LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 61

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CONVENTION SERMONS
1. Opening Convention Worship Celebration
“Forgiven!”
Mark 11:24–25
24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe
that you have received it, and it will be yours . 25And whenever
you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you
your trespasses . Mark 11:24–25
Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, from God our Father
and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Introduction
A story in Ernest Gordon’s Miracle on the River Kwai
tells of Scottish soldiers who were forced by their Japanese
captors to labor on a jungle railroad . But one afternoon something happened . A shovel was missing . The Japanese officer in
charge became enraged . He demanded that the missing shovel
be produced, or else . When nobody in the Scottish squadron
budged, the officer got his gun and threatened to kill them all
on the spot . It was obvious the officer meant what he had said .
Then, finally, one man stepped forward . The Japanese officer
put away his gun, picked up a shovel, and beat the Scottish
man to death .
When it was over, the Scottish men picked up the bloody
corpse of their comrade and carried it with them to the second tool check . This time, after counting again, no shovel was
missing . There had been a miscount at the first check point .
The word spread like wildfire through the whole camp . An
innocent man had been willing to die to save the others!
The incident had a profound effect on men from both sides,
who began to treat each other like brothers . When the victorious Allies swept in, the Japanese survivors, not much more
than human skeletons, lined up in front of their Allied captors,
including their Scottish prisoners and simply said: “No more
hatred . No more killing . Now what we need is forgiveness .”

I. We need forgiveness
Is there anyone in this room who does not need forgiveness? Of course not! We all need forgiveness! We know it and
God knows it! That’s why He sent His Son into this world, to
live, to die, and to be raised again—to be the all-atoning sacrifice for my sin and for yours—to bring us forgiveness . As
Peter testified before the Sanhedrin about Jesus, “God exalted
Him to His own right hand as Prince and Savior that He might
give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel” (Acts 5:31) .
We cannot hide the fact that we are sinful people . This
depraved state has been our condition since the fall of Adam
and Eve in the garden . Yet, we are not without hope . Recall
these familiar words from 1 John 1: “If we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us . But if we
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confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8–9) .
In worship we regularly pray these words: “O almighty
God, merciful Father, 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 . But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent
of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the
sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your
beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me,
a poor, sinful being .”
In words like these, every time we gather for worship and
many times in between, you and I express our need for forgiveness . The pastor’s words of absolution are powerful:
“Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office as a
called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace
of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command
of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit .”

II. We receive forgiveness
Every time I hear or speak such words I’m reminded what
a miracle it is that God has chosen to forgive my sins—every
evil thought, every unkind word, every damaging deed, and
every wrongful decision . The real miracle is that in a sacramental act of absolute assurance, those sins have really been
forgiven, Christ comes into my life, and into yours, in a real
and special way .
2010 Convention Proceedings