Video of Vespers is here. The sermon begins around the 22:20 mark.

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

Psalm 119:9 asks, “How can a young man keep (or make) his way pure?” I’m not sure, though, that young men today are known for looking for ways to keep their ways pure. In fact, young men today generally don’t have a particularly good reputation, and maybe some of that is for good reason. There is a loss of purpose, a loss of a sense that there is anything worthwhile to pursue. And of course, that doesn’t apply only to young men, but to very many people today. That loss of purpose, which leads to a loss of hope, makes nihilism the default option of many people. Nihilism says there’s no real meaning, no morality, no knowledge. Existence and values are meaningless. Or maybe it’s a sort of modified nihilism: that there’s nothing in the end, no goal at which one can aim, so you just do what feels right or good. In fact, if we dig down deep enough to the source of most people’s actions, I would not be surprised if it is some variation of what feels right or good, with very little reflection on external controls like God’s Law. And yet, God’s Law remains, whether anyone heeds it or not. “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:16-17). That’s what God said to Israel through the prophet Isaiah, but the command never purified anyone. And Israel certainly didn’t cleanse themselves by changing their ways and their hearts.

I wonder, then, whether Psalm 119 even makes sense in our world? I do like the ambiguity in the verb: it can mean either to “make pure” or to “keep pure.” But unless one has been made pure, there can be no keeping pure. Pure means unmixed with anything bad or evil. There is no such thing as partially pure: you either are or you are not. Let’s not deceive ourselves, there is none among us who is pure. There is no one among us who is righteous, not even one. There is no one among us with clean hands and a pure heart who may ascend the hill of Yahweh and stand in His holy place (Psalm 24:3-4). As the Proverb says, “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin’” (Proverbs 20:9)? (The question is rhetorical. The answer is “no one.”)

There is only one who is pure, who is clean, whose ways are always the ways of the Lord, who ascends the hill of Yahweh and presents Himself in the Holy Place of God as the pure and clean sacrifice for the sins of all people, for your sins, for the actions of your unclean hands, and the unbelief of your impure hearts. We feel the truth of St. John’s words, that what we will be has not yet appeared. But our hope is that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies Himself as He is pure (1 John 3:2-3). That is our hope against hope; divine hope against the futility of every human or reasonable hope: Jesus, raised from the dead and ascended in glory, is the pure and holy Lamb of God, who purifies those who hope in Him. And to the pure, all things are pure (Titus 1:15).

You will never be pure, or clean, or holy by your outward work. We like to think we will. We like to think that our purity consists of doing the right things and not doing the wrong things. If it were true, it would be easier to compare ourselves to other people. When we see other people engaged in outward sin, it’s easier to think we ourselves are pure—or at least, more pure. But you are not pure because you don’t engage in some behavior, and that other person will never become pure by stopping their behavior. What does the psalm say? By what means will a young man—or an old man, or a young woman, or an old woman—make or keep himself pure? By keeping, guarding, holding to the words of God. Those who seek God and inquire of Him will not want to wander from Him. Those who store up His word like treasure will not desire sin. Because “God’s word is the treasure that makes everything holy. … At whatever time God’s Word is taught, preached, heard, read, or pondered, there the person, the day, and the work is hallowed, not on account of the outward work but on account of the Word that makes us all saints” (Large Catechism, K/W 399:91-92). Fill your ears and hearts and minds with the Word of God, especially next week, and there is that much less room for the sin, destruction, and nihilism of this world.

By what means will we keep our hearts pure in the midst of this world? Here Dr. Luther instructs us, “Let me tell you this. Even though you know the Word perfectly and have already mastered everything, you are daily under the dominion of the devil, and he does not rest day or night in seeking to take you unawares and to kindle in your heart unbelief and wicked thoughts against [all God’s commandments]. Therefore you must constantly keep God’s Word in your heart, on your lips, and in your ears. For where the heart stands idle and the Word is not heard, the devil breaks in and does his damage before we realize it. On the other hand, when we seriously ponder the Word, hear it, and put it to use, such is its power that it never departs without fruit. It always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devotion, and it constantly creates clean hearts and minds. For this Word is not idle or dead, but effective and living. Even if no other benefit or need drove us to the Word, yet everyone should be motivated by the realization that through the Word the devil is cast out and put to flight, [the Third Commandment] is fulfilled, and God is more pleased than by any hypocrisy, no matter how brilliant” (LC, K/W 400:100-102).

We will not be pure because we’ve somehow kept our hearts and actions free from sin: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We are pure because the Word of God in flesh continues to cleanse and purify us: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). Cleansed, we are clean. Purified, we are pure. And our way becomes the way of God’s testimonies in Christ: In the way of Your testimonies I exult, over all wealth, over everything in this world. Let us never forget the Word that purifies and makes us holy! “In these last days of great distress grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness that we keep pure till life is spent Your holy Word and Sacrament… Stay with us, Lord, and keep us true; preserve our faith our whole life through—Your Word alone our heart’s defense, the Church’s glorious confidence” (585:2, 6).

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, 3/20/24