SAY IT OUT LOUD
God Loves Sinners
THANK GOD YOU ARE…
Welcome to worship today at Morrison Zion Lutheran Church. We exist to glorify God. We have set out to do this by gathering around the Gospel so that we may grow in the Gospel and go to others with this Gospel.
SERMON
Grace, mercy and peace are yours from God our Father through our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Direct us now, O gracious Lord, to hear aright your Holy Word.
Assist your minister to preach, and let the Holy Spirit teach.
Let eternal life be found by all who hear the Gospel sound. Amen.
Let’s see a show of hands. Who is the worst sinner here? We’ve got some honest people in the pews. We have some people who realize, “I just sang a hymn that chief of sinners though I be; so yeah.” Why is it so weird for us to acknowledge that we are the worst of sinners? Why is it so weird for an entire church to say “I’m the worst of sinners”? What possible danger could there be in dwelling on the fact that we are the worst of sinners? That’s what we are going to talk about today. But we are also going to talk about the wonderful blessing that comes from acknowledging we are the worst of sinners. So thank God you are the worst of sinners. Thank God that God has shown you mercy.
Right before our text, Paul was writing to Timothy telling them about the ministries of false prophets who misuse and pervert God’s Word to the detriment of the Gospel, to the detriment of the souls in their care. But this exercise was not so that Paul and Timothy could thump their chests and say “Look how good we are,” but rather that they thank God for the Gospel and give credit to God for everything in their lives; give credit to God for their salvation, give credit to God as God works in them their lives of sanctification, give credit to God for their very service in the public ministry.
It doesn’t matter how many years you’ve spent on this earth or how many times you’ve come to worship, there comes a time when a Christian looks around at the other Christians sitting in worship with them and compares themselves to them. Maybe they look at them and they think “I wish I had their opportunities, their victories. I wish I had an opportunity to at least have something that they have—maybe someday.” There is this envy that kind of builds up. Sometimes there is a relief and they think “I’m so glad I’m not like those people. I’m glad I’m not facing the problems they’re facing. I don’t know how I could handle it.” It doesn’t matter if we are comparing ourselves with others, eventually we’re going to compare ourselves to the ideal Christian that is within—the ideal Christian that reminds you that you could be a lot better than you are. You could say things a lot better than you’ve been saying. You could start those conversations that you should be starting. And anytime someone gives you a compliment, the ideal Christian inside of you says, “It’s not for me. That’s just some mindless platitude. It’s not real.” Every time that ideal Christian encounters God’s blessing, he’ll see some disaster that is going to happen right after it. Or whenever they try to do some sort of effort to do what is right in God’s sight, the ideal Christian inside of us finds failure. You didn’t do right. You didn’t do good enough. You could have done that better.
What happens when we are engaging with that ideal Christian inside of us? What happens is maybe for a while our behavior gets a little bit better, but eventually, over time, that ideal Christian has a long memory and remembers things that God has forgiven years ago. And that ideal Christian just beats you down again and again. You become a bitter Christian. The Gospel becomes something for someone else. It’s something you tell little children, “Jesus loves you,” and you don’t tell that to yourself. “Jesus loves me. I am forgiven.”—that resiliency card that you have in the back. The first line says “I am forgiven.”
In the midst of listening to our ideal Christian, we can lose an appreciation for who we are in Christ. We can despise the very Gospel that has brought us to faith because we’ll say “It’s not for me. God can’t forgive me.” There is something we’ve done or some words that we’ve said that we think just can’t be forgiven. “I messed up and that’s who I am—a person who messes up. I’m the worst of sinners.”
When Paul says “I am the worst of sinners,” he has a hope behind it. He’s not saying it leads him to bitterness and despair. He has a hope behind it because he, Paul, was not just someone who secretly despised the Gospel like you and I do. He was someone who actively was fighting against the Gospel. He dared to arrest people who were preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He was ignorant. He did not see what he ought to have seen—that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He was a blasphemer speaking against Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Yet even he was shown mercy.
So why did Paul say I am the worst of sinners? It wasn’t some sort of false humility or false piety. It wasn’t like how we are in Wisconsin. Somebody comes up to the intersection and we’re like “I’m not worthy to go ahead of you. You go ahead. You guys are all more important than me.” It wasn’t a false piety or a false humility. It was true. He was the worst of sinners. Certainly there were lots of criminals in his day, lots of child molesters in his day, mass executioners in his day. He was the worst of sinners, not because he is comparing himself to other people, not because he is comparing himself to his brothers and sisters in Christ. He is the worst of sinners because he is comparing himself to God.
No one can hide from God’s Law that does not change. We can’t counter “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) with “at least I am better than so-and-so.” God’s standard is not relative. He doesn’t allow a certain number of sins and then we can still call it perfection. So one sin means we are the worst of sinners. Because we are sinners, we must die. The Book of Romans says the wages (the end result) of sin is death whether we think that sin is small or great, whether we think we are the number one sinner or not, it is death. (Romans 6:23) The Almighty God considers a life that is anything less than perfect, perfect fuel for the fire to come.
This is the truth. We are all the worst of sinners. God’s Law doesn’t change, but His Gospel also does not change. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, to save us. Thank God you have been shown mercy. Mercy is that wonderful word that we sometimes pare so often with grace. You’d think they are one in the same thing. But mercy has us think of a cause. There is a reason for God acting in our life. And the reason is that we are the worst of sinners. So God says to the worst of sinners, “I’m going to do something. I’m going to send my son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life on your behalf and then die for all of your sins, even the worst ones, on the cross.”
The reality is that Christ Jesus came for sinners, for you, for the worst of sinners. Your sins, your guilt, your shame, your bitterness became His completely. On the cross, He suffered in the body but also suffered the torments of hell—for you. God did not hold back. Even despising the Gospel in the weird, secret, hidden way, that sin has been forgiven as well. God poured out so much on you who are undeserving. His love for you is boundless. His mercy is more than your sins.
He has done the impossible. He has looked with favor on you and me. He has patiently poured out His love and forgiveness on you and called you into His service as a Christian. Everything we have, everything we are, our identity is found in Christ. Thank God He has shown you mercy. That’s who you are.
As Paul looks at his toilsome ministry, he focuses on how Christ put him in that ministry. Christ gave him strength. Christ declared him faithful. Christ poured out on him His
favor. Christ moved him to love his Lord and his neighbor. Christ was patient with him so that he, in turn, could be patient with others.
So why is it important for us? What’s the benefit for you to say “I’m the worst of sinners”? So that you would acknowledge and also say it out loud to others, “Yeah, I’m the worst of sinners. In fact, I belong to a church that’s the worst of sinners. We all acknowledge that compared to God, we are the worst. But He has shown us mercy. He has shown you, dear friend, mercy, too. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for you, to take on your sins. He loves you. And because of Him, God looks at you and says you are His dear child.”
You are recipients of heaven. You are blessed beyond measure. Spiritual blessings, physical blessings, the God, who is taking care of you day by day, the big God of the universe is taking care of and is concerned about you and what is going on in your life. That’s what you have. Thank God that He has shown you mercy and His mercies are new every morning. Thank God we are members of a congregation where it’s about God’s patience and forgiveness and love for us, not about our earthly successes or our earthly failures. We don’t have to look with envy or relief on others. Instead, we thank God. We thank God for His wonderful activity among us: how God constantly reminds us in His Word who we are, that our self-worth is focused where it ought to be—less on ourselves, less on that ideal Christian, and more on Christ, who is our Savior, our Living Savior. Thank God you are… Thank God you are recipients of God’s wonderful, boundless and daily mercy. Amen.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7) Amen.