But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.

I came across a Peanuts cartoon that I would like to share with you this morning. In it Lucy is talking to Charlie Brown and she is saying, “I’ll hold the football and come running and kick it.”

Charlie responses, “Oh Brother, you must think that I’m really stupid.”

Lucy says, “I know you don’t trust me, Charlie Brown…You think that I’m going to pull this football away just when come running up to kick it… Well here’s a signed note testifying that I promise not to do it.”

“Wow,” responses Charlie, “a signed document.” In the next frame here comes Charlie Brown running full speed. “I guess if you have a signed document in your possession, you can’t really go wrong…This year I’m really going to kick that football.”

And just as he gets to it, Lucy jerks the ball away and he lands with a big “thump!” In the last frame Lucy, looking at the note responds, “Peculiar thing about this document is that it was never notarized.”

In Lucy there is a lot of “yes and no.”

In today’s Epistle’s lesson we hear of some “yes and no.” Paul’s adversaries are criticizing him for making plans to come to Corinth and not following through when he said he would- “you say your coming and you don’t come.” They are trying to discredit him and the message he brings about Christ.

We live in a time in when many people discredit the message of Christ because of the way we live out our Christianity. A group of young people when asked to come to church replied, “Why would we come to your church, we see the people who go there. They pray real loud on Sunday, but we see how unchristian they act on Monday.” Sometimes I fear that my lifestyle, what I say and do, is not a very good witness for Christ; it is a mixed message of “yes and nos.” (to the chant of “I Love Jesus”) “I love Jesus, yes, I do! But sadly, I love my sinfulness, too.”

The Palmist writes that He redeems my life from the pit, but, oh, how quickly we often slither back into the slimy pit of our sinful and selfish thoughts and behavior. The psalmist writes, He crowns me with (His) love and compassion and we say in here on Sunday “Yes, yes, that is all I need,” but by Monday how many of us are seeking after earthly crowns of acceptance. I fear we often say, “ yes to God”, but our yeses are quickly forgotten when temptation comes round.

Sadly, there are other times when we say the “yes” but live a “no”. It happens when we confess our sins and hear that, “yes, we are forgiven by God!” but we live as though we are not forgiven or refuse to forgive ourselves. We play a deadly game of “yes and no” when we ask God to forgive us but we say “no” to others when they ask for our forgiveness. “Too many times we confess a “yes” and live a “no”. Too many times we are filled with uncertainty.

In Lucy we saw some “yes and no.” In St Paul his enemies wanted to point out his “yes and nos.” In our sinfulness, just like the rest of the world, we live lives filled with “yes and no,” and apart from Christ all would perish. Where we are “yes and no” Christ is a solid “YES!”

Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to save us from our sins. “Yes,” I will send you a Savior and here He is in the person of Jesus. With great certainty Jesus sets His face towards Jerusalem and ultimately the cross.

In our Gospel lesson Jesus forgives the paralyzed man his sins. By claiming to have the authority to forgive sins He is claiming to be God in flesh appearing for who can forgives sins but God alone. This claim to forgive sins is an offense to self-righteous men, then as now, men who think they will be saved by doing more good than bad – “by piously striving to keep the law."

The road to heaven is not paved with good intentions nor good works. It is paved only by the forgiveness of sins, and so “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins,” Jesus said to the paralytic, “I tell you to get up , take your mat and go home.” And he did. Jesus’ Word is certain. If He says you are healed then you are healed. If He says your sins are forgiven then they are forgiven. In the works of man there is uncertainty and doubt- I hope I’ve done enough to merit heaven,- but in Me there is the certainty of “Yes!”

We hear that divine “Yes” in absolution. As pastor, I announce not my forgiveness but God’s forgiveness. The risen Christ said to his disciples, If you forgive anyone their sins they are forgiven. (John 20.23) By the work of the Holy Spirit help us to live as ones forgiven by Christ. Help us to set aside our doubts and live the “yes” of forgiveness.

We hear that divine “yes” in baptism. Baptism now saves us not by the removal of dirt from the body but by a pledge of God’s good conscience towards us( 1st Pet 21) - a pledge from God that we who were once slaves to sin are now His forgiven children. To His children He speaks a “yes.” Yes to pour out His Spirit upon us; yes, to forgive us; yes, to create real and saving faith in us; yes, to hear our prayers and watch over us.

We hear the divine “yes” in communion. All that is God is joined to the bread and wine not by our faith for if it were up to us it would be uncertain, but all that is God is here by Jesus’ declaration. By His powerful word He joins Himself to bread and wine in a special and sacramental way. In communion He says “yes” to us. Yes, I am really with you and for you. By the faith created in us we take hold of the forgiveness of sins that Jesus has joined to His Supper.

We hear a divine “yes” when the Scriptures are read and studied. By that Word, He puts His Spirit into our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. It was by that Word and working of the Holy Spirit that the risen Jesus really opened the eyes of the discouraged disciples walking down the road to Emmaus. In case you don’t know the story, two men were leaving Jerusalem on Easter Sunday thinking all was lost, the one they thought to be the Promised on of God had been crucified, dead and buried. The risen Christ came along side them and beginning with Moses and all the Prophets He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning the Promised One. He explained the cross to them- this is the price that forgiveness of sins demands, a price that God willingly paid. When Jesus died on that cross, God said, “Yes, it is all paid for.” Then the risen Christ declared to them and to all of us that whoever believes in the Son and what He did by His life, death, and resurrection will not perish but have eternal life. This is My divine “YES!” and it is notarized by the Son’s blood and attested to by those who have seen the risen Christ.

All around are people who are living with the Lucys of this world that make big promises and then jerk the ball out from in front of them, causing them to stumble and fall. They, like us, need to hear of the One who will not do that, the One whose promises are certain. The One who can and does transform lives with His “YES”.

There will be those who watch our lives and point out our shortcomings- praying loud on Sunday and stumbling on Mondays. Let them also see that we treasure God’s forgiveness and because of it we seek to turn from our sins and to have our lives transformed by His grace. Perfect we are not; forgiven is what we are.

They, like us, need to hear of the One who by His Word, by His absolution, by His baptism and Supper will pick up and restore those who have fallen. The One who gives to us the prizes attached to the divine “yes”- forgiveness, life, and salvation. Along with these, by and through His Word, He gives us comfort, hope and peace to live out our days.

Amen