Video of Vespers is here. The sermon begins around the 22:25 mark.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Watch the sky, the psalmist seems to say: and watching, listen to what it says. It speaks of the glory of God. The heavens declare the glory of their creator. Watch the sun: it is like a strong bridegroom, rising in the morning, and running from one end of the heavens to the other. Watch as it warms the earth, gives growth to the plants, and shines on everything so that it can be seen. But listen: it says, I am not God. I am simply one of His greater creatures. I tell you that God has made everything, and marks off days and nights according to the great rhythm of time that He built into creation. As blindingly impressive as the sun is, blocking out the light of the stars and all other lights, it is not the greatest light.

God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. How much greater is the Creator than the creature! He speaks by giving light in the sky for the earth; He speaks by day and by night, as the word of His creation overflows in praise of Him. But more clearly He speaks in the word of His Instruction: His testimony on the stone tablets from Sinai, His commandments, the fear of Him, and His judgments. As the sun enlightens outwardly everything on which it shines, so God’s pure, upright, straightforward, complete, trust-worthy Word enlightens every person. It illuminates and makes clear your inward self.

This is what the psalmist finds: God knows me better than I know myself. I can’t even know all my errors and sins. Strange, isn’t it, that the psalm says we can hear the speech of the heavenly spheres, but we can’t know all our own errors and faults and sins? Scientific technology has made it possible to go higher and larger and further than we thought possible, but also lower and smaller than ever before. But no matter how much knowledge we gain under the light of the sun, or by the satellite, or by the microscope, we can never know our own hearts perfectly. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I, Yahweh, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). O Yahweh, You have searched me and known me (Psalm 139:1)!

Shall we rely on what we can see, either of the world or of ourselves? There is so much we still don’t know about the creation, and we are limited in the understanding of our own hearts. This is why we do not confess only the sins of which we are aware. This is why it is foolish to require that a confession must cover every sin, or else it cannot be forgiven. We will never complete our confessions of sin. We will never get to the bottom of our hearts of darkness. So, the catechism says, we may confess to the pastor the sins of which we are aware and by which we are burdened, but in the Lord’s Prayer or in the general confession we confess also all the sins of which we are not aware, or which we have forgotten. No waffling, no self-justification, no excuses: I am simply a poor sinner, entirely in need of the entire mercy of God in Jesus. That’s what “miserable” means: in need of mercy. And we will continue to be so until we die. All my sins and iniquities, with which I have ever offended Thee, and for which I justly deserve Thy temporal and eternal punishment.

Have mercy, O God, and declare me clean of hidden faults; hold me innocent, which is to leave me unpunished. For this, the Light of the world was extinguished in death; for this, the one who sees and knows all hearts took on all the sin and crime, both presumptuous and obvious, as well as hidden and unknown. His heart alone is empty of sin, and His words in themselves are acceptable to the God of all creation. He offers Himself as the one acceptable sacrifice, blameless and innocent, in order to make you blameless and innocent before His Father. The crucified and resurrected one alone has the words of eternal life! These are the holy words, written down for us and declared to us, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Him (2 Timothy 3:15). He restores your soul and makes you wise unto salvation. He gives you the true and lasting gladness of heart. These words are more precious than any gold, sweeter than any honey. The Lord is your rock and your redeemer, your help. You are cleansed from great sins and small, from obvious and from hidden. Your forgiveness is assured by Jesus, who speaks the words on which you may meditate, rejoicing your cleansed heart. Your sin will not be lord over you, because Jesus, who takes away your sins, is your Lord forever. So our joy is the joy of the sun, who rejoices to run his course each day, glorifying his Creator.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV). Amen

— Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 3/6/24