March 16th, 2022
St. John's Lutheran Church
Second Wednesday in Lent
Sermon on Luke 15:11-3
In the Name of the Father and of the ☩Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today we are looking at the Greek word Hamartia. Hamartia is the most used word for sin in the New Testament – out of 239 word for sin, over half (172) use the Greek word Hamartia. Hamartia can be translated in one of three ways 1) sin – to act contrary to the will and law of God, 2) being evil - a state of sinfulness as an integral element of someone’s nature, and 3) guilt - the moral consequence of having sinned. In our passage, today will be looking at the first definition – the most used definition – of Harmartia.
Luke 15:11-31:“11And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 20And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”
Today we are looking at the Greek word Hamartia. Hamartia is the most used word for sin in the New Testament – out of 239 words for sin, over half (172) use the Greek word Hamartia. Hamartia can be translated in one of three ways 1) sin – to act contrary to the will and law of God, 2) being evil - a state of sinfulness as an integral element of someone’s nature, and 3) guilt - the moral consequence of having sinned. In our passage, today will be looking at the first definition, the most used definition of Hamartia, to act contrary to the will and law of God.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is probably the most well-known parables of Jesus – if you never heard or read the parable, you have at least heard the phrase “the Prodigal Son returns” mentioned in TV shows and movies, which is a reference to this parable. The World understands this parable as a triumphant return of a promising or important person returning home. The World gets this wrong; it is about us, our sins, our repentance from sin, and what God has done for us in forgiving our sins and taking us back in.
I do not know about you, but when I go to the store, I have a checklist of items that I need to get – usually given to me by my wife. As I gather items and place them in my cart, I check each item off on the checklist to know what items I have gotten and what items I still need. This checklist is a guide, to tell me the things I need to get – and sometimes it gives me a description of the item so I do not get the wrong one.
God has given us a guide, a way of checking if we have acted contrary to His will and law. We call this list, the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments help us guide our actions and thinking, to prevent us from going against God's will and law, and to show us when we have broken/acted contrary to the will and law of God.
What does these act contrary to the will and law of God do to us? Like the Prodigal Son who lost everything and despaired, so to will we despair as sin cuts us off from God, from His eternal Love and source of life. We become lost and alone like the Prodigal Son, who found himself attending to pigs – a virtual Hell for a Jew. We will also find ourselves in the pits of loneliness, despair, unloved, and in the very depths of Hell, eternally separated from God – the very source of life, love, and eternal joy.
How can this be correct? How do we become right with God? We can take a look at the Parable of the Prodigal Son and our own lives, recognized our sins – how we act contrary to the will and law of God. Like the Prodigal Son, when he recognized his sins and “came to his himself” (meaning when he came to his senses) and said in Luke 15:18 (ESV): ‘I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you”’. So do we need to come to our senses, acknowledge our sins before God and say “Father, forgive me for I have sinned against you.”
How can God forgive the wrongs we have done to Him? Through an act greater than our sins. Like the Prodigal Son Father, who came running out to his son. God came to us in his incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. Whom took upon Himself our sins, our acts contrary to the will and law of God, and places them on Himself – taking our blame and making us blameless, sinless. Christ became the very embodiment of our acts contrary the will and law of God while at the same time never having committed any sin – acts contrary to God’s will and law – Himself. He took all sin from us so that we can be seen pure in God's eye, be invited into the House of God and become His children.
I encourage you to read the Parable of the Prodigal Son, using the Ten Commandments as a guide. It will help us to examine our lives with this guide that God has given us. Seeing how we act contrary to the will and law of God, and knowing that if we ask for His forgiveness, God will forgive our sins through the act of Christ's death and resurrection; so that we may have newness of life with Him who created us, God. Amen.
In the Name of the Father and of the ☩Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
