John 15:1-17; 1 John 4:7-21; Hosea 14:1-9; Psalm 85
Christ’s Suffering as Proof of God’s Love for Us
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
“Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.” – Luther’s Small Catechism
To confess is “to say the same thing” that the LORD has said about you, to use his words to say that you have sinned against the LORD and have fallen short of the purity and holiness he demands of you. What word of the LORD are you to say back to him? “Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments: Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker? Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy? Have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome? Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds? Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?” There’s no need to torture yourself to come up with something truly damning, this simple self-examination will be sufficient to expose your sin and guilt.
However, truly is not your confession that is the most important part. That is only the first part. Confession has two parts. First, that you confess your sins, and second, that you receive absolution, that is forgiveness, from the pastor as from God himself. It is the second part that is of greater importance. In truth, you should confess yours sins in order to hear the absolution, because you know the absolution is already there. If there were no absolution, there would be no reason to confess your sins. No, you confess yours sins before the LORD because you know that he will forgive them, because you know that he has already forgiven them in Jesus.
God was calling Israel to confess through the prophet Hosea: “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words [, my words,] and return to the LORD.” What words were they to take with them? The LORD’s words, his commandments and law which exposed their sin and guilt. They were to confess their sins, to “say the same thing” about themselves and their thoughts, words, and deeds that the LORD in his words, commandments, and law said about them. That was the first part. The second part was that they would receive absolution, that is forgiveness, from the LORD. They were to confess their sins for the sake of receiving the LORD’s absolution. Confession is good for the soul, but absolution is even better!
“Take away all iniquity, accept what is good”; we will no longer put our trust in the strength of foreign nations or the horse or the work of our hands, but we will find mercy in you O LORD. And the LORD said, “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.” We have turned our face from God; he doesn’t turn his face from his people. Instead, God turns his face from his only-begotten Son who carries the sins of the world. God turns his face away from Jesus who suffers in our place, and the Father turns his face towards you, he hears your confession, and for the sake of Christ, you are absolved. He takes away your iniquity and clothes you with the righteousness of Jesus.
The LORD is ever the Prodigal Father scanning the horizon for his rebellious son to return. Upon seeing him in the distance, the Father runs to him, embraces him, and restores him before the boy can utter the words of his blasphemous offer to work and pay off his debt. The son was looking only to be a servant or a slave, but the Father has made him his son once again. “Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from God Himself.”
But why? Why does the Father forgive his rebellious son? Why does the LORD forgive us, his rebellious sons and daughters. Because God is love. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Christ’s suffering is the proof of God’s love for us.
St. John is often called the Apostle of Love because his Gospel and Epistles expound upon God’s immense love for us in his Son, and the Son’s immense and perfect love for his Father that moved him to sacrifice himself that we should be forgiven and restored to him to live with him forever. In John’s writing he reveals that God is love, that love is sacrifice, and that the greatest love possible is to sacrifice one’s self for another. John 3:16, the “Gospel in a Nutshell,” proclaims that God loved the world in this way: He gave his only Son over to death on the cross so that whoever believes in him need not perish but have everlasting life. It is also in John’s Gospel that we are provided Jesus’ words from the Last Supper, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, so you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, when you have love for one another.” I like to paraphrase Jesus’ words this way: A new commandment I give to you, that you sacrifice yourselves one for another, just as I have sacrificed myself for you, so also are you to sacrifice yourselves one for another. God is love. Love is sacrifice. So, we are to love and sacrifice ourselves for others as God has loved and sacrificed himself for us in Jesus. Christ’s suffering is the proof of God’s love for us.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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