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Luke 15:1-10
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Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
So he told them this parable: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
"Or what woman, having ten silver coins,if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
(ESV)
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Holy Despair
Wednesday of Lent 5
20 March 2013
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How quickly we cast about for an excuse when we are caught in a sin. We would like to be able to throw out a plethora of reasons why we should not be held accountable for our transgressions. We grasp at anything at all; our companions: "he made me do it," our birth: "I have those genes," our circumstances: "I was raised in a bad neighborhood," lack of freedom: "I had no choice," lack of time, "I didn't get around to it," etc. You know all the excuses, because you have used them all. None of them are adequate. Excuses are just that; excuses. They neither undo what was done or do what was left undone, nor do they pay for our transgressions. We can't make the water go back over the dam. We cannot clean the slate. And yet, we are constantly trying to make expiation for our own sins. It will never work. We are left with a kind of holy despair, which rejects the path of self-righteousness and self-justification. It despairs of its own holiness and goodness and casts itself on the righteousness, justification, holiness, and goodness of another, that is, God's own Son, who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities (Is 53:5).
David experienced that holy despair in which there is hope only in the righteousness of another when he prayed, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions" (Ps 51:1). Why should God have mercy on me? What in me attracts God's compassion for me? What have I offered Him that He needs? What merit could I set before Him in exchange for His mercy? None. David attempts no such exchange. Holy despair despairs of salvation by works. If God is to have mercy on him, it must be a price given by God Himself. God's mercy becomes ours because God has steadfast love. Our transgressions are only blotted out because God has an overflowing mercy toward us. Everything is dependent on Him. This is why David would be so certain of God's forgiveness in the midst of His holy despair of his own righteousness. He had a holy One who had mercy on him.
Those who suffer the Davidic trial of falling into holy despair will also be lifted up by the mercy of the God who does not want to leave us in that despair, but wants us also to share in His holy joy. There is nothing the devil hates more than that we would rejoice and revel in the forgiveness of sins with a God who rejoices over that one sinner who repents (Lk 15:6, 9). Our laughter in the face of our sin is the laughter shared with God and the laughter of true and complete spiritual relief. This is not the silly "holy laughter" of the charismatic charlatans, but the delighted relief of those who have felt the sentence of death against them commuted by a gracious God for the sake of Christ. The despair of our righteousness is a holy despair which depends upon the righteousness of another, Christ.
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Martin Luther
"David not only said, 'Have mercy on me, O God,' but he added 'according to your steadfast love,' and in this way simply silenced every human merit and all righteousness by works. He did not say, as the man in the gospel, 'I fast twice a week.' He did not say, 'Have mercy on me according to my own merit whether it be deserved or grace-induced. What do these things have to do with mercy? The merit and other things of the monks David does not proudly throw about.
The story is told of the brother of a certain king, who, at the moment of his death, said to God: 'Now You give me what You promised, because I have given You what You commanded.' I don't want to speak such a word at the moment of my death. I want to say, 'O Lord, enter not into judgment with your servant' (Ps 143:2) and 'Blot out my transgressions' (Ps 51:1). What are we able to throw out as merit for even the most insignificant blessings, for example, that God has preserved our sight? David doesn't say a thing about his own righteousness and merit and wishes to live his life according to God's great mercy. Not only does he extricate himself from His own righteousness, but also from the wrath of God. He places before Himself nothing other than the image of the merciful God, rejoicing and laughing. For here he says that God has great mercy, on account of which He desires and considers nothing other than to forgive and to bless us."
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Prayer
Lord God heavenly Father, You have had mercy on poor sinners by giving us a righteousness that is not our own, the righteousness of Your spotless Son. Grant us so to rest in Your mercy that we might share with You Your joy; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
For the family of Chris Curry, as they mourn his passing, that the Lord would allow them to cast their cares on Him
For Jon Scicluna, VP of Development at Concordia Theological Seminary, that the Lord Jesus would keep him safe in his travels
For Christopher Atsinger, that the Lord Jesus would be with doctors as they provide a diagnosis
For Perry Copus, who is undergoing therapy for cancer, that Christ the Lord would give him perseverance and a confident faith
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Art: GRÜNEWALD, Matthias Isenheim Altarpiece (1515)
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 © Scott R. Murray, 2013
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