“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.” (Deu 30:15)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Actually, it is God who sets before you today “life and good,” and “death and evil.”

“If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God… you shall live” (Deu 30:16).

“But if your heart turns away… you shall surely perish” (Deu 30:17).

These are hard words…

For contrary to what our Gospel-soaked Lutheranism may have otherwise led you to believe, God expects you to keep His law!

Walking in the Way of His testimonies and keeping His statutes is not an option!

This is not a command that disappeared with the OT, let alone after your baptism.

For as Jesus Himself said, He did not come to abolish the Law, but to keep it perfectly as the New Adam.

And today He makes it clear that He intends for you to keep it as well.

Some of you may leave this morning with a sensation of whiplash, for in the past,

I have preached this portion of the Sermon on the Mount to show you how easily and frequently you sin, that you might be all the more hungry for Christ’s forgiveness.

And rightly so! We call this “the second use of the Law” –

It shows us our sin, that we might turn to our Savior.

The problem is, if we stop there, we stop too soon,

for we fail to move on to that “third use of the Law” which basically says,

“You are indeed forgiven in Christ… Now keep the Commandments – Seriously!”

This “third use of the Law” is the ongoing preaching that we are now to live as God’s people according to His statutes.

And if we reject this use of the law, then our repentance is a sham,

for we will find ourselves under the delusion that we can somehow be saved while living the life of our own choosing based on what we think, what we feel, what we want, what we need in the moment

without a care for how God would have us live.

Of course, this is the stuff that makes us Lutheran pastor’s so nervous, which is why we tend to steer clear of preaching the Law in all its fullness.

For in the moment we proclaim the absolute necessity of keeping the law,

we risk robbing you of your Baptismal comfort and your confidence in God’s promise that you are saved by grace alone.

That’s why we have to be so careful to understand the context into which Jesus speaks these words today.

For if you’ll notice, He’s not speaking to the self-righteous Pharisees or to the heathen “crowds,” but to the “Blessed” –

to His disciples –

to those who have already been saved by grace through faith and have now been gathered into His presence on that Mount, just as those Israelites who had been saved through the waters of the Red Sea were gathered before God at Sinai.

Like those Israelites who had already been saved when they heard God’s order to obey the commandments (Deu 30:15-18),

and like those disciples whom Jesus had already gathered to the foot of that Mount by grace,

you, too, are already saved!

You have already been Baptized and redeemed by the blood of Christ!

Your works did not save you – they never could and they never will!

Only Christ crucified and risen for your forgiveness, life, and salvation could do that – and He has! You’re good to go!

But that is not to say that you, the disciples, or Israel could not lose that salvation by ignoring the Words that come next.

For now that you have been blessed and set apart as a new creation, you are indeed called to new life,

that as God’s Holy and redeemed people, you may be salt and light to the world –

that you may live under Him in His kingdom in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness… starting NOW.

Starting now, you have before you life and good, death and evil –

life if you love the LORD your God, walk in His ways, and keep His commandments;

death if you turn away.

And I suppose the question is, how can we possibly live this new life to which we have been called?

The answer is, you can only live this new life IN Christ, which is to say,

you can only live this new life through ongoing repentance –

through the ongoing turning from your sin and returning to your Baptism where you were blessed and united with Christ to begin with.

For by your union into Christ’s death and resurrection through Baptism, you became a new creation (2Cor 5:17) IN Christ.

“Born again” is not something you work at, but something you are.

“You were washed,” as St. Paul writes,

“you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1Cor 6:11).

Through this washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, you have been justified by grace, having the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:5-7),

and so you ARE blessed.

Blessed ARE you who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for yours IS the kingdom of heaven.

But now, let us not stop at the Beatitudes, for today Jesus has more to say.

And He’s serious!

That’s what all that business about eye-gouging and limb-slinging is all about.

For even though the Gospel makes it clear that “Good works are NOT necessary for your salvation,” the Law says,

“Good works ARE necessary, for God demands them!”

He has never quit demanding them, which is why Jesus is so serious about this.

He’s not preaching the Law merely to show you your sin, but to show you the new life to which you have been called!

He’s not laying down the Law as the path to salvation, but as the way of life among the saved –

among the “blessed” who have been called out of the darkness to be salt for the earth – to be a light to the world –

to be a part of the solution to this world’s darkness and not a part of the problem!

It goes something like this: Are you a maniac on Twitter or Facebook?

Do you delight in fits of murderous rage against those whose world-view is different from yours? Stop it!

Are you a Trump-hating Democrat who lays waste to those ignorant, bigoted, money-hungry Republicans who are ruining the world? Enough already!

Are you a self-righteous Republican waging attacks against those idiot, socialist, hypocritical Democrats? Don’t do that!

That’s Satan’s game, and in the Words of Jesus,

your participation with the devil – your anger, your labels, your insults make you murderers liable to the fire of hell (Matt 5:21-22)!

You have been called to higher things, to better things –

to be a light for the world!

And what about those cravings?

Are you giving way to your lusts, to your adulterous fantasies, to your porn, heaven forbid? You must stop!

Are you weary of your spouse, ready for a break, looking for an exit? Don’t go there!

Scratch that D-for-Divorce word from your vocabulary now!

Do you tend to color your speech with expletives or oaths to strengthen your words? No more!

You no longer work for Satan!

The time has come to take your stand against the devil and to turn away from this fallen world’s tired antics.

The time has come to repent and discipline your sinful flesh.

For nothing will snuff out your light faster than sticking it under the bushel of hatred and lust and foul talk.

Listen to these words of your Lord who has set you free from the devil –

free from this misery –

free from this sin, death, and hell, and take your place with the blessed–

with those saints in every time and place who love the LORD your God, who “obey His voice and hold fast to Him” (Deu 30:20).

And remember this:

Whenever you find yourself going the way of darkness –

whenever you find yourself acting angry, lustful, or disobedient,

know that you have entered into the way of death –

that you have departed the new life to which you have been called, and have placed yourself under God’s wrath.

But do not despair.

For God does not desire the death of the wicked, but that you should turn from your sin and live.

And by turning, He does not mean coming to this altar for forgiveness without a care about whether or not you continue in your sin after you leave,

but coming to this altar to have your Baptismal garment cleansed in the blood of Christ and to be raised anew,

purified and strengthened in Him to go forth as salt and light,

FREE from your sin, FREE to walk in His ways –

free to keep His commandments and live in peace and joy with Him and with one another for life everlasting.

I leave you with the words of our Psalm,

“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” (Psa 119:1-2).

Blessed are YOU, in other words, for you have been united with Christ through your Baptism.

And now it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you.

And the life you now live in the flesh you live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave Himself for you (Gal 2:20).

Hold fast to that life;

hold fast to His testimonies;

hold fast to His Law, and you shall not be put to shame –

in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Preached by Pastor Holowach

Sermon Text: Matthew 5:21-37