“THE LORD’S PLEASURE”
Third Sunday in Lent
February 28, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back,
turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of
Israel?
Ezekiel 33:11 (ESV)
One of the biggest criticisms of the Christian faith (and especially
of traditional Christians like us) is the emphasis that we place on
sin and on the need for the genuine confessing of our sin and a
feeling of contrition, which is sorrow for sin. The conclusion that
many draw from this is that our message only makes people feel sad and
worthless. I suppose that would be true if that were the extent of
our message but, in reality, that is only half of it. The
condemnation of sin and the call to repentance only prime us for the
true message of the Gospel: that God, in Christ, has dealt with our
sin once and for all and has given us the full forgiveness of our sin
and reconciliation with the God of perfect justice whom we have
offended. The harsh word of conviction and condemnation that God
speaks to us in His Law are given to us in love as a “wake up call,”
so that we might become aware of our situation and feel the need for
His grace and forgiveness in Christ.
This reveals to us God’s true motive in having His spokesmen preach
the Law as Ezekiel does in the passage before us this morning. That
motive is not one of retribution and punishment but one of discipline
and love. We tend to use the words “discipline” and “punishment”
interchangeably but they are not the same thing--far from it!
Punishment has to do with righting a wrong--with retribution--with
getting even. It has no concern whatsoever for the offender.
Discipline, on the other hand, is something altogether different. The
word “disciple” means “learner.” The disciple is one who learns, and
so discipline has to do with teaching the offender what he or she
needs to know in order to be reconciled and restored. As we look at
these harsh words that Ezekiel speaks to the people of Israel, we will
pay particular attention to what God does and does not takes pleasure
in.
What the Lord does not take pleasure in is the destruction of
sinners. We know this from the words of the text, which God spoke
through His prophet: “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked.” He cannot be speaking here of
mere temporal death because temporal death is the lot of all people.
It is the ultimate consequence of sin, which we have all inherited
from our first parents. “Sin came into the world through one man,”
Paul writes to the Romans, “and death through sin, and so death spread
to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Temporal death, which
is a bad thing because it is contrary to God’s gift of life, has been
transformed, by the death and resurrection of Christ, into the gateway
to glory for those who trust in Him. And because of that
transformation the psalmist is able to sing: “Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15).
No, “the death of the wicked” that the Lord has “no pleasure in” is
the everlasting death that results from a permanent rejection of God
and His gifts. This death is commonly referred to as hell. Hell is
everlasting separation from God and His grace. And the doctrine of
hell is another source of a great deal of criticism that is made in
regard to Christianity. The argument goes like this: “What kind of a
loving God would ever consign anyone to such a horrendous fate as
never-ending pain and suffering?” The answer is simple: God loves
His creatures so much that He respects their free will. If some of
His creatures want nothing to do with Him, He loves them enough to let
have their way. He has not banned them from His mercy and grace; they
have separated themselves from Him and have steadfastly rejected His
reconciliation with them through the merits of Christ. They have not
only gotten what they deserve; they have gotten what they want.
What the Lord does take pleasure in is that “the wicked turn from his
way.” This brings us back to the difference between punishment and
discipline. Laws are enforced for one of two reasons. Why do the
police patrol certain roads and issue citations to those who speed on
those roads? If the motivation is punishment, the reason is to catch
the offenders and fine them (which, incidentally, helps in generating
revenue as well!). But I would like to think that the real motivation
is to get drivers to slow down, providing a safer environment for
everyone on the road. God disciplines us in this life so that He
won’t have to punish us in eternity. He is far more interested in
forgiving and transforming sinners than He is in condemning and
punishing them.
The text is clear about the Lord’s intentions for the final outcome
of repentant sinners when it tells us that the Lord’s pleasure is that
“the wicked turn from his way and live.” The way of repentance is the
way of life. Repentance for sin and turning to Christ, confident in
His mercy and grace, is a death and resurrection of sorts. This
season of Lent culminates with the celebration of Easter, a time when
we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus and also our own death
and resurrection through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Paul writes
to the church at Rome: “All of us who have been baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into His death. We were buried therefore with Him
by Baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of
life” (Romans 6:3, 4). And he writes to the Philippians: “I have
been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ
who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Philippians
2:20). Our repentance and Baptism is the death of our old self and
the rising of the new self that is being conformed to the image of
Christ.
This is what the Lord takes pleasure in--what delights Him and brings
Him joy. Jesus Himself made this clear when He said: “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” (Luke 15:7) and
“there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents”
(Luke 15:10). Our God is a God of mercy and grace and life, not one
of anger and retribution and death. God created us for righteousness
and life, not for sin and death. Death is a fact of life for us only
because we have made it a fact of life by our sin. But in love God
has dealt with our problems of sin and death (problems of our own
making) by becoming human in Christ to perfectly fulfill His Law and
justice with His righteous life and His atoning suffering and death.
He lived that life and died that death for us--in our place. And
because He has united us with Himself through Holy Baptism, His
righteousness becomes ours and our sin becomes His. This is the
pleasure of the Lord: the redemption of sinners and reconciliation
between them and Him. His joy is you and me--not for the sinners that
we are but for the righteous children of God that He has made us
through the shedding of His own innocent blood.
Amen.
May the One who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
making us kings and priests before His God and Father, lead you to a
life of repentance and trust. May He also be glorified in the lives
of you, His people. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.
Amen.