When you walked into church this morning, what were you carrying? Some had their Bibles in their hand if they were coming to Bible Study. Most ladies brought a purse or handbag. Perhaps you've got your cell phone on you. But what else were you carrying? Were you carrying a grudge? Did you bring with you some anger against someone that has hurt you? Did you come to the Lord's house this day seeking His forgiveness while having secretly tucked away a despising of some person in your life? What grudge against another person or disagreement is clinging to you as you come here today? And if not a long standing grudge, what other evidence of murder is on you today? A harsh word? The silent treatment? What proof might be laid against you that you killed someone this week if not with a gun or knife then with your angry words and vicious looks? Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord has given us His holy Law. The Ten Commandments. They're summarized by saying “Love God and love your neighbor.” In today's Holy Gospel, Jesus's words expose and lay bare our self righteousness. We, who walk with our heads held high while casting a nasty glare at those we don't like—we are robbed of any excuses before God for our murderous behavior. Jesus illustrates this by showing us what the Fifth Commandment really means!
The Lord tells His hearers: “Until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle of the Law will pass away...Unless your righteousness EXCEEDS that of the scribes and Pharisees, there's no way you're getting into the kingdom of heaven.” What sort of righteousness do the scribes and Pharisees have? An outward self righteousness. Let's take Jesus' example of the Fifth Commandment: You shall not kill. The religious and holy people of Jesus' day figured they kept that commandment as long as they didn't shoot or stab anyone to death or run over them with their chariot. If you don't take a life, then you haven't killed and have therefore kept the Fifth Commandment. One down, nine to go to be holy! And so it goes. And so we think. Our natural inclination is to look at the OUTWARD meaning of the commandment and figure, “Well, I haven't killed anyone so I must have kept the Fifth Commandment.” But Jesus won't stand for that kind of shallow righteousness. No, He says, if you're going to keep the Fifth Commandment, then keep it all the way: have no hatred or anger and bear no grudges against your neighbor. You break the commandment when you are angry and hateful towards others. You murder when you speak words that pierce and wound and kill. Uh oh! Anyone here murder their husband or wife this week? How about you, kids: anyone here murder their brothers or sisters this week? Parents, have you been killing your kids? The same Lord who gave the Law on Mt. Sinai stands before His disciples and declares what He means by the command not to kill. He means to love those around us not simply by not killing them, but by not hating and being angry with them. But if THAT'S the kind of righteousness without which we wont' get into heaven, we're all doomed. We're all murderers and deserve the death penalty ourselves. Not just for now but for all eternity.
So what hope for murderers? Answer: the One who comes to keep the Law and fulfill it. Jesus, the Son of God who came not only to keep the Fifth Commandment but the other nine as well. Jesus, whose perfect life is demonstrated in His perfect fear, love and trust of God the Father and His unwavering and pure love for His neighbor. When the Lord hands down the Commandments on Mt. Sinai, as we heard from the book of Exodus, He knows that the people will not be able to keep them. He knows you and I cannot keep them. He gives these commandments to bury us under the judgment of sin so that we have no high opinion of ourselves. And then He comes Himself to do and keep them in our place. And more than that, he comes to put Himself under that same Law with all of its curses and judgments. In fact, if you think about it, our very salvation from being murderers comes by means of murder! Jesus takes the place of a murderer when Pilate releases Barabbas and condemns innocent Jesus to death. The Jewish clergy and leaders murder Him by condemning Him to death when they should instead recognize that He is the Savior. Think about this: for murderers such as you and me, the Lord and giver of life, Jesus Christ, is murdered by being hung on a cross! Our murdering leads to the murder of the Son of God and His murder is our salvation from sin and death. How crazy is that? What good news THAT is! Our Lord lives a perfect and holy life in obedience to all that the commandments demand. And He still submits Himself to the punishment and damnation of the Law in our place. In all things, in a holy life and a suffering death, Jesus takes our place. And He even overcomes death by rising the third day. Now that's salvation for murderers!
Wow! Great news! We're forgiven because Jesus died on the cross! Now we don't' have to worry about murdering others. We can treat each other like dirt; we can hate and despise and speak badly toward others and it's all just magically forgiven. We can go on sinning, knowing that it's all been taken care of, right? Not so fast! St. Paul asks that question to the Romans: “Should we go on sinning so grace will abound? No way! Not even! As if!” Rather, Paul explains that by our baptism into Jesus, we have died to sin. What does it mean that we have died to sin? It means that because we are baptized into Christ, Jesus' death and His resurrection are OUR death and resurrection. Sin has no power over Jesus. How do we know? Well, sin leads to death but Jesus rose from the dead, so sin has lost its power. Just so, in this way, Paul says, consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God. In what way? In the waters of Baptism. You see, brothers and sisters, the salvation Jesus accomplishes for murderers is delivered to us at the font in Holy Baptism. It's also given in Absolution and the Supper, too. But in Baptism we are united to the death and resurrection of Jesus in such a way that His death is now yours. You HAVE died because of your sins because you have died in the water and the Word with Jesus. You HAVE risen from the dead because at the font, Christ's Word and promises have given you new life. Sin simply has no power over you. It has no claim on you. It no longer owns you. It can't accuse you. It can't convict you. Jesus, who has lived perfectly and died under God's judgment has given Himself to you at the font and therefore you have been justified, redeemed, rescued from sin. So we don't go on sinning NOT for our sakes, but for that of our neighbor.
All of which means now we can recognize what the Fifth Commandment is really all about. Rather than just being some rule that we have to keep, we learn in Christ, as His baptized children, that the Fifth Commandment, like the whole Law, is given for the benefit of our neighbor. The purpose of you not hating and being angry with your neighbor is not so YOU can be righteous. It's so your neighbor can live a happy and blessed life because he is not dragged down by your nastiness. Listen carefully to Jesus' words: “If you go to give your offering and you realize that your neighbor has something against you, go and be reconciled to him.” Notice Jesus does NOT say, “If you have something against somebody.” But “if they have something against you.” Big difference. As a Christian, you are to carry no grudge, no lingering hatred, no festering anger. But you are to recognize when someone has something against you and you are to go and make it right. So that they will bear you no grudge. What joy it would be, wouldn't it, if we could live our lives free from the fear that those around us are going to bring up a laundry list of stuff we did in the past? What if husbands and wives talked things out instead of storming off into the other room mumbling nasty words? How would it look if brothers and sisters would only say nice things about each other? How happy would our lives be if our minds were concerned with the good things people do rather than what someone did hurtful to us long ago!
But you and I know that such keeping of the Law cannot be done by us! We fail miserably! So confess it! Acknowledge it! Plead for God's mercy to such a murderer as you! And then get to church where the verdict of “not guilty” is declared to you once again. Come to the Lord's house where you will hear over and over that your innocent Savior Jesus has taken your guilty place. Live daily in your Baptism which declares that you are dead to sin and alive with God. Rejoice, dear children, that Jesus has kept and fulfilled the Law. Rejoice that HIS righteousness is way beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees. And rejoice that His death is yours, His life is yours, His righteousness is all yours in the waters of the font. Rejoice in that good news which for you. And it's good news for those who know you, too, for now they have no stern judge in you, no lingering hater, but one who has died and risen with Jesus. And now, when you leave church today, know that the forgiveness of Jesus means all that you'll leave with is what you can carry in your hand. In Jesus' Name. Amen.