Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent

Lent 3
March 7, 2010
Ezekiel 33:7-20
Sharp is good

In the name of Jesus, amen. Teeth are important. I went a few years between dental visits and I’ve been reminded of the truth of what I just said: teeth are important. In other areas, we know that teeth are important. Try cutting a steak with a butter knife. Or cut a chicken breast with that same butter knife. Civil laws are thought to work better if they have what? Teeth. People drive fast, excessively so at times, because they know that if they get caught, the fine will be minimal. The hope is that if the law has teeth and the fine is considerable, the speeders will ease off the gas pedal. Things with teeth are good. And sharp is good.

Ezekiel was called by God to be His watchman to the children of Israel. Ezekiel went into exile with the first wave of the Israelites that were taken captive. Many were predicting a short stay in Babylon, almost that the captivity would be like a trip to a day spa, or at worst, one of those luxurious minimum security prisons. But Ezekiel warned them not to think those thoughts. Ezekiel warned them to repent. Ezekiel told them that their stay would be long. It would be hard. It would be very unpleasant. Ezekiel was a watchman.

He stood on the highest point of the city wall, and by blowing a trumpet, the watchman could warn the people of coming danger. The watchman could also tell of an approaching messenger, or relay the progress of a battle. Ezekiel was to warn God’s people of their sin, and the coming danger of that sin. The warning was to be issued not as a bothersome disruption of people’s lives, but so that they would repent of their sin and experience the new life that only God could give. Turn and live. Ezekiel’s message of repentance and faith, Law and Gospel, was not to be taken lightly. It had teeth, sharp teeth. And sharp is good.

Ezekiel’s charge is as important now as it was then. It is as serious now as it was then. If Ezekiel did not warn the wicked to repent, not only will they die for their sin, but the blood would be on the watchman’s hands. If the watchman warns the wicked but they do not listen, the wicked will receive the payment for their sins. The watchman will be spared because the watchman had done his duty.

God’s Word has teeth to work repentance in us. It’s what we call God’s Law. When God warns us of our sin, it is a serious matter. Sin certainly leads to death, for the soul who sins shall die. Our good works are good, but that’s all that they are. Good works, self-righteousness, kindness to puppies- none of those things can save us.

But we do not like the teeth of God’s Law. We wish that God’s Law had false teeth, so that we could remove those teeth whenever it suited us. God’s evaluation is too harsh, too severe. God’s evaluation is cut and dried. Can’t there be some sort of nuance or context that we can put our lives in? Can’t we explain the reasons for our greed, for our judgmental attitudes, for our racism, for our selfishness? If I could talk with God and explain to him the reason why I am so self-centered, then surely God would see things my way. But the wages of sin is certain. St. Paul assures us that we will receive from God our payment, and the payment of sin is death.

But we are also assured of God’s nature to be just. And he will judge us accordingly.

The Law has work to do. And when the Law of God has done its work, there’s no need for us to despair, as the house of Israel thought. God’s Word also has teeth that cut the opposite way. They cut for our salvation. It might be strange to call them teeth, but I think they are.

God’s Word has teeth to work faith unto salvation in us. We call that the Gospel. When we stand convicted of our sin, we turn to God in repentance and faith, begging, “How then can we live?”

And God makes His promise with an oath- “As I live, declares the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” The pleasure of the Lord is that the wicked will turn and live.

How then can we live? We have new life through Jesus, our savior.

Jesus didn’t just talk about love; he loved with teeth. Jesus acted out divine love by going the way of suffering and death on the cross. On Calvary, Jesus suffered the just wrath of God’s punishment, punishment with sharp teeth, as he died on the cross for the wrongs I had committed, for the sins you commit day after day after day. As Jesus shed his blood on the cross, justice was served. Atonement for sin was made once for all.

Jesus’ death had teeth, and we know the truth of those sharp teeth as the temple curtain was torn, or can we say, cut in two. Jesus’ resurrection had sharp teeth as no stone was too big for Jesus to move, no death was too final for the Lord of life to overcome. Satan was impotent to keep Jesus from rising from the dead.

Sharp is good. Turn to page 224 in our hymnal for a moment. This is part of the Te Deum we sometimes sing during Matins. Hear the sharp desire the Father has for you as we witness the serious love of Jesus: When you took upon yourself to deliver man, you humbled yourself to be born of a virgin. When you had overcome the sharpness of death, you opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Who? All believers. Sharp is good.

Through his means of grace, God works repentance and faith in everyday life. Our God goes to the heart of the matter by transplanting our dead heart, killed by the Law, with a transformed heart. Our faith is strengthened through a life of repentance. Daily we drown our sinful nature as we remember and rejoice in our baptism. Our sanctified life is uplifted as our teeth literally touch Christ’s body and blood with his assurance of forgiveness in Holy Communion. Taste and see that the Lord is good!

God asks us, “Why will you die, O my beloved? I have sent you watchmen to show you your sin. When my Law has done its work, you need not despair, for I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Through our crucified and risen Lord, we have life, life with teeth in it, life with the sharp teeth of salvation. SDG