“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17

Prayer of the Day O merciful and everlasting God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee that Thou hast revealed unto us the glory of Thy Son, and let the light of Thy Gospel shine upon us. We pray Thee, guide us by this light that we may walk diligently as Christians in all good works, ever be strengthened by Thy grace, and conduct our lives in all godliness; through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.”

Our meditation is based on Jesus’ teaching concerning righteousness. You will see that because the sinner can offer no gift worthy of the kingdom of heaven, Christ Jesus offered up Himself for the gift of eternal life.

You won’t catch me standing around in line at the potluck today. You’d be hard-pressed to find me waiting around in line for just about anything. I’d much rather mill about the room and let the line die down first before going up myself. Hit the grocery store at the crack of dawn to avoid any lengthy queue. If the Culver’s drive-through is backed up around the building, I’ll drive right by, even if it means backing out of a promise I made to my children. Because, if you’re anything like me, what begins to go through your mind in these situations is everything you could be doing, should be doing, but can’t while trapped in line. Forced, instead, to make small talk with whomever happens by chance to be waiting in line next to you. Run out of things to say, and you’re stuck. Say the wrong thing, and they’re stuck with you. All of which makes you begin to question whether anyone other than yourself, especially that person up at the head of the line, is doing his part in advancing the situation. This should not be so complicated. Fill your plate. Keep it moving.

Maybe you do your best to keep out of line yourself, rather than endure the frustration others seem to be able to cover up with a smile on their faces.

Well, there was a waiting line in Jesus’ day where everyone had to be on his best behavior. It was the line you stood in, waiting to present your gift at the temple in Jerusalem. The laws of Moses dictated a variety of offerings: animal sacrifices as a sign of contrition and faith, grain offerings to give back to God a portion of what He provided from the earth, and monetary gifts as personal sacrifices. According to the Mosaic code, the altar service itself was to be performed by a priest. However, the individual Israelite got to play his part in the ceremony by solemnly placing his gift into the priest’s hands. Each pilgrim approached, one by one, to bring and hand over his gift, while everyone else watched, waited, and stood in line.

Now, I’m sure some days the queue had to be a smooth in-and-out. But many days, especially the high holy days, that line could have stretched to the outskirts of the city. There was no way around the hours-long wait. Yet wait you did, because by Jesus’ day, it had become all about your turn to formally present your gift as the sign of your righteousness. You wanted to show how you had dutifully fulfilled the laws of Moses with a smile on your face and on the priest’s.

Could you imagine, though, what would go through your mind while you were stuck in line? Standing in the heat of the day, having to make small talk with whomever you got stuck next to. Every now and again, someone breaking basic grade-school et-iquette by cutting in line. Keeping your children hushed and the goat you brought along to sacrifice on his best behavior. Peering ahead with a critical gaze, stabbing anyone in the back of the head who clearly was not doing his part in advancing the situation: It’s not this complicated. Keep it moving!

And then, right when it seems the line begins moving along at a good, healthy clip, one fellow brings it all to a complete dead halt. Like the proverbial lady at Walmart who leaves her hundreds of items sprawled atop the checkout conveyor belt in order to run off who knows where to get one more thing, this fellow claims, “I’ll be right back!” He leaves his gift there before the altar. He leaves everyone to wait for minutes, or perhaps hours, their hearts fully enraged. Rumor has it, what he’s gone off to do is apologize to everyone he just remembered he’d offend-ed or been offended by. What a fool! This will take forever!

Yet this is precisely what Jesus says to do: “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” With this simple pearl of wisdom, Jesus teaches how you can piously wait in line all you want, outwardly speaking, and keep yourself on your absolute best behavior in life—“Thou shalt not kill”—yet inwardly speaking, your soul can be filled with all sorts of evil thoughts just as condemning: “But I say unto you, that whosoever… shall say, ‘Thou fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”

Why, if something as inactive as standing around in line gives ample example and ample time to peer into and reflect on the heart, how much more does all your active work, running about in life. And it reveals the sinner’s contempt for whomever and whatever stands in your way. We are all in a collective march to the grave. There is an appointed hour for each of us to appear before the throne of God. When you consider the wide variety of sins you’ve accumulated during this time of waiting, what gift is it you think you’ll have to offer? This line you cannot avoid. The order, your place in it, might seem unclear, but one thing’s for certain: you’ll have your turn. And when it comes, there’ll be no room for, “I’ll be right back.”

But Jesus isn’t teaching here the key to success, as if your personal efforts at making amends with everyone you’ve ever offended or been offended by could somehow make you righteous. No, here the Savior exposes the ridiculousness of works-righteousness as a whole. For if something as effortless as waiting around in line reveals our inability to offer our Creator the righteousness He requires, then this must be a standard no mere man could meet, as Jesus points out: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Phari-sees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

A standard no man can meet indeed. No man, that is, except Jesus, whom the God of love brought into our midst and offered up as His gift to you. Jesus, the all-holy Son of God, had no need to make amends with anyone. We are the ones who have departed from His ways. He who “hath done all things well” alone could approach God’s altar and accomplish that which is impossible for us, as clarified in Hebrews: “Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might… make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”

Yet when He was about that work, Jesus barely made it into the temple courts, not anywhere near the altar, before turning over the tables of the moneychangers and overturning, undoing, everything the Pharisees had taught. He was also nowhere near the altar before the temple elite relegated what He had brought for all mankind to the very end of the line, that is, the outskirts of the city. They treated Jesus as the fool by forcing Him to carry His own cross to heckles and jeers. His long journey there was filled with: “Let’s keep it moving!”

His gift would instead be offered up, sacrificed, on the altar of Golgotha, where not all the blood of beasts compares to the glory of this Lamb that was slain, for “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself…” securing for you direct access to heaven, eternal life, through the forgiveness of sins.

On account of Christ’s all-atoning death and life-giving resurrection, nothing now stands between you and your God. There is no need to wait in line, dear faithful, to enter the kingdom of heaven yourself. For you, by baptism, have been solemnly joined to every single one of His accomplishments: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?”

No, this isn’t that complicated after all. Not when faith in His victory over sin, death, and hell carries you straight to the front of the line. With no list of sins too long for His forgiveness, there’s no backing out on His promises to you, His dear children. Those frustrations and rebellions deep in the heart are covered not with a smile on the face. Your every sin is covered by Christ’s righteousness, the perfect life He lived for you. All of which means that when it’s finally your turn to appear before God’s throne, standing there with no gift in hand, you get in simply by the claim: “I’m with Him.”

This Gospel offers you the perspective to accept whatever your place in line is here and now. It allows you to see those next to you in life, your neighbors, no longer as those you’re stuck with, but as those given to you to serve and love. This Gospel transforms whatever waiting line you must endure into the receiving line of God’s mercy and grace. Each believer plays his essential part in furthering the blessed gift placed into unworthy hands like ours by the God “who hath [both] reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”

So, let’s keep it moving, dear friends, with “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” The time is short, and the kingdom of heaven is advancing. You’ll get there soon enough. Now the peace that passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

—Pastor Timothy Daub

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Hecla, SD

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Ministry by Mail is a weekly publication of the Church of the Lutheran Confession. Sermon archives, and subscription and staff information may be found online at www.clclutheran.org/ministrybymail. Audio Sermons are available at: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version.