Beloved in Christ,
Pardon me for this lengthier communication to you. This is my longest Shepherdline EVER! But please read it through. Thanks.
If you were in some sort of trouble—whatever it might be—physical, emotional, or spiritual trouble, for your own personal good and wellbeing, would you want someone to love you by helping you see your need for help? Living in denial is an awful place to be. It is like trying to stand on a sandy cliff while the storm waters are causing the banks to erode inch by inch, foot by foot. And you are standing there on the banks with the erosion happening undeniably all about you and your sudden loss of footing and your fall is immanent. Living in denial of a problem surely can eat up your life, and it is a bad place to be. Thank God when He uses His means to open our eyes to see that we indeed have a problem—we need rescue; we need His help and His means for help; we need saving.
Now the application of the above illustration fits into so many areas of our lives: addiction problems, idolatry problems, our often warped reasoning, and across the board; it ultimately fits in with our sin problem. I can ask you, and I will: “Do you have a sin problem (which could specifically include the other troubles I mentioned above: addiction, idolatry, faulty thinking and beliefs, and so forth)?” Denial is dangerous. The Lord God tells us that our sin leads to death and everlasting hell (Romans 6:23). He knows us far, far better than we ever could or will. He knows all things. He knows your heart. He knows what you need. He knows your troubles. He knows that you are in trouble. He comes to help. He comes to rescue. He comes to save.
So what does our God of infinite love do? He comes into our troubled, broken, sinful world; He becomes man (born of the Virgin Mary). He lives, suffers, dies while bearing on Himself all of our sins. He is punished and dies in our place. Our guilt and sin was upon Him. And because He died, and because He rose from the dead, the deliverance that every person on earth needs has been secured. Salvation for sinners has been won! This is ALL GRACE, folks! We do not deserve any bit of it!
But then, back to this whole “denial” problem. Sinners do not want to admit they have a sin problem (both in terms of the inherited sin from Adam and the actual sins committed daily in thought, word, and deed). They do not want to believe that they are headed for eternal destruction and misery in hell. They prefer to ignore the matter and live this life as best they can and just be happy. Find happiness in things and stuff and money and pleasure and relationships, etc. They live in denial that these things are all temporal. They live in denial that there will be a day of reckoning; Judgment Day is coming. The wicked are those who denied their sin problem and chose to ignore the Word of the Lord—rejecting His Christ—His strong Deliverer who came to bring forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation, who thought life was better and true without Him and His saving help. They will be cast into the fiery furnace of hell and will suffer viciously for all eternity. (Again, most people do not want to believe that they have a sin problem. Most people reject the reality of hell. They beat themselves over the head with the false idea that everything in the end will be okay with them—everything will be fine.) How awful! What DENIAL!
So, the Lord God does what Luther called His “alien work.” The God of infinite love and mercy does the much needed work of exposing the truth about our sin problem; He lays it right out before us. Oh, we can still deny it. But we are fools to do so. It would be like someone denying a deadly cancer, or kidney failure, or the indicators of an impending heart attack. If you persist to deny the problem, soon you are dead! So, the Lord God in His love, sets His holy Law before our dim-sighted eyes and our pride-filled hearts—so ridden with blindness to the truth and so ignorant of His Word—so broken away from Him in our unholy desires and ways: and He tells us in blunt language: “You are sin-sick! You are dead in your sins! And unless you repent, you will perish—to be cast into utter darkness—the incomprehensible ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (cf. Lk. 13:22-30) in hell’s dungeon.” The Lord in His love warns sinners of this final judgment upon them, so that they would not live in their stubborn denial; that they would see the enormous and deadly problem of their sin; that they would acknowledge their sin and guilt before God; that they would identify with Jesus and His saving Gospel—seeing their great need for Him as the only One who can deliver them; that they would repent and believe in Him and be saved—rescued from sin, from death, from hell.
Beloved, this is why we need the full counsel of God. We need His Law and His Gospel. We need the Law to kick us off the “high-horse of prideful denial” and to put us on our faces before the Holy God—bowing before Him in humility—desiring His mercy and forgiveness and life eternal in Jesus Christ. And the Lord God is so very pleased to make His Gospel known and so very assuring to us. As we are about to go over the eroding cliff in denial, the Lord reaches out to us in love—in the truth of His Law that exposes our sins and condemns us—but then, in the truth of His Gospel that gloriously touts Jesus Christ who rescues and saves. By His Law and His Gospel, God the Holy Spirit works repentance in us—both contrition and faith. We see our sin that is worthy of punishment. So, in repentance we confess our sin. And by faith, we take hold of all that Jesus is for us—beautiful Savior—Mighty God—our Prince of Peace.
There are two reasons for the Christian Church’s existence here on earth (And this stems down to the local Christian congregation). First, that those who are His would be kept in the true faith by the Gospel (Word and Sacraments). And second, that more disciples would be made—more souls saved—all over the world by preaching the Word and by baptizing. By His Means of Grace, Christ sustains His Church and He builds His Church.
Pray that God would work repentance in you—that there would be no denial over your sin—and that you would confess your sins and long for and gladly receive His Holy Absolution—from the pastor as from God Himself (as Luther taught us). And when Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven!” they no longer exist. They are gone—as far as the east is from the west!” And this Absolution—this pardon from sin—we need constantly because we continue to sin much every day. A life of repentance is what it means to follow Jesus under His grace.
With all sincerity of heart—in my pastoral pleading—and with every godly fiber of my being through faith in Christ, I urge you to return to the Lord your God and re-connect BIG TIME with your church. You need Christ and His Word and Sacraments! If you do not think you do, you are lost in denial. If you do not act—by coming clean in repentance—longing for Jesus and His mercy—your faith and salvation may soon be on the rocks–“ship-wrecked” (as the Apostle Paul warns in 1 Timothy 1:19). And that is a warning we must all take heed!
As we approach Lent (Ash Wednesday is March 1st), return to the Lord, O people! Not just in mind and heart, but in your physical presence (if you are able). Come and be where He has promised to be—where His Word is preached and His sacraments are administered. The theme for this year’s Lenten midweek services is: “The Art of Living by Faith.” This is based on a special sermon series published by Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO. And surely, join us for Divine Service on Sundays!
Christ Jesus is your Savior and Leader! So then, live in Him!
In His love,
Pastor Kotila