Sometimes people will go out of their way to avoid questions they do not like. Sometimes, they will argue even the minutest of details if they believe they can escape an argument with their particular point of view completely in tact. Their attention to the minutia can be infuriating, but we should not be surprised by it. When facts appear that challenge our viewpoint and shake the foundations of our worldview, we are more apt to push back, make excuses, and raise objections than we are to accept those facts.
Long ago, I shared the story written by Ed Friendman called, “The Power of Belief.” In this story, a man told everyone that he was dead. Family and friends first tried to argue with him, but to no avail. Each time the man came up with some sort of argument as to why he was dead. If the family actually backed the man into a corner, he would play his trump card, “If I am dead, you do not exist..., since surely the living do not traffic with the dead.”
Finally, his family, believing he had gone nuts, invited a doctor talk to the man. This proved fruitless as the doctor left muttering that the man was hopelessly psychotic. The family turned to their local clergy person who left the house equally frustrated and saying things no man of God should say.
In desperation, the family called in the doctor who had nursed the man through childhood and young adulthood. The family doctor came in with his gentle demeanor and the wisdom borne of years of hard work.
In conversation, the doctor asked the man, “Do dead men bleed?”
The man responded, “No.”
The doctor then asked if he could make a small cut on the man’s arm promising to clean it thoroughly to prevent infection. The man agreed as he said, “Dead men do not get infections, nor do they bleed, doctor.” The man rolled up his sleeve.
The doctor made a small cut, and immediately the blood flowed. The family cheered. The doctor said, “Well, I hope that puts an end to this foolishness.”
The man, however, simply said, “I see that I was wrong. Dead men, in fact, do bleed.”
There were more than a few who, when confronted with the reality of the wrath of God who did not like what they heard, and they would go to great lengths to justify why they believed God would not nor could not unleash His wrath upon us. Today, as we turn to chapter three of the book of Romans, we see Paul dealing with some of those arguments–some of those questions that arose from Paul’s contention that all deserved God’s judgment upon them. And they go to great lengths to try and justify themselves.
Please remember that Paul has just brought devastating news to those who believed their Jewish faith saved them. Paul has just cut them off at the knees and said, “No. Neither knowing the Law, nor being circumcised will give you any benefit at the judgment. Just because you know the Law doesn’t mean you follow it, and if you don’t follow it, you might as well turn in your Jew card because a Gentile that follows the Law without even knowing it is a better Jew than you are.”
This strong critique sets the stage for the series of questions that Paul deals with at the beginning of chapter three. We being with verses one and two, Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. After what Paul has just written at the end of chapter two, you would expect him to have answered that the Jew had no advantage–that circumcision had zero value. But Paul does not. As we will see later in the book of Romans that Paul’s understanding of the Gospel is deeply rooted in the Old Testament–with God’s relationship with the Jews. For God made promises to the Jews–to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and so on and so forth. If there is no advantage to being a Jew, these promises are null and void. But God is faithful!! It is Paul’s sincere belief that these promises have been fulfilled–not nullified by the Gospel.
Therefore, to understand what has happened in Jesus, you must understand God’s relationship to the people of Israel. You must understand what God has revealed to Israel. You must understand God’s self-revelation; His teaching; His Law. The Jews were trusted with these things and had a special relationship with God because of this. But it also must be said that being entrusted with God’s Word meant much more than being caretakers; preservers; and recorders of these “oracles” as Paul says. It meant faithfulness and obedience–and Paul has just shown that the Jews had been neither faithful nor obedient. Despite having and knowing God’s will, they failed.
It’s not surprising given that we as Christians can claim the same thing. I know it’s not necessarily chic to claim that anyone knows the Truth, but in a very real way, we as Christians can claim that we know a piece of the Ultimate Truth. It’s not something we discovered–it is something that God has chosen to reveal to us. He has revealed His nature; His glory; His forgiveness; His love through Jesus Christ. He has also revealed His will. Now, we must make a distinction here because there are many parts of God’s will that remain hidden from us–we don’t know God’s will about who we are supposed to marry; what kind of job we are supposed to have; whether or not it is time to move to another job; how many kids we are supposed to have; what city we should live in; what we should have for lunch today. These things must be discerned with time, prayer, and effort. You cannot simply turn to a certain verse in the Bible and discover these things.
But there are certain portions of God’s will that we can unequivocally say, “Yes. We know this is the will of God!” Like–the two most important commandments are: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; and love your neighbor as your love yourself. We can unequivocally say that it is the will of God that we love one another as Jesus loved us. We can say that it is the will of God that the hungry are fed; the thirsty are given drink; the sick and imprisoned are visited. There are many, many more things I could add to this list. And, the sad part is, we know we have failed to follow the will of God. We have failed to accomplish what He has intended for us. So, does that mean God has abandoned us? Does that mean that when God judges us, He has forsaken His promises to us?
Hence, the next objection to Paul’s teaching arises: 3What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written, ‘So that you may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging.’ This is actually a nit-picky sort of question that Paul has to address here, but it is quite relevant to the discussion. It’s similar to those who say, “I can’t imagine a God of overwhelming, inexhaustible love sending anyone to hell. To believe such a thing contradicts the understanding that God is love.” The objection Paul is basically dealing with is this: if God judges the Jews doesn’t that mean He has rejected them. And if He has rejected them, doesn’t that mean God is not faithful to the promises He made them?
