Lent 2—Reminiscere
Dear friends in Christ. This Sunday has the name “Reminiscere”, which means “to remember” and comes to us from the first Latin word of the appointed Introit, Psalm 24:6: Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, for they have been from of old. Remembering is what Lent is all about. We remember our sins; we remember Jesus’ suffering and death for our sins; we remember that by His suffering and death we are reconciled to God, that our sins are forgiven. So, yes, in Lent we remember, but notice what we, with David, are asking the Lord to remember—we are asking Him to remember His tender mercies and His loving kindnesses. By asking the Lord to remember His mercy and loving kindnesses, we are asking Him to remember the work of Jesus for us: His holy life and innocent suffering and death for the sins of the world; we are asking Him to forgive us our sins for Christ’ sake, on account of His work; we are asking Him to remember His grace toward us in Christ—grace is God’s favor and good will He has toward us in His heart. So long story short, Lent is all about remembering: both we and God remembering the work of Jesus for us on the cross.
That only makes sense because the heart and core of the Christian faith is Jesus and His saving work for us on the cross. Because of Jesus’ perfect obedience to the holy law of God and His innocent suffering and death for our sins, God has forgiven the sins of the whole world. St. Paul puts it this way [Rom. 5:18]: Through one man’s sin [Adam’s] judgment came to all people, resulting in condemnation, even so one Man’s [Jesus’] righteous act the free gift came to all people resulting in justification for life.
Here is the heart and core of the Christian faith: justification. Justification means that in Christ God declares us righteous; He does not charge us with our sin but instead gives us Jesus’ sinlessness. As soon as the sinner, convicted of his sin, in Spirit worked faith, puts his trust in what Jesus has done for the world, he is justified, declared righteous by God; the sentence of condemnation is removed.
Whenever we confess our sins, like we are especially doing now in Lent, we are in faith going to God and asking Him to remember His tender mercies and loving kindnesses; we are going to Him and holding before Him Jesus and His work for us. God wants to be reminded and He graciously forgives us our sin for Jesus’ sake. Now, that we are justified/ declared righteous, what does that mean?
That’s what St. Paul writes in our text: Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that just as you received from us how it is necessary that you walk and please God, just as you are doing, that you should do so more and more… For this is the will of God, your sanctification… For God did not call us for uncleanness, but in sanctification. The doctrine that God declares us righteous for Christ’s sake is called “justification.” The result of our justification is sanctification. Sanctification is our life of faith and good works. The faith that the Holy Spirit gives us to trust in Christ and receive the forgiveness of sins is a mighty thing; it is a living and active power in our lives. The Holy Spirit, who creates and preserves faith, is mightily at work in us leading and empowering us to live a life of sanctification—of good works. Christ did not die for our sins so that we might continue to live a life of sin but so that we might live a life pleasing to God, a life of good works, that is, things God has told us to do.
1. Our life of faith and good works as Christians, our life of sanctification, is the result of God’s tender mercies and loving kindnesses. For what does St. Paul tell us in our text? For God did not call us for uncleanness, but in sanctification. God called us to faith in Him; He created this faith in our hearts; He gave us His Holy Spirit. This means that the fact we are Christians trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life and now living a life of good works is not something we have conjured up in ourselves; it’s not the result of our strivings, longings, or abilities. Instead, God called us. He called us out of our state / condition of uncleanness, of sin, of hostility toward Him, of spiritual slavery to sin and out of spiritual death. That’s how we all come into the world and that’s how we would all remain unless God acted on us and called us. The starting point for all people is God’s wrath and condemnation because of our sin that we commit and our sinful condition. That’s why none of us are any better than the other before God; that’s why none of us can make ourselves more worthy than another of God and heaven; that’s why none of us can on our own “decide” to be a believer.
Instead, God calls us. He calls us through His word—be it the word that we heard or read or be it through the word connected with the water of holy baptism. For most of us, God called us to faith and into His kingdom in the waters of Holy Baptism already as infants. Be it through the word or the visible word of the sacrament of Holy Baptism, God called us out of this mass of lost humanity and into His Church as He gave us His Holy Spirit who worked faith in our hearts to receive Christ and all His heavenly and spiritual gifts and blessings He won for us by His holy life and innocent suffering and death.
All this is fully and freely the work of God. The fact that He called us to live a life of faith and good works is purely His grace. The fact that we now, as Christians, are actually doing some things good—like the people Paul wrote to in our text: it is necessary that you walk and please God, just as you are doing, that’s all the grace of God. When you, dear Christian, see yourself doing something in accord with God’s holy will, His holy Ten Commandments, rejoice! That’s His grace at work in you. That’s the result of His calling you. Left to ourselves, we couldn’t / wouldn’t have!
