear, love, and trust in Christ above his own life, reputation, and safety. This brings to mind the Lord’s very words to this Peter and his fellow disciples when Jesus said, “Whoever confesses me before men, I will confess before my Father in heaven. Whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my Father in heaven.” We like to hear those words and say, “I should confess Jesus before men. But, if I keep silent, at least I don’t actively deny Him.” But is omitting the name of Jesus from your daily life, is running into the shadows with Peter and simply 5 trying to remain neutral… isn’t that omission equally a sin? In fact, in the parable of the sheep and the goats and Christ’s return for judgment, he condemns the goats – why? – not for what they had done, but rather, they cried, “When did we not do these things?” Indeed, we may focus on the sins we commit, but we can’t avoid the burden of guilt about the righteousness we omit in our lives. What a web of sin into which we get ourselves entangled when we try to make sin only about what we do, while turning a blind eye to the guilt of not doing what we ought! How much do we leave left undone and justify ourselves by saying, “At least I’m not a flagrant transgressor!” In this light, one must readily admit the Holy Spirit’s divine wisdom in recording the Lord’s Prayer twice – in Luke’s gospel, the word for sins is “trespasses” (that which I commit); in Matthew’s gospel, the word for sins is “debt” (that which I owe, which I have not properly done). We might as well cry, “Lord, teach us to pray in both ways… teach us to see both sides of the coin, both errors.” Perhaps more than the first two weeks, tonight’s meditation on sin shows us how much we utterly depend upon the righteousness of Christ. The righteousness of Christ is a little different than the salvation of Christ. Do we need him to atone for (save us from) original sin and actual sin? Absolutely! But, in order to atone for you, He had to live righteously for you… in a way you are not able. He had to not commit any sins; but (the other side of the coin), He also had to be able to not omit any righteousness. And so, this sermon can’t be about teaching you how to live righteously, for we will always fall short (for when we 6 try with all our might not to commit sins of thought, word, and deed, we so often find the remedy to be omitting any thought, word, and deed at all!). No, this sermon can’t be about teaching you how to live righteously; rather it must be about pointing you to the One who lived righteously for you. I’m sure Peter remembered with great tears Jesus’ own words: “Whoever denies me before men, I will deny before My Father in heaven” and Peter undoubtedly recalled that dagger of a prophecy “You will deny me three times!”… and so, I’m sure Peter wrote with tearful joy at self-applying these words: “Christ died once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous.” – that’s Peter, that’s you. And, was it not the Father Himself who said of this Messiah, “Behold the days are coming when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch.” Yes, despite all the unrighteous branches of the tree of David, the righteous would come and be our righteousness. And not only would He be our righteousness, but He would credit us with His. This is a huge point to be carefully understood. Christ did not die to enable you to make yourself righteous. Rather, by His blood, He purchased your life and the right to declare you righteous… to “make” you righteous in the sight of the Father because, when the Father sees you, He sees Christ. And so, the apostle writes of how this happens: “He who knew no sin (Jesus) became sin for us that in Him we might be made the righteousness of God.” And again, to make sure no man tries to claim that Jesus is enabling him to make himself righteous, the apostle says, “This righteousness is given 7 through faith in Christ Jesus (Him who is righteous).” And, that same apostle tells the Philippians, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord… that I may gain Christ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness from God that depends on faith. “ So then, friends, as Paul says to the Corinthians, “No human being may boast in the presence of God. Rather, because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, our righteousness and sanctification and our redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord!” Boast in the Lord, friends. Commit your way to Him; and omit all that would tear you from him… and certain that Christ your righteousness cannot fail you, plead boldly to the Father: “For the sake of Jesus Christ (the Righteousness One… for Him), have mercy on me!” In the Name of the Father And of the Son And of the Holy Spirit. + AMEN + Rev. Mark C. Bestul Calvary Lutheran Church March 26, 2014 8