A good time for believing and confessing

Sermon for Midweek of Oculi

2 Samuel 22:1-7  +  Romans 10:5-17

Romans 10:5-17

⁵ Moses, indeed, describes the righteousness which comes from the Law: “The man who does those things shall live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness which comes from faith speaks in this way: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who shall ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above); ⁷ “or, ‘Who shall descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart”; that is, the word of faith which we preach: ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth a person confesses, resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “No one who believes in Him will be put to shame.”

¹² There is no difference here between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is over all and is rich toward all who call upon Him. ¹³ “For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” ¹⁴ But how shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach, unless they have been sent? As it is written, “How lovely are the feet of those who announce the gospel of peace, who announce the gospel of good things! ¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what we have preached?” ¹⁷ So, then, faith comes from hearing what is preached, and the preaching comes through the word of God.

The words of the First Lesson this evening are truly excellent words to go back and read with all that’s going on around us. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge. David faced a terrible situation, with Saul, the king of Israel, and the whole army of Israel out to get him. For years he had to live on the run; he had to live in hiding, in isolation from Israel, gathering a band of stragglers and malcontents and foreigners as his only allies. He could do all that, he could live like that, because he had a promise from the Lord: that he would one day sit on the throne of Israel as its king. Armed with that promise, he trusted that the LORD would shield him from harm. He had confidence that his enemies would not be victorious over him. He could endure all the hardships he had to. And, of course, his confidence proved to be well-founded.

Now, those were earthly enemies from whom the Lord had delivered David, according to His promise. We have promises of earthly deliverance, too, and earthly rewards as we trust in Him and as we live as those who trust in Him, though the promises we have are not as specific. David had God’s promise that he would survive Saul’s attacks; the Lord hasn’t promised any of us another day on this earth. Here’s what we can say: Our times are in His hands. And we can say that, and live by that, and take comfort in that, because of the promises God has given for an even greater deliverance and for even greater rewards. St. Paul deals with those promises in our Second Lesson.

The Law of Moses made promises of its own: The man who does those things shall live by them. That’s not a promise that comes from grace. Grace is God’s free-of-charge favor. The Law doesn’t include favor, doesn’t require favor or kindness or mercy. It’s a simple transaction, a simple bargain: You do your part, you pay the price of doing everything the Law commands—loving God wholeheartedly, loving your neighbor in all the ways God commands you to love him—and God will do His part; He’ll pay you the wages you earned: You shall live; you won’t die. At all. Ever. You won’t suffer. You won’t get sick. You won’t be harmed. Great promises! But good luck fulfilling your end of the bargain. To date, no one ever has, except for Jesus Himself.

That’s why St. Paul urges people so urgently to abandon the Law as the way to avoid death and obtain life, as the way to satisfy the God who controls the door to heaven. Stop trying to offer Him your supposed goodness. Stop despairing over your very real badness. And listen to the word of faith which we preach: if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth a person confesses, resulting in salvation.

The “word of faith.” The message of faith. This is the Gospel in a nutshell, just as much as John 3:16 is. It’s a beautiful summary of everything God has revealed about how He wants to save us, how He wants to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil. He wants us to confess, as Peter did, that Jesus is the Lord, the Christ, the Son of the living God. He wants us to believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead, which means we also have to believe that He was delivered over to death for our sins, and that His was the death that satisfies God, His was the death that fulfilled the Law’s demands for punishment. God wants you to believe that it is through faith in Christ that He justifies you and frees you from condemnation and eternal death.

He also wants you to confess this with your mouth. And what better time to do it than now? We confess that Jesus is the Lord just by being here together this evening, as most of the world cowers in fear on the one hand, or on the other hand boasts of their cleverness in knowing just what to do to avoid the plague. What better time than this Lenten season to confess that Christ took all our sicknesses, sufferings, and even death on Himself to free us from fear and from slavery to these things? What better time to confess that God has raised Jesus from the dead than on Easter? Because we know that the risen Christ reigns at God’s right hand over life and over death.

God wants all people to believe this, to call upon Christ Jesus as Lord and to know that by believing in Him we’re safe, we’re saved from everything that could harm us. We Christians want all people to believe that. But, as Paul points out, no one can believe it unless they hear the Gospel, and no one can hear it unless a preacher has been sent to preach it. Faith comes from hearing what is preached, and the preaching comes through the word of God.

So if you can’t come to church for a time because you’re sick, or you can’t travel, or you’re concerned about your health, so be it. You’ll have to hear what is preached from home, which does not fulfill all the purposes of our gathering together, but it does fulfill some. If you’re healthy (as far as you know) and can come to church, then it’s a good time to come. This is the Church’s opportunity to shine in a dark world and to confess the power of Christ while others rely on the power of man. Regardless of who comes, the Gospel will continue to be preached from this pulpit until God Himself makes it impossible for me to do it. Because no government, no society, no man at all will be your savior from sickness or from death, or from eternal condemnation in hell. Only God can save you. And He will. Through Jesus Christ our Lord and through the word of faith which we preach. Amen.