Paul responds with two quotes from scriptures, both from the Psalms. First Paul quotes Psalm 116:11 and then turns to Psalm 51:4. Now, before we put these quotes together, we need to understand what Paul means by the terms of true and liar. For Paul, the understanding of God being true does not mean honesty–as we understand telling the truth. For Paul, truth is rooted in the Hebrew concept of being reliable or trustworthy. And liar, for Paul means unreliable or faithless. And while humans are unreliable and faithless, God certainly is not. Psalm 51:4 shows unequivocally that God will judge those who are not faithful. Therefore, God is faithful when He showers blessings upon the obedient, and God is faithful when He judges those who are disobedient. God is being consistent with what He said He would do. If you are faithful and put your trust in God, you have no worries, but if you are not faithful and put your trust in something else, God will give you up to that desire for eternity just like He said He would. This is not rocket science.
But, again, as I said before, some folks won’t quit. They will continue to raise objections, and Paul has been hearing them for some time. He deals with the next one in sequence. 5But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6By no means! For then how could God judge the world? This goes back to something I preached on a few years ago in regards to the moon. When we look into the night sky, we see the moon shining a brilliant white as it reflects the sun’s light back to the earth. Yet, in reality, the moon is actually the color of asphalt–dark to light gray. So, why does it appear brilliant white? Because of the darkness of space. Space is so dark, that asphalt appears brilliant white up against it.
When we compare God’s justice against our injustice, God stands out brilliant; holy; incomparable. God is a majestic, snow topped mountain compared to us as a mound of garbage. The contrast makes God look really, really good! So, why would God judge us if we make Him look so good? Doesn’t He stand out more when we are unjust? Aren’t we helping God look good when we are evil? And isn’t it unjust of Him to judge us when we make Him look so good?
Paul doesn’t deal with the morality of the argument. Instead, he simply shuts this one down with the question: well, then how could God judge the world? You see, everyone agreed that God would judge the world. That was not in question. And God isn’t going to judge us on whether or not we made God look good. It’s impossible to make God any greater than He already is. We will be judged, as Paul has said before, on whether or not we have followed the Law–if we are Jewish; or by whatever standards we hold another person to–if we are Gentile. This question is actually a bogus question, but people will grasp at anything to avoid what they don’t like.
And so, there is one more that is tried. 7But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), ‘Let us do evil so that good may come’? Their condemnation is deserved! This is an old objection to Paul’s theology. It continues to hang around in some circles even today. It’s basically the old argument, “I like to sin. God likes to forgive sin. Therefore, I will sin as much as I can so that God can forgive as much as He can, and He can reveal His love and glory over and over and over because I am sinning.”
Paul responds, “You deserve your condemnation.” Paul knows this is really, really grasping at straws, and the thought that people have accused him of this train of thought obviously has gotten to him a bit. Paul again doesn’t bother to argue because he knows this is simply an avoidance question. I mean, if you think about the reality of what the question suggests, you see just how patently absurd it is. Let’s press it, shall we.
The person who asks this question would be buying into the following logic: God says don’t murder. God is also forgiving and His glory shines when He forgives. Therefore, I will murder so that God can forgive, and His glory will shine because I murder. If you believe this, you are a special kind of stupid. As Paul says, “You deserve condemnation.”
But this kind of argument goes to show the lengths that some will go to hold onto their particular ideology–their particular worldview. It shows just how stubborn some people–well, all people–can be. Don’t pretend that at some level you aren’t the same way. Don’t pretend that there are areas in your life that you and I don’t guard even to ridiculous extremes. Don’t pretend that we are above this kind of action. Even when the strongest evidence possible is given to us, we are more apt to say, “Dead men do bleed,” instead of admitting that we are alive. We are more apt to say that we are good, decent, honest people, instead of admitting that we deserve God’s wrath. We are more apt to dismiss the reality of hell and eternal punishment so that we can live without a holy and reverent fear of the one who created and yes, who will indeed judge each and every one of us. The stubbornness and hard heartedness of human nature runs very deep to the point where we deserve condemnation. There is no escaping that fact, and the only question is: is there a way to avoid it? Is there something that can fundamentally change our human nature and crush our stubborn hearts of stone?
The answer is: Yes. There is. Yes. There is. We will see it shortly. Amen.
Showing posts with label God's Wrath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's Wrath. Show all posts
Monday, October 17, 2016
Monday, September 26, 2016
Religious Hypocrites: Romans 2:1-11
Growing up, my dad often warned me with these words, “Be careful of pointing your finger at someone because you will have three pointing right back at you.”
Being the little smart-alec that I was, I started pointing with an open hand.
Others have offered these words of wisdom, “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks.”
Being the smart-alec that I am, I’d respond, “I’ll live in a brick house.”
Excuses can come easy if you really want them to, but if you live long enough, take time to reflect on life long enough, and if you probe the depths of your own heart at some station in life, then you will come to see these anecdotes as a description of reality. You will come to see the hypocrisy in your judgment. You will find yourself condemned by your own moral standards. Oh, some of you may readily disagree. Some of you may believe that you not only talk the talk but you walk the walk, but the hard, cold fact of the matter is: we generally are hypocrites without even knowing it, and in the eyes of God, we bring condemnation upon ourselves.
We have just finished a scathing portion of the book of Romans. In chapter one verses 18-32, Paul has laid out a horrid condemnation of humanity beginning with the premise that there are those who have traded the worship of the Creator for the created. These folks’ hearts have been corrupted, and they chase after idols–false gods. They seek their security, safety, worth, value, meaning, and purpose in goods and ideas that can never satisfy–and, in fact, instead of giving freedom and value, they actually end up destroying a person. Hence, God “gave them up” to follow their desires so that the very fabric of God’s created order unravels and they find themselves in hell long before they die. Chapter one ends in this fashion.
