LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1971, Page 83

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MORNING DEVOTIONS 83

world, The Bible tells how the first man and first woman
were disobedient. They wanted to be like God and
revolted, From then on it is the story of sin. In their
great crusades for social justice the prophets declared
fearlessly that the great fact which polluted society was
the fact of man’s sin. Most of the so-called simple
teachings of Jesus were addressed to sinners. So if we
are obsessed with sin, it is because the Bible is.

And sin is all about us today. The headlines tell
the story — crime, war, violence. But you needn’t read
the headlines. Better yet, look in the mirror. And it has
nothing to do simply with what we know as Victorian
morality. There is a reductionist view of sin so preva-
lent today. Think of the millions in lily-white congre-
gations, sometimes right in the heart of the ghetto,
throughout our land, who think of sin simply as a mat-
ter of parochial morality. Sin for them is drinking,
smoking, gambling, cursing, adultery, robbery, putting
the wrong construction on things — all the things we
seldom do. A giant is turned into a pygmy, a monster
into a puppy.

But you and I can’t sing the old song until we recog-
nize sin for what it really is. It is the total corruption
of our whole being, man spiritually blind, dead, and an
enemy of God. Sin destroyed the bliss of Eden and
ushered into the world all the woe we know. All the
poverty and sickness and death and war and rumors of
war—all is directly traceable to human sin; and all
is but the prelude of the thunder of the judgment to
come. Sin is a condition by nature that totally per-
meates our whole being and brings forth fruits, evil
as they are, in our personal lives and throughout society
and in the church. Sin in society, certainly — racism,
poverty, inhumanity, and indifference toward it — and
sin in our personal lives too. When we take our lives
and compare them with all that God expects of us,
when we think of how we become indifferent to the
great Good News or how we judge and condemn people,
how we sing the old song of the old man— well, you
know how it is. Sometimes when we get out in the
sordid stream of life and see people whose lives are so
corroded and dirty, the winos and women of the street,
we stop and think, “This, and much worse, I must look
like to God.” Then when we realize the consequences
of it all—“the wages of sin is death” and, as Paul
writes to these Corinthians, “we must all appear before
the judgment seat of God” — we cry out, “God, be mer-
ciful to me a sinner!”

The folk song says: “O sinner-man, where you goin’
to run to... All on that day?”

To Christ! Because I cannot pay what I owe. So
I ery, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” And God is
not looking for those who call themselves saints, but for
sinners who ask for nothing but mercy. God can do
something for the publican — but not for the Pharisee.

If

The answer to that prayer is what the o!d song is all
about. It’s about Christ and what He did. If it is
possible to rmake a pygmy of sin, it is also possible

to make a pygmy of Christ and to reduce the work Ee
came to do. Paul says, “Christ died for all.” As Luther
said, it is our understanding of that litile prepositioa
for on which hinges our eternal salvation. Aimost
everyone today who knows Christ will say that Christ
lived and died for you. Many simply mean He lived and
died as an example to follow, a great teacher sent from
God. But if that were all the old song is about, it
were a minor song indeed. Then He lived and died in
vain, and we would be without hope. Imagine a strong,
speedy athlete telling a poor, hopeless cripple that to
win a contest you must do as I do, run as I do, jump
as I do, fight as I do. There is only one meaning to
the word for, and it means “in my stead.” As Paul says,
“God made Him to be sin for us.” In the sight and
judgment of God, when Christ died on the cross, I died.
His obedience was mine. His payment for the penalty
of sin was mine. It was the adequate abundant pay-
ment for the redemption of a lost world. By His stripes
we are healed. And He rose again. God accepted that
sacrifice as complete sacrifice and satisfaction of His
divine holiness and justice, forgives sin, and receives
sinners who by the call of the Spirit come to Him in
faith.

Isn’t it amazing! Being justified by faith we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. In
Christ, God changed us from enemies into friends — He
reconciled us. He calls us today not servants, not first
of all disciples, not soldiers, but friends.

And that, friends of God, is the heart of the whole
church. Some people today define the church as “doc-
trine” — but doctrine is fruit. The root of the Christian
faith is not first of all propositional. The devil knows
everything too, and he trembles. Nor is Christianity
living by the book. We know people so antiseptic we
really don’t care to associate with them. The heart of
it all is that which the Bible reveals: reconciliation.
God came to man, made us friends, washed us from our
sins in His own blood. What a gift! “YOU ARE
MINE.” His forgiveness is not only one of the many
facets of God; it is the outstanding characteristic. He
is merciful, gracious, forgiving iniquity.

Albert Einstein was a liberal Jew who lost every-
thing under Hitler. A college professor told how one
day a group of very sad and unhappy people were taken
to a university chapel, so down in spirits. But Albert
Einstein was brought in. And he patted them on the
back and gave them a word of encouragement. And
what a difference it made! Why! Greatness had visited
their misery. It gave them a new life, a new hope, a new
love, a new courage.

And that’s the old song, still to be sung today. Great-
ness has visited our misery and given us life and hope
and forgiveness, and we can throw back our heads,
square our shoulders, and really sing.

But the old song doesn’t stop there. It has to do with
our behavior. Christ died for all that they who live
should not henceforth live unto themselves. We are
“entrusted” with this message of reconciliation to be
today’s herald angels, singing the old song first sung of

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