Introit (Psalm 57) and Antiphon
St. Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
In the name of the Father and of the + Son
and of the Holy Spirit –
When God cursed the serpent in the Garden of
Eden, He also lay down curses upon Adam and Eve as well. They were not innocent
victims of the Devil. They were deceived by his lies, but they were also active
participants in the rebellion, desiring what God had not given them. And the
same goes for us. Sin and the Devil are tyrants, but we also enslave ourselves
to sin. We are consumed with desires for the things of earth. We are controlled
by our desires to possess them and enjoy them.
This is something we need to
keep in mind: Sin ruins good things. Sin is a misuse, a corruption of good
things that God created. For example, sex outside of marriage and adultery are
what come from ruining God’s good gift of sexual intimacy within marriage
between a husband and wife. Alcoholism and gluttony are what come from ruining
God’s good gifts of food and drink. It is no sin to desire what God has given,
when He gives it. But it is grave sin to be dissatisfied with what God has
given you, and to crave what He has given to someone else. So St. Paul writes, covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5). Wanting
something that is not yours and that God said you may not have, that is the
desire, the lust, that makes an idol. So also Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.” Whatever you truly treasure, whatever you love and trust in,
that’s your god.
And it is not hard for us to be
dissatisfied with what we have. We compare our lives to TV, movies, and romance
novels, and we quickly learn that reality is not nearly as exciting as we want
it to be. Our friends are not as clever as the ones on TV. Our spouse is not as
thoughtful or caring as the one in the love story. Our church is not as
exciting or the way we think it should be. We are obsessed with the treasures
of this earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal. We are obsessed with it even
though it does not last, and we want more of it thinking we will finally be
satisfied. We doom ourselves to a life of misery and disappointment because we
seek what we cannot find on this earth and we grab for what is not ours.
The truth is we are emotionally
flat – our hearts are cold or hard – and we refuse to believe that God may have
given us a dull existence because it is actually good for us. Our annoying
spouse, our tired-out church, our frustrating parents, they are still our
spouse, our church, our parents, given to us by God. We refuse to see the good
things that God has given us or to recognize that they come purely from His
generosity. Our spouses, our children, our parents, our church, are always less
than they should be – they never live up to our standards (or to God’s for that
matter) – and yet they remain His good gifts. And we look at the good gifts of
God and say, “They’re not exciting enough. I want something more.” Repent. Mourn
for your participation in sin and your discontent. The idea that you’re too
important to ever be bored, or that you deserve better, is a lie of the Devil.
And still, despite all that, the
Lord has mercy on us. And that’s why we run to Him for forgiveness. You have mercy on all, O Lord, and abhor nothing
you have made. You look past the sins of men that they may repent. You spare them all because you are our Lord,
our God. (Introit Antiphon) God loves you and He is patient with you
because He wants your repentance. There is no need to worry or wonder if God
will be gracious and merciful. No question if God will forgive or show mercy. That
is who He is – our God, our Lord.
We can come before Him and pray,
“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to
me, for in You my soul takes refuge.” (Ps. 57:1) We flee to our merciful
Lord for safety and shelter from the Devil and all his temptations. We flee to
our merciful Lord for covering and pardon from our sin and all God’s wrath. We
hide ourselves in Him, and in the shadow
of His wings we may take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. (Ps. 57:2) So also Jesus
tells us, “Where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And those who trust in God who fulfills His purpose for us… and
sends out His steadfast love and
faithfulness, (Ps. 57:3) those who believe in Him, they will have their
hearts with Jesus, hidden and safe with Him.
We, who believe in the Lord,
really have our hearts with Jesus. It is not a metaphor. What’s more, it is not
merely mental or spiritual. We need to put our actual hearts, our bodies and
souls, where Jesus promises to be: in His Word and sacraments. That means
putting our hands and our eyes on our Bibles. Putting our bodies in the pews. Putting
our treasures (our money) in the offering plates. Jesus promises to be with His
Church, so we need to put our hearts there too. This is how you get your heart
in the right place – you hear and pay attention to His Word. And you carry it
with you into every other moment of life as you continue to hear the Word, read
it, and pray with it. This is what Christians should be thinking about, talking
about at the family table, in the living room, with friends and co-workers. The
Word of God is our greatest treasure, and so hearing His Word puts our hearts
with Jesus.
And this treasure draws our
hearts on to more treasure, pulling us back to be with Jesus even more in His
holy Supper. Even while we were perishing in sin and death, covered in the
ashes and dust of this dying world, our Lord joined us in our dust, He became a
man and He died, succumbing to the way of all flesh, perishing. And yet He rose,
taking up His body once and for all time so it does not ever perish. His death
means victory over sin and death. The resurrection of His body means
resurrection for ours. Now our crucified and risen Lord uses perishable food,
bread and wine from earth that won’t last, and with His Word He gives that food
to be bread and wine from heaven, His true body and blood for the forgiveness
of our sins. He continues to be the God who gives good gifts even to poor,
discontented sinners like us. With perishable food He gives us His imperishable
body so that we who are perishing might receive Him and be saved. Where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also. Jesus joins our hearts to His, for we are His
treasure and He is ours.
You
have mercy on all, O Lord, and abhor nothing you have made. You
look past the sins of men that they may repent. You spare them all because you are our Lord, our God. (Introit
Antiphon) One day, our Lord, our God, will raise up our physical hearts, along
with our whole bodies and souls, from the dust. And He will bring us to be with
Him forever, never to want for something more, never to be parted from Him
again.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus –
Ideas drawn from Rev. David Petersen,
Issues, Etc. Interview Feb. 2016
