Lent 3—Oculi
Dear friends in Christ. In today’s Gospel Jesus very bluntly states that when it comes to Him there is no middle ground, no neutrality: He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. A person cannot have an “I can take it or leave attitude” when it comes to Jesus and the holy Christian faith. We are either with Christ in His kingdom, or we are in the devil’s kingdom and with him. This statement of our Lord—that we are either with Him or against Him—is a powerful call for us this Lenten season to examine our hearts and lives: am I with Christ or against Him? What do we see so often with those professing to be Christians? We see that faith in Christ is seemingly the furthest thing from their hearts and minds. We see many claiming Christ but their lives and actions declare something else. We see many who look on their baptism as their “ticket to heaven” and live lives to serve self and sin. We see so many claiming to be with Christ, but they blend in with all the sin and immorality of the world around them. That’s why Jesus’ words: He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters, are such a powerful and necessary call this Lent to examine our hearts and lives. The simple fact is is that with Christ and thus, with our salvation, it’s all or nothing; one or the other. There is no sliding scale. We are either for Christ or against Him. Neutrality doesn’t exist. If we are not with/ for Christ, then there is no salvation for us.
All this is another way of saying that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus. If there is faith in Christ, then that faith is constantly receiving all of Jesus’ gifts and blessings: forgiveness of sin and eternal life; where there is faith in Christ, the person is with Christ. If there is no faith, then that person is not and cannot receive any gifts and blessings from Christ because faith is the receiving hand/ the beggar’s hand that receives the gifts and blessing Jesus wants to give us, that He won for us on the cross. If there is no faith the person is against Christ, an enemy of God. Not even a “neutral” heart can receive the gifts and blessings of Christ because there’s no faith in there to do it; only where there is faith, is there that true love of the Lord where one is with Christ.
1. That’s not an easy thing. That’s because as we come into this world, we are born spiritually blind, dead and enemies of God. In other words, we are born already as against Christ. And just like the laws of science tell us—an object in motion continues in motion unless acted upon by an equal or greater force—so also spiritually: we would continue to remain enemies of God/ against Christ unless through His word and sacrament He works on us and changes us; gives us His Holy Spirit who works faith in our hearts so that we are for/ with Christ. This great change that brings us from an enemy of God and Christ to being for/ with Him is conversion. St. Paul talks about this great change in our text. He describes the Christian, the one who is for/ with Christ: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and then later: for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. St. Paul here describes us as beloved children and children of light. Now, dear Christian, we are through faith for/ with Christ and as such God’s dear children, children of light. Notice how we were in spiritual and divine things before the Lord in grace brought us to faith, converted us and how all outside of Christ, who are against Christ and scatter are: for at one time you were darkness. What does it mean to be in spiritual darkness/ spiritually blind? Jesus told St. Paul when He brought St. Paul to faith in Him and appointed Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles [Acts 26.17-18]: I now send you to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.
What a glorious grace of God that He has brought us to faith in Him/ that we are now with/ for Christ! We have been rescued out of Satan’s kingdom; we now have the forgiveness of sins; we now have a heavenly inheritance! Again, there is no middle ground: we are either in Christ’s kingdom or we’re in the devil’s; either we have the forgiveness of sins or we don’t; either we have a heavenly inheritance or we face damnation in hell. This Lent, especially, may we examine our hearts and lives to see whether we are with Christ or against Him. If we find that our faith has gradually gone out; if we find that we have squeezed our faith out of our hearts, and that by our indifference we have gone from being for Christ to being against Him, Lent is the perfect time to run to Christ and receive from Him once again the forgiveness of sins and every heavenly and spiritual blessing!
How/ why can we do this? Because as St. Paul writes in our text: Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Christ Jesus makes it possible that we can be for Him—even if we have turned away from Him and faith in Him. See here what Jesus did—He loved us and because He loved us—even though we are sinners [Rm 5.8]—He willingly took all our sins on Himself and went to the cross to suffer God’s wrath and punishment for us, in or place. By his holy life and His innocent suffering and death—all for us—He reconciled us sinners to the holy God. That perfect reconciliation between us sinners and the holy God that Jesus brought about is what Paul describes in our text as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Since Jesus’ sacrifice for us is perfect, once for all, pleasing and acceptable to God for all sins of all sinners, that’s why it is a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Now as Jesus comes to us in His holy word and sacrament, He gives us the fruit and blessing of that sacrifice—the forgiveness of sin.