But what about people who do believe in God and worship God? What about people who strive to follow God’s commands? What about people who agree that all those things Paul listed at the end of chapter one are wrong and abhorrent? I mean, most of us would agree that the following are indeed wrong: “wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, gossips 30slander, God-hating, insolence, haughtiness, boastfulness, inventing evil, rebellious towards parents, 31foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness, ruthlessness. Paul says that all of these things flow from a heart which is not seeking God–a heart that does not worship God.
This leaves the door wide open for someone to say, “Well, I do worship God. I do honor God. I am not like all those other people. I do not stand condemned. They are the ones with the problem–not me.” Paul now turns his attention to such a one as Romans chapter 2 begins.
The apostle writes, “Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. 2You say, ‘We know that God’s judgement on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.’ 3Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgement of God?” This must have seemed a bit confusing to those who heard it. They might have thought, “What do you mean, Paul? I strive to avoid such matters. I don’t engage in homosexual acts. I am worshiping God. I work hard to love my neighbor and avoid all those things you listed. How am I condemning myself when I point out the ugly things that people are doing? How am I being hypocritical? How am I doing those things you are talking about?”
Paul continues, “4Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed.” The clue to this dilemma can be found right here in verse five, “but by your hard and impenitent heart.” These words are the lynch pin of this whole diatribe.
Paul points out that it is in God’s nature to be very forgiving; to be patient; to be kind. This kindness, forgiveness, and patience is meant to melt our hearts–to turn us away from idolatry and toward Him. This is what repentance is. Repentance isn’t just turning away from doing bad things and then doing good things. Repentance is a total change of heart–a change from worshiping idols and worshiping God. Paul is pointing out that this change of heart has not occurred. Paul is pointing out that even these religious folks are committing idolatry, and odds are, they have no idea they are doing it. I will explain what is going on in just a moment. We need to add the next couple of verses to get there.
6For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: 7to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 9There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. Now we come to a very interesting point because Paul says that God will repay each of us according to our deeds. If we misunderstand what Paul is saying here, we will come to the conclusion that we’d better get our act together and do as many nice things as we possibly can. We’d better worship regularly. We’d better give to charity and the church. We’d better treat others with respect and kindness. We’d better balance the scales in the favor of doing good because if we haven’t done enough, we will end up in the fires of hell!
But wait a minute. Paul began this chapter addressing people who believed they were doing just this thing. Paul began this chapter by addressing people who thought they were worshiping God who were not committing all the acts laid out in chapter one. He said they were building up wrath for themselves. He said that they had a hardness of heart. How can that be?
Well, let’s return to how Paul defines what it means to do good–to seek for glory and honor and immortality. Paul also defines what it means to do evil–to be self-seeking and obey wickedness or injustice. Hold those two definitions beside each other for just a moment. Doing evil is to be self-seeking. Doing evil is to be consumed with self. And if that is the case, does doing good mean that I am seeking my own glory; my own honor; my own immortality? It cannot!! Hence, doing good means I must be seeking the glory, honor, and immortality of something else. It must mean that I must be seeking the glory, honor, and immortality of God. It means my heart must be tuned to and I must be living for God.
Here is where I hope to clear things up. Here is where I hope to show you how this all comes together. For you see, Paul is telling us that you can do good deeds for the wrong reason. Let me say that again, you can do good deeds for the wrong reason. You can do good deeds and be completely and totally self-serving!
How so? Let me show you by this imaginary dialogue.
So, I notice you go to church. Why?
It makes me feel good, and I know I won’t end up in hell.
I also notice that you give to the church. Why?
It makes me feel good, and I know I won’t end up in hell.
I notice that you are kind to others. Why?
It makes me feel good, and I know I won’t end up in hell.
I notice that you give to charity. Why?
It makes me feel good and I know I won’t end up in hell.
I noticed that you try and follow the Ten Commandments all the time. Why?
I don’t want to make God angry and feel bad about myself.
Let’s stop the dialogue right there, and let me ask you: for whose sake is the imaginary person acting? Who is the imaginary religious person actually serving? Me. Myself. And I. The person is not doing these deeds for God’s sake. This person is actually self-serving. This person is actually seeking his or her own good. This person is not getting their sense of value, self-worth, safety and security from God–this person is getting their sense of value, self-worth, safety and security FROM THEIR GOOD WORKS. This person has made an idol out of their good works.
And if I feel like I am successful in doing good...
If I feel like I can accomplish living a good and upright moral life...
If I feel like such a life can be lived with making just a few life choices and sacrifices...
Then I can be very, very contemptuous of others who do not live the same kind of life I live. I can look down my nose at them and sneer. I can say they are the ones with the problem, not me. I’m doing good. I’m living right. I’m following God’s commands and worshiping Him. They are the ones with the idols, not me.
WRONG. You have an idol. You just can’t see it. Your self-righteousness blinds you to it. Your idol is your self. Hence every time you think you are doing good, you are simply storing God’s wrath up against yourself. You are not working and doing such things for God, you are doing them for you. While others are flat out rejecting God and turning to false forms of worship knowingly; you are rejecting God and serving yourself.
