Many people think of the Law of God like the civil laws made by men. The courts of this world deal mainly with outward actions, because, in truth, as human beings, we cannot know much about the innermost thoughts and desires of others. Even for psychologists, who study the human mind as a profession, it remains a mystery.
But not for God. He created humanity in all its aspects, intellectual, physical and spiritual, and knows everything about each one of us. As we say in the liturgy, "All-powerful and merciful God, You penetrate the hearts, and know our desires and most intimate secrets."
So in our Gospel reading for today, our Lord Jesus Christ refuted the Pharisees and others that thought they were justified by faith. They thought that because of the lack of outward evidence of sin, they were righteous in God's eyes. But good and bad works do not consist only in outward acts. God takes into account desires and motives as well.
Outward acts have their roots in the desires of the heart. Roots infected by sin do not produce good fruit. The fulfillment of the divine Law is love of God and love of one's neighbor. There is no love if the only reason one has not murdered one's neighbor is because one does not want to go to jail, or if the neighbor is a much stronger man. If someone hates his neighbor, he always is looking for the opportunity to hurt his neighbor. Therefore, the Lord said to those who would listen, make things right with your brothers before you approach the altar of God, because if there is no love of your neighbor, there is no love of God either.
So our Lord said to them, "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." The error of the Pharisees and the scribes was not that they made too much of the Law, but , that they did not take it seriously enough.
The purpose of God's Law is not just to maintain order, like the civil laws, but to transform human life, in our relations with God and our neighbors, with all of our society. However, as sinners, we cannot accomplish this transformation by our own strength. We are not justified or saved by fulfilling the Law.
But the Holy Spirit has the power to effect this transformation. The Spirit gives us new life in baptism, or as today's epistle (Romans 6:1-11), "All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death...We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
We are justified by faith in Christ and saving faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit in baptism. The transformation of our lives and relationships with God and our neighbors is the fruit of this faith.
We do not look to outward actions for justification, but in baptismal regeneration and the promise of salvation in Jesus Christ. We look at good works as the result of the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
This week we look forward to the graduation of eight children from our preschool: Breitny, Sunei, Anny, Karla, Genesis, Eduar, Diego and Elias. Two of them, Genesis and Elias, were baptized right here in our mission. We give thanks for all of these children who have received the gift of baptism and pray that the rest may receive this blessing, too. We ask God to care for them and guide them in the future. Amen.
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