"WHO IS BLAMELESS?" Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany February 19, 2020 Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church Glenshaw, Pennsylvania TEXT: Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in His ways! Psalm 119:1-3 (ESV)
As Lutherans we might be taken aback by the words of this morning's sermon text. Most of us have been taught from day one that our "blessedness" before the Lord is determined not by our "walk[ing] in the Law of the Lord" or by our "keep[ing] His testimonies" or by our "seek[ing] Him with [our] whole heart" or by our "do[ing] no wrong" or by our "walk[ing] in His ways," but solely by His redeeming grace in Jesus Christ. The Law is fine, so we teach, for protecting society against coarse outbreaks of sin and for exposing our sin and thereby our need of God's forgiveness and for instructing Christians on what kind of behavior is pleasing to God as we seek to praise Him for His grace, but it has no place whatsoever in the matter of our standing before God the perfect Judge.
The Old Testament word for the Law (Torah) actually refers not to the Law specifically in the "Law and Gospel" sense that we Lutherans are so used to hearing and reading about, but is rather a generic term used in the Old Testament to refer to the entirety of God's Word. And so the Law in this context refers to all of Scripture. The verses before us this morning are an introduction to the longest chapter in the entire Bible (176 verses in all). This chapter (Psalm 119) is actually a devotional on the Word of God. It is an acrostic psalm, meaning that each section of eight verses begins with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. These words, laying the Word of God before us primarily in terms of the Law, present both a dilemma for us and the solution to that dilemma.
The dilemma that we are faced with here involves two things in particular. The first is the nature of the Law itself (I am now speaking of the Law in its narrower sense). The problem is that the Law sets a standard of perfection that must be met in order to be acceptable to God and to avoid His judgment and condemnation. Jesus Himself affirmed this standard when He said, in His Sermon on the Mount: "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Because God is perfect and perfectly just, He cannot and will not tolerate anything less than perfect in His divine presence. That's why, in Scripture (particularly in the Old Testament after man's fall into sin), it was a truly remarkable thing when people like Moses (Exodus 33:11) and Jacob (Genesis 32:30) saw God Face to face and somehow managed to survive, despite God's warning: "Man shall not see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20). The perfect God is not compatible with anything or anyone that is less than perfect.
But the real problem is not the Law itself. After all, God created the first man and woman to be the perfect reflection of His divine image. And if that in itself wasn't enough, He placed them in a perfect environment. The problem was that this perfect man and woman, in their perfect environment, were not content with their perfection in paradise. They chose instead to squander it all in a vain and futile effort to be their own god. The results were immediate and devastating. Their naked bodies were no longer perfect and therefore no longer presentable, so they covered themselves. Their loving God and Creator, with whom they enjoyed perfect fellowship, was now their Judge, whom they had offended by rejecting His authority and usurping it for themselves, so they tried in vain to hide themselves from Him. When confronted with their sin, they had no acceptable answer, so they made a futile attempt to place the blame elsewhere. From that day on, natural man has lived in an adversarial relationship with his God, knowing that he is condemned in the sight of the perfect Judge.
The solution to this dilemma is redemption. Somehow the sin of man must be atoned for in order for him to be once again "blameless" before God and "blessed" to be once again in harmonious fellowship with his Creator. Since man had made himself powerless because of his sin, God Himself offered the solution. He would redeem his fallen creature Himself by becoming incarnate in a Descendant of the woman. It had to be this way, because only One who is perfect could do away with imperfection. This God did in the Person of Jesus Christ. He alone is "blameless" so He alone could take the blame for human sin upon Himself and suffer its terrible consequences. He alone could offer to His God and Father the only adequate sacrifice of atonement that reconciles sinful man to his perfectly just and righteous Creator.
Because He has done this, those who receive His righteousness in faith are "blessed" because their God and Judge considers them to be "blameless" in His sight for the sake of the One who was "blameless" in their place and endured for them the righteous wrath of God that sinners deserve. When God looks upon us in judgment, the ugly and unacceptable nakedness of our sin is hidden from His sight because we are covered with the perfect garment of Christ's righteousness. This is a great comfort for us, knowing that now and especially on the day of judgment God sees us not as the sinners that we are but as His "beloved [children], with whom [He is] well pleased" (Matthew 3:17) for the sake of the perfect and "blameless" One who stood in our place under the righteous Law and judgment of God.
The incarnate Son of God has made us "blessed" in that He has transformed us. He has changed us from the enemies of God into the beloved children of God--from sinners into saints--from rebels into obedient children--from corrupt creatures tainted with sin into "blameless" examples of God's creation. In doing all of this He has also transformed the Law of God for us. He has changed it from a burden to a blessing--from a dreaded accusation into a loving instruction. It is now for us a revelation of the perfect God and what He is like. It protects us from letting God's perfect creation sink back into its primeval chaos. It pricks our conscience when we sin and drives us back to cross and resurrection of Jesus, where we find forgiveness and New Life. It gently instructs us in how to live lives that glorify our God by serving our neighbor in thanksgiving for the free gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation that are ours in Christ. It is accompanied by the precious Gospel of Christ, which empowers us to be the people we were created, redeemed, and called to be, forgiving us when we fail and restoring us again and again as the "blameless" and "blessed" people of God. In the power of His grace, God not only shows us how to please Him; He pleases Himself for us in Christ and sanctifies us by His Holy Spirit to live in that grace every day. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians: "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). And He Himself makes it happen. Amen.
May the God who caused light to shine out of darkness cause you to increase and abound toward one another and toward all people, as His love abounds for us; and may the glory of His Son be manifested to you and in you, that you may be witnesses to all nations now and until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen. ~