I have shared my testimony before you in the past, but it bears repeating now, for I do not want you to think that I am pointing fingers again. I learned my lesson from my father and from the brutal reality of my own life. For the bulk of my ministry, I now know that I was serving myself. If you would have told me this five years ago, I would have denied it vehemently!! I was a pastor. I was preaching God’s Word. I was helping a church to grow and do ministry! There was no way I was serving myself.
But after getting burned out, God revealed to me the deepest desires of my heart. I had to confront what I was living for–what I desperately wanted. I wanted to take a church and make it grow from very small to very big. I wanted this to happen because I wanted people to ask me how I did it in the mist of a culture that is more and more reluctant to embrace Christianity. I wanted people to take notice of my preaching and teaching. I wanted to write several books and become a popular author and public speaker. I wanted fame in the church and the obligatory fortune that would come with it. These were the deepest desires of my heart, and when this congregation didn’t grow as expected–when I felt like you weren’t holding up your end of what I thought you should do, then I became contemptuous of you. I became angry with you. You were why the church wasn’t growing. It just couldn’t be me. I was pouring my heart out to make you grow...so that I could reap the rewards. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. I deserve your contempt and hatred. It is only just. Even in the midst of preaching God’s word and working in the church, I was not serving Him.
This is why Paul pens verse 11, “For God shows no partiality.” It doesn’t matter if you are doing wrong because you flat out reject God or doing right because you are serving yourself. In neither fashion are you worshiping the true God. In neither case are you seeking His glory, honor, or immortality. In both cases you are serving yourself. In both cases, there is a hardness of heart. In both cases sin is abounding, and in both cases, God’s wrath burns hot.
Paul unequivocally shows with these words that both the religious person and the irreligious person are under the condemnation of God. Both the religious person and the irreligious person are pursuing idols. It’s a hard, hard pill to swallow.
But the good news is that there is a cure. We will not hear that cure today. Not yet. There is still more preparatory work to be done on our hearts. There is still more groundwork that needs to be laid, but hang in there. Walk through this time. Feel the anger of God mounting as you realize the depths of your sin. When the gospel is announced–when Paul reveals what God has done, you will understand why it is called amazing grace. Amen.
Being the little smart-alec that I was, I started pointing with an open hand.
Others have offered these words of wisdom, “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks.”
Being the smart-alec that I am, I’d respond, “I’ll live in a brick house.”
Excuses can come easy if you really want them to, but if you live long enough, take time to reflect on life long enough, and if you probe the depths of your own heart at some station in life, then you will come to see these anecdotes as a description of reality. You will come to see the hypocrisy in your judgment. You will find yourself condemned by your own moral standards. Oh, some of you may readily disagree. Some of you may believe that you not only talk the talk but you walk the walk, but the hard, cold fact of the matter is: we generally are hypocrites without even knowing it, and in the eyes of God, we bring condemnation upon ourselves.
We have just finished a scathing portion of the book of Romans. In chapter one verses 18-32, Paul has laid out a horrid condemnation of humanity beginning with the premise that there are those who have traded the worship of the Creator for the created. These folks’ hearts have been corrupted, and they chase after idols–false gods. They seek their security, safety, worth, value, meaning, and purpose in goods and ideas that can never satisfy–and, in fact, instead of giving freedom and value, they actually end up destroying a person. Hence, God “gave them up” to follow their desires so that the very fabric of God’s created order unravels and they find themselves in hell long before they die. Chapter one ends in this fashion.
But what about people who do believe in God and worship God? What about people who strive to follow God’s commands? What about people who agree that all those things Paul listed at the end of chapter one are wrong and abhorrent? I mean, most of us would agree that the following are indeed wrong: “wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, gossips 30slander, God-hating, insolence, haughtiness, boastfulness, inventing evil, rebellious towards parents, 31foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness, ruthlessness. Paul says that all of these things flow from a heart which is not seeking God–a heart that does not worship God.
This leaves the door wide open for someone to say, “Well, I do worship God. I do honor God. I am not like all those other people. I do not stand condemned. They are the ones with the problem–not me.” Paul now turns his attention to such a one as Romans chapter 2 begins.
The apostle writes, “Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. 2You say, ‘We know that God’s judgement on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.’ 3Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgement of God?” This must have seemed a bit confusing to those who heard it. They might have thought, “What do you mean, Paul? I strive to avoid such matters. I don’t engage in homosexual acts. I am worshiping God. I work hard to love my neighbor and avoid all those things you listed. How am I condemning myself when I point out the ugly things that people are doing? How am I being hypocritical? How am I doing those things you are talking about?”
Paul continues, “4Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed.” The clue to this dilemma can be found right here in verse five, “but by your hard and impenitent heart.” These words are the lynch pin of this whole diatribe.
Paul points out that it is in God’s nature to be very forgiving; to be patient; to be kind. This kindness, forgiveness, and patience is meant to melt our hearts–to turn us away from idolatry and toward Him. This is what repentance is. Repentance isn’t just turning away from doing bad things and then doing good things. Repentance is a total change of heart–a change from worshiping idols and worshiping God. Paul is pointing out that this change of heart has not occurred. Paul is pointing out that even these religious folks are committing idolatry, and odds are, they have no idea they are doing it. I will explain what is going on in just a moment. We need to add the next couple of verses to get there.
6For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: 7to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 9There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. Now we come to a very interesting point because Paul says that God will repay each of us according to our deeds. If we misunderstand what Paul is saying here, we will come to the conclusion that we’d better get our act together and do as many nice things as we possibly can. We’d better worship regularly. We’d better give to charity and the church. We’d better treat others with respect and kindness. We’d better balance the scales in the favor of doing good because if we haven’t done enough, we will end up in the fires of hell!
