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“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall…’”

᛭ INI ᛭

The Lord doesn’t hold back. That’s not the kind of Lord he is. That’s not the kind of God he is. He’s no Scrooge. He’s no penny pincher. He’s not cheap. He’s not a God of scarcity. When He gives out, there’s no lack. In fact, there’s an abundance, an over abundance! “He satisfies the desires of every living thing,” (Ps 136) and “He gives gifts to men.” (Eph 3)

Yes, the Lord doesn’t hold back. He gives, and He gives! But it doesn’t just go that way for the gifts that he gives. The “money and possessions” that He gives each of you according to His “fatherly, divine goodness and mercy.” The Lord also doesn’t hold back what he says. He speaks and He speaks. “Our God comes, He does not keep silence.” (Ps 50) He doesn’t talk to Himself or just into the air or to His people in general. He’s quite open about whom He’s addressing. He’s talking to you. So, perk up your ears, hold on to your hat. Jesus is talking to you.

((2. His Law levies a heavy burden on us—death itself!))

You. Your favorite subject! We live in a society that caters to you—whatever you need, whatever you want, whatever your heart desires. It’s not just a matter of the “money and possessions” you want. (Is it ever enough.) There’s a desire for words about you, too. Self-help books and speakers are popular. It even invades the church! Consumerist churches to give what the people want. (The customer is always right.) Preachers are to lead their churches, worship services, hymns, and sermons that fit personal preferences.

But the Lord doesn’t back down from the daunting task of talking to you. He’s got something to tell you, and, boy, is it a doozy! It’s a doozy because you can’t avoid it! He says, “You shall…” He’s got 10 of those. Mercifully, we only get Him repeating number five today. “You shall not murder.”

“Oh, that’s not so bad. That’s pretty harmless.” You might think. “After all, I’m pro-life. I’ve never murdered anyone. In our time, that’s a commandment that’s more for worldly people than it is for me.” (There’s a kernel of truth in that last one.) How quickly we make it so “you” doesn’t mean “you.” It’s as if the Lord is talking to everyone else but you. Suddenly, you isn’t your favorite subject! But no matter how hard you try. “You” means you. “You, yes, you, shall not murder.”

The Lord doesn’t hold anything back in what He tells you today. He doesn’t cut you any slack. He’s no penny pincher, nor will He accept pennies on the dollar. “I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be subject to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the hell of fire.” You’ve said and thought far worse.

“You shall not murder.” You shall “reconcile with your brother,” “forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph 4) “If your brother sins against you seven times, you must forgive him seven times.” (Lk 7) But even more today: “If your brother has anything against you, be reconciled,” seek forgiveness. No room for grudges, family history, bad blood, whatever you want to call it, “You shall not murder.”

((Transition.))

“Until heaven and earth pass away” His “you shall” applies to you. But what sort of God is the God who says, “You shall”? Again, He doesn’t hold back. Christ is no penny pincher. He’s all about abundance. Not just with the things of creation, but with reconciliation. Not just empty words of reconciliation, while secretly harboring a grudge. “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.” (Num 23:19) No, the Lord works and delivers reconciliation in abundance, in over abundance—unto life everlasting.

((1. His free forgiveness abounds all the more—unto life everlasting!))

The Lord doesn’t hold back, doesn’t wait. He’s made a decision and carries it out. When there’s something between you and Him, He acts. He sends His Son for your sake. Jesus, His Son, came “to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.” He did every “you shall” in your place. He became unreconciled to His Father on your behalf. He sheds His holy, precious blood, the most valuable thing in the universe, to pay back “every last penny” of your sins against Him and against your neighbor. “Every last penny” of their sins against you. For “Through Christ God reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5)

There is now nothing else except reconciliation—an over abundance of it! You are reconciled. God did it for you in Christ. “Every last penny,” all the anger, insults, and grudges, whatever your neighbor owes you for what they’ve done—all of it died with Jesus. “It is finished!” Every sin debt paid off. No eternal Supreme Court to overturn God’s debt forgiveness plan!

You are baptized—Christ’s death and resurrection (His reconciliation, His forgiveness) is now yours. Being brought into Jesus’ death and resurrection through holy Baptism, now His death, His resurrection, Your reconciliation to the Father, pours out onto others. No longer remaining in any sin, living in animosity toward God and His goodwill for you; no longer continuing in the sin of anger and unforgivingness, living in animosity toward your neighbor. You don’t want your neighbor to have anything against you! “Forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4)—the life of a baptized, reconciled child of God. How could it be any other way? Christ is died and risen for you and you are His through Holy Baptism.

The Lord’s not done. Again, He doesn’t hold back—more words, more reconciliation, more forgiveness for you. He’s no Scrooge. He’s not cheap. He’s not a God of scarcity. He freely gives the most valuable thing in the universe away—His holy, precious blood. For “the cup of blessing that we bless [is] a communion of the blood of Christ. The bread we break [is] a communion of the body of Christ.” And “because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one Bread.”

((Conclusion.))

What sort of God is the God of “you shall”? The God of abundance, the God of fulfillment, the God of reconciliation. He abundantly speaks. He abundantly fulfills. He abundantly reconciles. You to Him and you to others—all in Christ.

“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8) “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” (Gal 5) Love “keeps no record of wrong.” (1 Cor 13)

And so you see how Christ is for you.

CHRIST IS NO PENNY PINCHER WITH RECONCILIATION.

He doesn’t hold back from you. So, perk up your ears, hold on to your hat. Jesus is talking to you today.

“I don’t exact pennies or half pennies to settle the score, to bury the hatchet, or move on, but not really… (You know how it goes.) There is nothing left of debt and repayment—only reconciliation. You’re reconciled toward My Father and toward one another. I give it out even through you. I’ve borne the burden, suffered the wrong, paid every last penny with My own blood. I’ve baptized you, into My reconciling death for your forgiveness. Take eat, this is My body given for you; drink of it, all of you, this cup is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Mt 24)

᛭ INI ᛭