Genesis 4:1–15
Ephesians 2:1–10
St. Luke 18: 9–14
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Two men went up to worship… one man was justified by God. His offering was accepted. The other man was not. And he killed his brother. The story of Cain and Abel is a story about worship. Right worship and wrong worship. Obviously Abel’s worship was right and Cain’s was wrong. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.
What Genesis does not tell us is why Abel’s offering was accepted but Cain’s was not. The Book of Hebrews does tell us: By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts (Hebrews 11:4). True faith was the difference between Cain and Abel. Faith made Abel’s sacrifice acceptable to God. Faith made his worship right. And by faith Abel was justified—declared righteous. And God showed that He justified Abel, He forgave Abel, He accepted Abel, by accepting Abel’s offering. By grace Abel was saved through faith. And this was not his own doing; it was the gift of God, not a result of works or offerings or sacrifices, so that he could not boast in himself. By faith Abel offered God right worship, which really means, by faith Abel received from God the forgiveness, righteousness, and life of Christ.
Here’s how Lutherans describe the right worship of God, from the Apology of the Augsburg Confession in The Book of Concord: The difference between this faith and the righteousness of the Law can be easily discerned. Faith is the worship that receives the benefits offered by God. The righteousness of the Law is the worship that offers to God our merits. God wants to be worshiped through faith so that we receive from Him those things He promises and offers (Apology IV:49). The man who does not have faith, does not receive gifts from God, and so he is left to worship God by offering God his own works, merits, and sacrifices according to the Law. The worship of the Law is that we would give ourselves, our gifts, our praises, our works to God. But the man who has faith, worships God by receiving from God the merits, the benefits, the gifts and promises of Christ. The worship of the Gospel receives gifts from God. That is true and right worship. That is how God wants to be worshiped – by our receiving His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Two men went up to worship… one man was justified by God. His prayer for mercy was heard. The other man justified himself with his own merits. And he had contempt for his brother. The story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is another story about worship. Right worship and wrong worship.
Like faithful Abel, the Tax Collector did not offer to God his merits or works. He confessed that he had nothing to offer God. But he had faith to receive from God mercy, forgiveness, atonement for all his sins: He would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, make atonement for me, a sinner!’ On the other hand, the Pharisee offered to God all his good works, his keeping of the laws, his respectability, his merits in the eyes of others, his merits in his own eyes. All this he proudly offered to God, somehow thinking that this should impress Him. He trusted in himself that he was righteous and he had contempt for others. He had no need to receive any mercy or forgiveness from God. He did not ask for atonement to be made for all his sins. So, he didn’t get any.
Remember how Lutherans describe the right worship of God: The difference between this faith and the righteousness of the Law can be easily discerned. Faith is the worship that receives the benefits offered by God. The righteousness of the Law is the worship that offers to God our merits. God wants to be worshiped through faith so that we receive from Him those things He promises and offers (Apology IV:49). The worship of the Law offers to God our goodness, which does no good. The worship of the Gospel receives Christ’s goodness as a gift from God.
These stories about worship should tell us then why we go to church. Why we gather and sing and speak and hear and eat and drink. What are we doing here? Are we giving something to God because we trust in ourselves to be righteous? Can we give Him something He doesn’t already have? Does He think more of us because of our being here? Does He think more of us because of anything we could give? Or are we here for an entirely different reason? To receive from God the gifts only He can give. True and right worship is not that we offer anything to God. But God wants to be worshiped by our receiving His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation in Christ.
Only one Man ever went up to worship God purely and truly by offering Him something. Only this one Man gave the perfect offering to God, the once and for all sacrifice for sin. This one Righteous Man offered right worship to God, but not for Himself. His worship atoned for our sin. His offering according to the Law gave to God what we could not. His sacrifice was made in our place so that we don’t have to pay that price. This is the work, the merits, the worship, that Christ gave.
And that means there is nothing more for us to do according to the Law. Christ’s offering of Himself in death means that by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Christ’s right worship of God was His sacrifice for our sin, so that our right worship of God is receiving the benefits, the gifts and promises of that sacrifice. Our right worship of God is being justified by God, given the righteousness of Christ. Our right worship of God is hearing His Word, being baptized in His Name, absolved of our sins, eating and drinking His body and blood.
The right worship of God is faith, which is the empty hand, receiving and holding onto the benefits, the gifts, and promises of Christ. So with the Tax Collector we confess that we have nothing to offer God. But we have faith to receive from God mercy, forgiveness, atonement for all our sins, and we say, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner! I need your gifts, God. I am not even worthy to ask this of You, except through the merits of Christ.”
Two men went up to worship… one Man offered Himself to God and made atonement for the sins of the world. His altar was a cross, and His offering was His holy blood. The other man is you. Your worship has nothing of yourself to give. Your worship is only to come and receive from God those things He promises and offers. And so you go down to your house justified by God.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