But wait a minute. Paul began this chapter addressing people who believed they were doing just this thing. Paul began this chapter by addressing people who thought they were worshiping God who were not committing all the acts laid out in chapter one. He said they were building up wrath for themselves. He said that they had a hardness of heart. How can that be?
Well, let’s return to how Paul defines what it means to do good–to seek for glory and honor and immortality. Paul also defines what it means to do evil–to be self-seeking and obey wickedness or injustice. Hold those two definitions beside each other for just a moment. Doing evil is to be self-seeking. Doing evil is to be consumed with self. And if that is the case, does doing good mean that I am seeking my own glory; my own honor; my own immortality? It cannot!! Hence, doing good means I must be seeking the glory, honor, and immortality of something else. It must mean that I must be seeking the glory, honor, and immortality of God. It means my heart must be tuned to and I must be living for God.
Here is where I hope to clear things up. Here is where I hope to show you how this all comes together. For you see, Paul is telling us that you can do good deeds for the wrong reason. Let me say that again, you can do good deeds for the wrong reason. You can do good deeds and be completely and totally self-serving!
How so? Let me show you by this imaginary dialogue.
So, I notice you go to church. Why?
It makes me feel good, and I know I won’t end up in hell.
I also notice that you give to the church. Why?
It makes me feel good, and I know I won’t end up in hell.
I notice that you are kind to others. Why?
It makes me feel good, and I know I won’t end up in hell.
I notice that you give to charity. Why?
It makes me feel good and I know I won’t end up in hell.
I noticed that you try and follow the Ten Commandments all the time. Why?
I don’t want to make God angry and feel bad about myself.
Let’s stop the dialogue right there, and let me ask you: for whose sake is the imaginary person acting? Who is the imaginary religious person actually serving? Me. Myself. And I. The person is not doing these deeds for God’s sake. This person is actually self-serving. This person is actually seeking his or her own good. This person is not getting their sense of value, self-worth, safety and security from God–this person is getting their sense of value, self-worth, safety and security FROM THEIR GOOD WORKS. This person has made an idol out of their good works.
And if I feel like I am successful in doing good...
If I feel like I can accomplish living a good and upright moral life...
If I feel like such a life can be lived with making just a few life choices and sacrifices...
Then I can be very, very contemptuous of others who do not live the same kind of life I live. I can look down my nose at them and sneer. I can say they are the ones with the problem, not me. I’m doing good. I’m living right. I’m following God’s commands and worshiping Him. They are the ones with the idols, not me.
WRONG. You have an idol. You just can’t see it. Your self-righteousness blinds you to it. Your idol is your self. Hence every time you think you are doing good, you are simply storing God’s wrath up against yourself. You are not working and doing such things for God, you are doing them for you. While others are flat out rejecting God and turning to false forms of worship knowingly; you are rejecting God and serving yourself.
I have shared my testimony before you in the past, but it bears repeating now, for I do not want you to think that I am pointing fingers again. I learned my lesson from my father and from the brutal reality of my own life. For the bulk of my ministry, I now know that I was serving myself. If you would have told me this five years ago, I would have denied it vehemently!! I was a pastor. I was preaching God’s Word. I was helping a church to grow and do ministry! There was no way I was serving myself.
But after getting burned out, God revealed to me the deepest desires of my heart. I had to confront what I was living for–what I desperately wanted. I wanted to take a church and make it grow from very small to very big. I wanted this to happen because I wanted people to ask me how I did it in the mist of a culture that is more and more reluctant to embrace Christianity. I wanted people to take notice of my preaching and teaching. I wanted to write several books and become a popular author and public speaker. I wanted fame in the church and the obligatory fortune that would come with it. These were the deepest desires of my heart, and when this congregation didn’t grow as expected–when I felt like you weren’t holding up your end of what I thought you should do, then I became contemptuous of you. I became angry with you. You were why the church wasn’t growing. It just couldn’t be me. I was pouring my heart out to make you grow...so that I could reap the rewards. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. I deserve your contempt and hatred. It is only just. Even in the midst of preaching God’s word and working in the church, I was not serving Him.
This is why Paul pens verse 11, “For God shows no partiality.” It doesn’t matter if you are doing wrong because you flat out reject God or doing right because you are serving yourself. In neither fashion are you worshiping the true God. In neither case are you seeking His glory, honor, or immortality. In both cases you are serving yourself. In both cases, there is a hardness of heart. In both cases sin is abounding, and in both cases, God’s wrath burns hot.
Paul unequivocally shows with these words that both the religious person and the irreligious person are under the condemnation of God. Both the religious person and the irreligious person are pursuing idols. It’s a hard, hard pill to swallow.
But the good news is that there is a cure. We will not hear that cure today. Not yet. There is still more preparatory work to be done on our hearts. There is still more groundwork that needs to be laid, but hang in there. Walk through this time. Feel the anger of God mounting as you realize the depths of your sin. When the gospel is announced–when Paul reveals what God has done, you will understand why it is called amazing grace. Amen.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Romans 1:24-32: The World Unravels
I remember vividly an episode from my teenage years. Like all teenagers, I had a rebellious streak. I didn’t want to abide by all of the rules and impositions my parents had instituted. I wanted to stretch my wings. Do the things that I wanted to do. I was very much like most teens in the world. And on one such occasion, I lost my temper. I wanted to do a particular thing–I don’t remember what it was–and I was denied. I threw a fit.