Notice what Jesus has done and continues to do: He has reconciled us sinners to the holy God; He has rescued us from sin, death and the devil; He has opened heaven to all believers. Precisely these gifts and blessings He now gives to us fully and freely in His holy word and sacrament. And as He now offers and gives these gifts to us in in His word and sacraments, in that very same word and sacrament His Holy Spirit is mightily at work to create faith in our hearts to receive these gifts Jesus is here offering and giving. Through the work of the Holy Spirit here as He creates faith in Jesus in our hearts, we then are for/ with Jesus.
Even when we by our sin and indifference drive out that divinely worked faith in our hearts, Jesus still holds before us His saving work; He still offers us its graces and blessings in the word and sacrament; and by His Holy Spirit He is calling to us and striving to work faith in our hearts so that we are again with Him, and no longer against Him. This Lenten season, if you see that you are no longer for Christ but against Him, He still makes it possible for you to be for Him. His sacrifice on the cross for your sin reconciling you to God, giving you forgiveness of sin and eternal life, still stands! He is offering it you in His word and sacrament.
Dear Christian, take comfort in Jesus’ words of today’s Gospel: He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. What does it mean? Simply this: no matter how weak you may feel your faith may be; no matter how much your faith may have taken a beaten, if there is faith—no matter how small—you are still with Christ! It’s not that you need a certain degree of faith or do x number of good works for Christ to consider you with Him. Instead, is there faith? If yes, no matter how weak or battered, that faith is still receiving all of Jesus’ gifts and blessings; it is still receiving the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. You, dear Christian, are for/with Christ because He made it possible for you. That’s your strength and assurance—it depends upon Jesus; it’s His work for you.
Yes, this saying of Jesus is a very serious call to a Lenten self-examination, but it is also very comforting to the penitent sinner, who very much feels and sorrows over his/ her sins.
2. Remember what we now are since through Spirit worked faith we are with Christ. We beloved children and children of light. What does that mean? Our text: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love; and for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. In other words, if we are with Christ, we are/ will be different. Hear the point the apostle seems to be emphasizing? As Christians we are children of God; we are imitators of God. Here is lovely baptismal imagery. In baptism, as the Holy Spirit worked in us faith in Christ, He enlightened us, giving us spiritual understanding, He created in us the new self, which, as is St. Paul writes a few verses before our text [Eph 4.24]: created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness; in holy baptism, we are born [John 3.3-5] from above; we are born of water and the Spirit. That’s why we are now, as Christians, not only with/for Christ but we are different. We are children of God—born anew with a heavenly birth. What we heard the Father speak at Jesus’ baptism as applies to us [Mt. 3.17]: This is My beloved Son; or as St. Paul puts it in our text: Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. Because Jesus has reconciled us to Him, God has made us unworthy ones His beloved children. As children are “chips off the old block” so too are the children of God. We will now, as Christians, take after our heavenly Father: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love; and for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. By our lives of faith and good works we Christians will be different from the unbelieving world around us. In our text Paul tells us to keep walking in love and as children of light. Walking is a beautiful image of our Christian lives as it implies a slow, steady pace. This is a picture of our daily effort to follow the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit in us as He leads us into every good work. It will not be easy as we fight against our old sinful nature; as we resist the call and allure of the sinful world around us. But now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true). As children of light, we are no longer at home in the murky, sinful world; we feel out of place here; we are now children of God, He has separated us. Led by the Holy Spirit we walk—slowly and steadily living our lives for Christ.
Our lives will be marked by holiness and purity as St. Paul writes in our text: But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. All these sins Paul mentions are still in vogue today and ones we daily see and must fight against. As Christians, as children of light, we know that evil works will destroy our faith as we squash the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit and instead serve sin and our old sinful natures.
For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them. Our call as we are now with/ for Christ is to live holy and blameless before the Lord in love; and this is our joy and delight because that’s who we are in Christ! How seriously we regard our sin; and we take seriously that sin—even “small sin,” even sin that society poo-poos.
The more—out of love of the Lord and following the Holy Spirit’s leadings we strive for holiness—the more we recognize sin; so may we run to Christ once again and in faith receive His forgiveness and holiness. Our lives as Christians will be different because we are for/with Jesus—what a glorious thing because Jesus made it possible that we can be for Him and receiving His graces and blessings. INJ Amen.