In the grip of unbelief, we love to pretend that the passage of time makes it unnecessary to trust in Jesus. We think that the modern era, or the postmodern era, or whatever unbelievers cook up after that makes simple trust, simple faith, somehow outdated.
This is how the immaturity of every form of rebellion likes to cloak itself, pretending to have achieved maturity. We have outgrown those fairy tales, they say. Noah and the ark? Are you kidding? Six day creation? Do you think I am a child? But it is faux-maturity, and every faithless generation has operated this way.
“That’s all very well for our simpler ancestors . . . they were less evolved . . . we have grown wise . . .” and so on.
But the rudiments remain the same. We are sinners, and we need a savior. We are lost, and we need to be found. We are guilty, and we need to be cleansed. We are rejected, and we need to be accepted.
You are here because you have been summoned here by the gospel. You are here because the Word of God, in every generation, gathers God’s people. His sheep hear His voice, and they do not trust the voices of thieves and robbers. They do not trust the words of flatterers. They do not follow lies.
And so we are gathered here to give praise to God the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name and righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord. Because we are doing this in gladness and simplicity of heart, and because we are not trying to commend ourselves in any way, God receives us gladly. We are about to confess our sins, and we are able to do so because God has made provision. He is our God. Why wouldn’t He make provision for us?