And my dad responded, “Whenever you think you are grown enough to do what you want to do, just pack your suitcase and leave.”
I went to my room and pulled out my suitcase. And then I began to plan. I had exactly $274 in my wallet. I would go to my friend Kevin’s house. It was a long walk, but I could make it. I would ask to stay there. But what then? Would they let me stay long term? Would they feed me? Would they buy me clothes? What would happen if I spent all my money and had nothing left? What would happen then? Where would I find myself. Visions of standing at the end of a sidewalk with no place to go, no place to stay, broke and alone filled my head.
I put my suitcase up.
Maybe you can relate, but I want to intentionally shift the focus of this story, because I don’t want us to think about us for the time being. I want to shift the focus of this story to my dad. Because it is only in hindsight that I can see what my dad was doing. He was giving me up. I worded that last sentence very carefully. My dad was not giving up on me. He was giving me up. Essentially he was saying, “If you want your freedom, take it! There is the door. Go!”
Even though I didn’t know what my dad was doing at the time, when I began thinking about it, it scared the hell out of me. I realized I still needed my parents. Freedom wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
What would happen if God granted us that freedom? What if God gave us up? We don’t have to wonder what would happen. We know. We have a biblical history of what that looks like, and that biblical history informs St. Paul as he continues laying out his condemnation of humankind in the book of Romans. Once again, I warn you, this journey is a dark journey for a while. We will travel in darkness before we see the light. And once again–like last week–I offer my apologies in advance. We will not get to Jesus’ saving action today. We will not hear John 3:16-17. Our hearts must be prepared to hear the Gospel. As I said last week, by the time we are done with the next two chapters either our hearts will be hardened so that we no longer want anything to do with God, or they will be crushed to the point that we rediscover just how amazing God’s love through Jesus is. We will rediscover amazing grace.
Last week, I ended my sermon revealing how we are deserving of God’s wrath because we do not honor or worship Him as God. We chase our idols of family, wealth, status, free time, government, and the like. We chase them because we believe they will bring us fulfillment. We believe they will bring us safety and security. We believe they will bring us true life. But they do not. They lead us down a path of destruction. Deep down, there is a part of us that knows this, but as Paul said last week, we deceive ourselves. We tell ourselves that we are just fine–that there is nothing wrong with what we do or what we live for. Stubbornly, we cling to our idols.
And this is where Paul continues today. Verse 24, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen.” God said, “If you want your freedom to follow your heart’s desire, you have it. Go get it!” One commentator said it best. God did not simply give us freedom. No, that would mean we would be without desire and free to choose whatever we wanted. God gave us the freedom to pursue the lusts of our hearts. Not only did God say, “Go pack your suitcase.” Essentially God said, “Here, let’s pack. And then after helping you pack, He shoved you out the door.” Sometimes there is no reasoning. Sometimes there is no begging and pleading. Sometimes there is no sitting down in a rational, loveable manner and showing another the consequences of his or her actions. Sometimes a heart is hell bent on trying to get what it wants, and no matter what you say; no matter what you do; you will not prevent a person from trying to get it.
Have you ever tried to keep an alcoholic from getting another drink?
Have you ever tried to keep an addict from taking another hit?
Have you ever tried to keep a sexual pervert away from porn?
Have you ever tried to keep a Cowboy’s fan from reliving the 90's? Okay, perhaps that last one wasn’t fair.
But you know the futility. You know the impossibility. And if you have ever reached your wits end, you know what it is to give a person up. You know what it is to let that person go on in his or her self-destructive behavior. And if you are angry enough, you push them toward rock bottom.
When humanity decided to worship the creature instead of the creator because of the stubbornness and warping of their hearts, God gave them up.
Verse 26, For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, 27and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. I can hear the thoughts of some of you. “Oh, here we go. Time for some gay bashing.” I can hear the thoughts of others, “Now, it’s time to bring the hammer on the gay agenda and show them what God really feels toward those sinners. Time to tell them to repent of their sinfulness or end up in hell.”
First off, there will be no gay bashing–unless you call explaining what Paul says here gay bashing. And a Christian is not allowed to bash anyone–much less condemn a person to hell, so don’t expect me to do that either. These verses have been used as clobber verses toward gay people, and when used in such a fashion, they drive people away from the Good News. They drive people away from Jesus. This must never be our purpose. But we must not shy away from what Paul is conveying in these words either. He is making a very salient point.
More than a few scholars find it odd that Paul begins with homosexual acts for aren’t there other commands–other revelations of God which are seemingly more important? I mean, Paul himself argues later in Romans and in the book of Galatians that the entire law can be summed up in one great command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Why not begin with that command? Why begin with homosexual, sexual relations?
In this section of the book of Romans, Paul is showing us what happens when God gives us up. Paul is showing us what happens when God gives us the freedom to pursue the warped desires of our hearts. Paul is showing us the consequences of what happens when we replace God with idols. Nearly every scholar I consulted for this sermon agreed that the finely woven fabric of what God created begins to fray and come unraveled when we don’t have God in His proper place. Nearly every scholar said that when God is not the center of our lives and worship, then our lives begin to descend into chaos. God’s created order unravels. This is important. Let me say it again. God’s created order unravels.
So why start with homosexual behavior? Let me ask you a question: what is the first recorded command in the Bible? What is the first thing that God told humankind after He created them? Do you remember?