What a huge / glorious contrast between our former state / condition and that new state condition we are in because God in grace has called us into His kingdom! St Peter puts it this way [1 Peter 2:8]: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. That contrast is not just our justification—that is, God declaring us righteous, but that contrast is also our sanctification—that is our life of faith and good works; the world notices that!
But again, our sanctification / life of faith and good works is the result of our justification / God declaring us righteous. When God forgives us our sin and gives us the righteousness of Christ, what happens? We are in a new relation with our Lord! Before, we only knew Him as a Lawgiver who gives us all these laws—His holy will—which we cannot do. Before, we only knew Him as our Judge who would condemn us on the Last Day for not doing His holy will. But now by faith, we know Him as our dear heavenly Father who loves us and wants to give us every good and perfect gift in Christ! What a glorious new relation we stand to God. Our sin is forgiven; we are His dear children; He called us to be His dear Christian and receive these gifts from Him. Because left to our own devices we could only reject Him and turn away from His call, God has given us His Holy Spirit to work faith in our hearts to welcome and receive His gifts and blessings to us in Christ. Where there is this faith, there is also that true love of God. God’s calling us leads, by His work, to faith and love of Him in our hearts. Where there is faith and love of the holy Triune God, there will be a life of sanctification—good works.
2. Our life of sanctification is the result of God’s call to us to faith and so it is also the mark that we have been reconciled to God. Again our text: For God did not call us for uncleanness, but in sanctification. Really, what does our life of sanctification/ of faith and good works mean? It means that God is working on us and in us. And since He is, it is a sign to us that we are in the faith. Our sanctification is God making us holy; it is the inward spiritual transformation of the believer that comes right on the heels of our justification—of God declaring us righteous and we, in Spirit worked faith, receiving it; our sanctification is the creation of a new spiritual life in us by the Holy Spirit’s working in us.
If in faith we receive His saving word and promise and work, how can we not love the God who saved us from sin, death, devil and hell and given us every spiritual blessing? Because He saved us and so richly blessed us, calling us into His kingdom of grace, the Church, how can we not strive to do His will? But notice here: can we sinners, left to ourselves and our own devices, strive to do the will of God? Hardly! We are sinners; we have that old sinful nature that only wants to please self—not the Lord. But, as Christians who love the Lord, we strive to do His will. Why? Because we have that new self, the Christian in us, that loves the Lord and wants to do His will! Now as Christians, our new self, the Christian in us, works with the Holy Spirit and follows His leadings and promptings. Our working with the Holy Spirit doesn’t come from any natural, inborn powers we have but from the new powers and gifts the Holy Spirit has begun in us in conversion, when He brought us to faith in Jesus and His saving work.
A mark that we stand in the faith is that from our hearts, out of love and thankfulness to the Lord, we strive to do His will. That’s the new self, the Christian in us! That’s the work of the Holy Spirit in us and where the Holy Spirit is in the heart, there is faith in that heart. Our lives of sanctification will be marked by us always testing ourselves to whether the life we live is pleasing to God: it is necessary that you walk and please God, just as you are doing, that you should do so more and more. Our goal will be to excel in living a life more and more full of good works—works that God has commanded and please Him. For us good works are not a matter of indifference; our forgiveness and salvation in Christ are not a license to sin. Our lives will always be in the striving after but never attaining perfection. But let us take comfort when, in and by the power of the Holy Spirit, that striving takes place in our lives for it is a sure sign that we are in the faith.
But as we especially do now during Lent and examine our hearts and lives, let us not be surprised when we find all sorts of sin, even the most coarse, even greatest unbelief, rearing its ugly head! Our life of good works is so often insignificant, tired, and impure. In our text, St. Paul commends the Thessalonians: it is necessary that you walk and please God, just as you are doing. Not only does he encourage them to keep at it: you should do so more and more, but he even cites gross examples of sin they are still committing: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to acquire his own spouse in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter. Our obedience, the righteousness we as Christians render to God is never perfect because as long as we are in this life we have our sinful self active in us. But through faith in Christ, we are justified/ declared righteous by God. We are in Christ reconciled to God so, in sorrow over our sin, we go back to our God and again in repentance say: Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, and receive in faith once again the holy perfect forgiveness and righteousness of Christ.
We cling to that glorious pronouncement of absolution; we hold fast to God’s promise to us in Baptism; and we receive that forgiveness as we receive Jesus’ body and blood in the sacrament. By this work of God in word and sacrament in which we are assured of and given the forgiveness of sin we are strengthened and empowered to fight all the more against sin and to live a life of faith and good works to the glory of God.
In the Name of Jesus, Amen