In Your Face Forgiveness
In-Your-Face Forgiveness
February 20, 2000
Mark 2:1-12
Epiphany 7
What kind of God do you want? Some people want a God who is like a crying towel in a drawer. When they want to appear sorry for inappropriate behavior, they can get him out and soak him with their tears. Some people want a God who is like a holiday decoration. They can pull him out of storage when they want to get a warm fuzzy feeling. Some people want a God who is like a rule book. They can haul him out and shake it at other’s wrong behavior. Some people want a God who is like a thunderbolt that lashes out and strikes dead those awful sinners. They can call him out when ever they don’t like what somebody else is doing. I’m sure there are many more forms that people want God to be like.
But, did you notice something about these people? They all fail to see what they, themselves, look like to God the Father. You see, he knows all things and searches the depths of the heart to see if there is anyone who does what is perfect in His sight. He finds none, not even one. But that is the just requirement of entering into His Heaven. But in utter blindness to this truth people still want a god who is just like them in attitude and condemnation.
What most people do not want is the In Your Face Forgiveness God, whom Mark reveals in today’s gospel reading. You see, the miracles that Jesus does is the Father’s validation that He lives right in the face of people. The miracles reveal that Jesus is God. Even from our time-distant observation of these miracles, we can see how Jesus knows exactly what is really in each one’s heart. Jesus knows what kind of God each person needs. Jesus is the God each person needs, no matter what kind of God he or she might want.
Let’s take a closer look at this scene. We see a crowd of people pushing and packing their way into the house where Jesus is teaching. One can hardly keep from wondering what the big attraction is. Could it be that all these people need the God who speaks only truth? Indeed! Listen, we hear him say through the prophet: “You have not called on me, … you have not wearied yourself for me, … you have not brought me … offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you … nor wearied you with demands…. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses.”
Oh my, how those words sting and cut, going to the very heart of the issue God has between Himself and His own people. How very sad these charges are, but we need to hear and apply them to our self. For, it is true that we also burden him with our sins and weary him with our offenses. It is all, sadly, too true. But, it is not the last words Jesus will speak today. What else will he say? He will say what each one needs to hear.
Are you like the paralytic who, in faith, knows his need for health and salvation? Yes, some are. Are you like the four who, in faith, bring their friend to the presence of Jesus? Yes, some are. Are you like the teachers of the law who, in unbelief, pass judgment on what they do not understand? Yes, some are. In fact, each one of us shares in the need of each of these. Each one of us needs our faith strengthened or we need to be turned to the truth from our unbelief.
Now see what God can do for such people in need. The paralytic receives forgiveness of sin; immediately, and, right here, on earth. Here, consider how God still comes to us in Word and Sacrament to do the same thing. Each time we come to hear God’s Word and seek His strength, He reminds us, “your sins are forgiven.” Now, how can we be sure? How can we know that forgiveness is meant for us? This is what faith is all about. Faith trusts that God’s Word can work also through a man. It trusts the message of the Cross, as the power of God that works miracles of grace. This is the In-Your-Face Forgiving God we all need.
There are those, however, who say in their hearts, “only God can forgive sins,” not believing that Jesus is God in flesh. The lawyers who came only to sit in judgment of Jesus with a predetermined but unwise verdict, also need the God who gently confronts them with truth. You see, it is the Word in flesh that converts the heart and soul, and turns unbelief and doubt into faith and salvation. And that is the Word we proclaim in the message of the Cross today.
To make the point absolutely clear, Jesus tells these lawyers, “That you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” Then, looking straight at the paralytic He says, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Being healed in his body, the paralytic stands and walks out the door. All can now see what God can do, even here on earth, working through the paltriness of human flesh. No wonder Paul is able to say, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
The point is this: Our God is the In-Your-Face Forgiving God who gets right up front and personal with each and every one of us through His Word. And through that Word we can hear the very voice of God teaching and preparing us for complete and incorruptible healing for the soul, and for the body. Let all praise be to God.
What kind of God do you and I need? Every moment of our life, the triune God wants to be up close and personal, bringing us exactly what we need. Unless we reject him, he will be continually in our face, properly dividing Law and Gospel. He will be in our face, gently condemning our sins. He will be in our face confidently speaking His healing message, “your sins are forgiven … get up, and go.” Go! with the message I have given you, the message of the Cross, the message of Christ, the message of God. Amen.