Let’s take a look. Please pick up the Bibles in your pews and turn to Genesis chapter one. For those of you who have forgotten the books of the Bible, knock the dust off, and turn to page one... Skip down to verse 27, and let’s read verses 27 and 28 together, “27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
So, what is God’s initial command to humanity? “Be fruitful and multiply and have stewardship over the earth.” Can a man and a man be fruitful and multiply? Can a woman and a woman be fruitful and multiply? You know the answer to that question. And before anyone starts in on me: yes, I am aware that there are couples who cannot have children, and no one thinks they are sinning. I am aware there are people who actively work to make sure they have no more children, including myself and no one causes a stir. But this isn’t about having children or not having children. It’s about how God ordered creation and how that order is maintained. Homosexuality is against that created order, and it contradicts the very first command given to humanity–a command which was issued BEFORE the giving of the Law to the Jewish people–a command woven into the very fabric of creation.
Paul begins with homosexuality for these reasons. Not that it is above other sins. Not that it is because homosexuality condemns a person to hell. I mean, as Timothy Keller says, “I know very well that heterosexuality doesn’t get you to heaven.” Not that it is to be the focus of the church’s activity in the world. Paul shows that when the Creator is replaced, even the most basic order of creation begins to be violated.
And then, it gets really, really bad. Verse 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. 29They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious towards parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. God gave them up to pursue the desires of their hearts, and in doing so, their minds became debased; warped; unhinged. The created order began to suffer even more. Take another look at that list of vices that St. Paul puts forward. Tell me that you have managed to escape every one of those vices. Tell me you have been able to avoid such things your whole life through. Tell me that to this day, you never boast, become greedy, spread gossip, or get upset at what someone else has. Tell me that you are not under the power of sin. Even you are corrupt and violate God’s natural order of things. God has given you over to the freedom to pursue the desires of your heart.
And the picture of reality isn’t pretty. Think about a world full of those vices. Think about a world full of people who are greedy, selfish, envious, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. Think about a world full of strife, deceit, murder, slander, and gossip. Think about a world where people applaud you for getting away with evil–where people encourage you to give into your every desire; where people affirm every decision you make whether it seem good or bad; where people call you a prude for doing good. Where people long for the hero to fall and gleefully laugh when he does. Would you like to live in that world? Do you believe that we thrive in such a world? Would you agree that a world like that could be described as hell?
When God gives us up to the freedom to pursue the desires of our hearts, then that’s exactly where we end up. Hell is not simply a reality after we die. It’s already here. It takes place when we replace God with idols. It takes place when we demand our freedom from God’s rule. God says, “Okay. Let me help you pack your bags. Let me walk you out the door. Good luck.” Continue down the path, and sooner rather than later, we will find ourselves at the end of some God-forsaken sidewalk with nowhere to go; nothing to do; alone; abandoned–in hell. Amen.
And my dad responded, “Whenever you think you are grown enough to do what you want to do, just pack your suitcase and leave.”
I went to my room and pulled out my suitcase. And then I began to plan. I had exactly $274 in my wallet. I would go to my friend Kevin’s house. It was a long walk, but I could make it. I would ask to stay there. But what then? Would they let me stay long term? Would they feed me? Would they buy me clothes? What would happen if I spent all my money and had nothing left? What would happen then? Where would I find myself. Visions of standing at the end of a sidewalk with no place to go, no place to stay, broke and alone filled my head.
I put my suitcase up.
Maybe you can relate, but I want to intentionally shift the focus of this story, because I don’t want us to think about us for the time being. I want to shift the focus of this story to my dad. Because it is only in hindsight that I can see what my dad was doing. He was giving me up. I worded that last sentence very carefully. My dad was not giving up on me. He was giving me up. Essentially he was saying, “If you want your freedom, take it! There is the door. Go!”
Even though I didn’t know what my dad was doing at the time, when I began thinking about it, it scared the hell out of me. I realized I still needed my parents. Freedom wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
What would happen if God granted us that freedom? What if God gave us up? We don’t have to wonder what would happen. We know. We have a biblical history of what that looks like, and that biblical history informs St. Paul as he continues laying out his condemnation of humankind in the book of Romans. Once again, I warn you, this journey is a dark journey for a while. We will travel in darkness before we see the light. And once again–like last week–I offer my apologies in advance. We will not get to Jesus’ saving action today. We will not hear John 3:16-17. Our hearts must be prepared to hear the Gospel. As I said last week, by the time we are done with the next two chapters either our hearts will be hardened so that we no longer want anything to do with God, or they will be crushed to the point that we rediscover just how amazing God’s love through Jesus is. We will rediscover amazing grace.
Last week, I ended my sermon revealing how we are deserving of God’s wrath because we do not honor or worship Him as God. We chase our idols of family, wealth, status, free time, government, and the like. We chase them because we believe they will bring us fulfillment. We believe they will bring us safety and security. We believe they will bring us true life. But they do not. They lead us down a path of destruction. Deep down, there is a part of us that knows this, but as Paul said last week, we deceive ourselves. We tell ourselves that we are just fine–that there is nothing wrong with what we do or what we live for. Stubbornly, we cling to our idols.
And this is where Paul continues today. Verse 24, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen.” God said, “If you want your freedom to follow your heart’s desire, you have it. Go get it!” One commentator said it best. God did not simply give us freedom. No, that would mean we would be without desire and free to choose whatever we wanted. God gave us the freedom to pursue the lusts of our hearts. Not only did God say, “Go pack your suitcase.” Essentially God said, “Here, let’s pack. And then after helping you pack, He shoved you out the door.” Sometimes there is no reasoning. Sometimes there is no begging and pleading. Sometimes there is no sitting down in a rational, loveable manner and showing another the consequences of his or her actions. Sometimes a heart is hell bent on trying to get what it wants, and no matter what you say; no matter what you do; you will not prevent a person from trying to get it.
Have you ever tried to keep an alcoholic from getting another drink?
Have you ever tried to keep an addict from taking another hit?
Have you ever tried to keep a sexual pervert away from porn?
Have you ever tried to keep a Cowboy’s fan from reliving the 90's? Okay, perhaps that last one wasn’t fair.
But you know the futility. You know the impossibility. And if you have ever reached your wits end, you know what it is to give a person up. You know what it is to let that person go on in his or her self-destructive behavior. And if you are angry enough, you push them toward rock bottom.
When humanity decided to worship the creature instead of the creator because of the stubbornness and warping of their hearts, God gave them up.
Verse 26, For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, 27and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. I can hear the thoughts of some of you. “Oh, here we go. Time for some gay bashing.” I can hear the thoughts of others, “Now, it’s time to bring the hammer on the gay agenda and show them what God really feels toward those sinners. Time to tell them to repent of their sinfulness or end up in hell.”
First off, there will be no gay bashing–unless you call explaining what Paul says here gay bashing. And a Christian is not allowed to bash anyone–much less condemn a person to hell, so don’t expect me to do that either. These verses have been used as clobber verses toward gay people, and when used in such a fashion, they drive people away from the Good News. They drive people away from Jesus. This must never be our purpose. But we must not shy away from what Paul is conveying in these words either. He is making a very salient point.
More than a few scholars find it odd that Paul begins with homosexual acts for aren’t there other commands–other revelations of God which are seemingly more important? I mean, Paul himself argues later in Romans and in the book of Galatians that the entire law can be summed up in one great command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Why not begin with that command? Why begin with homosexual, sexual relations?
In this section of the book of Romans, Paul is showing us what happens when God gives us up. Paul is showing us what happens when God gives us the freedom to pursue the warped desires of our hearts. Paul is showing us the consequences of what happens when we replace God with idols. Nearly every scholar I consulted for this sermon agreed that the finely woven fabric of what God created begins to fray and come unraveled when we don’t have God in His proper place. Nearly every scholar said that when God is not the center of our lives and worship, then our lives begin to descend into chaos. God’s created order unravels. This is important. Let me say it again. God’s created order unravels.
So why start with homosexual behavior? Let me ask you a question: what is the first recorded command in the Bible? What is the first thing that God told humankind after He created them? Do you remember?
Let’s take a look. Please pick up the Bibles in your pews and turn to Genesis chapter one. For those of you who have forgotten the books of the Bible, knock the dust off, and turn to page one... Skip down to verse 27, and let’s read verses 27 and 28 together, “27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
So, what is God’s initial command to humanity? “Be fruitful and multiply and have stewardship over the earth.” Can a man and a man be fruitful and multiply? Can a woman and a woman be fruitful and multiply? You know the answer to that question. And before anyone starts in on me: yes, I am aware that there are couples who cannot have children, and no one thinks they are sinning. I am aware there are people who actively work to make sure they have no more children, including myself and no one causes a stir. But this isn’t about having children or not having children. It’s about how God ordered creation and how that order is maintained. Homosexuality is against that created order, and it contradicts the very first command given to humanity–a command which was issued BEFORE the giving of the Law to the Jewish people–a command woven into the very fabric of creation.
Paul begins with homosexuality for these reasons. Not that it is above other sins. Not that it is because homosexuality condemns a person to hell. I mean, as Timothy Keller says, “I know very well that heterosexuality doesn’t get you to heaven.” Not that it is to be the focus of the church’s activity in the world. Paul shows that when the Creator is replaced, even the most basic order of creation begins to be violated.
And then, it gets really, really bad. Verse 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. 29They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious towards parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. God gave them up to pursue the desires of their hearts, and in doing so, their minds became debased; warped; unhinged. The created order began to suffer even more. Take another look at that list of vices that St. Paul puts forward. Tell me that you have managed to escape every one of those vices. Tell me you have been able to avoid such things your whole life through. Tell me that to this day, you never boast, become greedy, spread gossip, or get upset at what someone else has. Tell me that you are not under the power of sin. Even you are corrupt and violate God’s natural order of things. God has given you over to the freedom to pursue the desires of your heart.
And the picture of reality isn’t pretty. Think about a world full of those vices. Think about a world full of people who are greedy, selfish, envious, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. Think about a world full of strife, deceit, murder, slander, and gossip. Think about a world where people applaud you for getting away with evil–where people encourage you to give into your every desire; where people affirm every decision you make whether it seem good or bad; where people call you a prude for doing good. Where people long for the hero to fall and gleefully laugh when he does. Would you like to live in that world? Do you believe that we thrive in such a world? Would you agree that a world like that could be described as hell?
When God gives us up to the freedom to pursue the desires of our hearts, then that’s exactly where we end up. Hell is not simply a reality after we die. It’s already here. It takes place when we replace God with idols. It takes place when we demand our freedom from God’s rule. God says, “Okay. Let me help you pack your bags. Let me walk you out the door. Good luck.” Continue down the path, and sooner rather than later, we will find ourselves at the end of some God-forsaken sidewalk with nowhere to go; nothing to do; alone; abandoned–in hell. Amen.
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