Pat Robertson, Texas Floods, and the Why Question

Okay,  I know Pat Robertson really didn't say he was stuck in a quandary trying to figure out why God sent flooding to my home state.  Snopes is a wonderful tool to help wade through some of the garbage which surfaces on the www.   But Robertson and others have, in their history, made comments about natural disasters and God's wrath being administered through those disasters.  There are those who both cheer and jeer such pronouncements, and with good reason.

At the heart of such matters is the question of why such disasters happen.  From a atheistic perspective, the question is irrelevant.  Such flooding is simply part of the way the world works.  There is no rhyme or reason for the randomness.  It just happens.  Deal with it.  Cope with it.  Get over it.  If you lost loved ones or property, grieve--we will help you get back on your feet, but don't ask about any greater purpose or reason behind such matters.  There is none.  This answer is satisfactory for some.

For people of faith, the rejection of a "why" answer is not satisfactory.  We wrestle with the nature of such events.  We want to know if there is a purpose behind them. We want to know whether or not hope springs eternal.  For in the atheist answer, you have resolved the problem of suffering, but you have removed hope.  What hope is there for those who lost loved ones in this flooding?  What hope is there for those who have lost everything to flood damage--who believed they needed no insurance because they were high enough above the flood plain?  Those seeking hope want and need answers.

They are not always easy to find.

The Punishment Answer

Robertson and others have used the punishment answer in regards to natural disasters numerous times.  The idea is that society in general or some people in particular have committed grievous sin, and God is extending His wrath upon society with such disaster.

This answer is not without precedent.  In fact, it is found in Scripture on numerous occasion.  The great flood recorded in the Bible is one instance of divine punishment upon the evil of humanity.  An earthquake swallowing up a great deal many Israelites for betraying the covenant is another instance.  Venomous serpents in the desert is another.  In all occasions, God punishes sin by natural occurrences.

This does raise a bit of a quandary for those of us who believe God is a God of love.  Why would God punish people in such a manner--even "innocent" women and children?  Sometimes, the response leaves one scratching one's head.  "That's the God of the Old Testament, not the God of the New Testament."  (That argument was rejected by the early Church long ago and was deemed heresy.)  "God didn't really do those things.  Those things just happened, and the bibilcal writers just theologized the event."  (Well, you could do that to every single event in Scripture then.  That would make the Bible just a bunch of human events that people projected onto God.  Hello Freud.)

Punishment is a very effective tool for changing behavior.  Just ask any parent.  We use it all the time.  "If you don't stop hitting your brother, you will get a spanking!"  "If you don't clean your room, you will lose your ipod."  "If you do not eat your food, you will not be allowed to go outside and play."  And so on and so forth.  The threat of punishment, and the subsequent follow through is still used by the legal system today.  This is why we have speed limit signs, anti-discriminatory laws, and the like.  There are behaviors which must be curbed.

Throughout the Old Testament, God effectively uses punishment to change the behaviors of people who are failing to follow His commands and live according to His will and His way.  When people commit idolatry: God punishes.  When people fail to live justly, God punishes.  When people abuse the poor and downtrodden, God punishes.  God cannot stand the sight of sin, and to get people back on the right path, He sent punishment.

One can effectively argue that with each and every disaster, natural and otherwise, that God is punishing society and individuals for their sin.  For no one is innocent. 

There are those who might dispute that last comment, but I would like to remind you of the biblical nature of sin.  Sin is not simply the things that we do--it goes beyond that.  It is the condition of the human heart, and the human heart is naturally turned toward itself.  It naturally seeks self-preservation.  It naturally seeks self-gain.  It naturally seeks its own self-interests.  As Nietzsche once put it: we all seek our own will to power.  In this light, no one can escape guilt.  As the reformer Martin Luther put it: we are in bondage to sin.  It is the condition of our hearts.  Therefore, God is justified in punishing such sin.

The Problem with Punishment

But there is a problem with simply punishing.  For while punishment changes behavior, it does not change hearts.  What do I mean by that?

Whenever the threat of punishment disappears, people go right back to doing whatever it was they were doing to begin with.  Kids will wreck havoc when parents go away because the threat is gone.  Their fear is gone.  Therefore, they push through boundaries thinking they will not get caught.  Behavioral change was only temporary.  It was not lasting. 

On the other hand, if someone loves and respects the ruling authorities, then following the rules is a joy.  Following the law is a delight.  Why?  Because one knows that in following the rules, one is bringing delight to one's superiors. 

But how do you get another person to love you?  How do you get another person to see how much you care for them?

Jesus gave us the ultimate answer to that one, "No one has greater life than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."  Jesus wasn't the first one to say that.  Others had said it before, but this was the first time in history when God took on human flesh and not only said such a thing, but did it.  Every other time the gods came down to earth, it was to wreck destruction and mayhem or because they were interested in satisfying some sort of perverse desire.  Jesus took on flesh to die--not only for His friends but for His enemies as well.  No greater love has ever been shown.

The Cross

And, of course, that death took place on a cross.  It was the worst sort of death.  The Romans had perfected the art of killing someone so that a person not only died but died without dignity and in massive amounts of pain.  This was the death that Jesus experienced--the same Jesus who did not deserve to die; who was completely and utterly innocent; whose heart was perfectly attuned to His Father's will. 

There is a bastardized understanding of Christianity that flows around the world these days.  It's the proclamation that if one just believes in Jesus and seeks to follow Him and has enough faith, then one will experience healing of every sort.  One will be completely whole in finances, health, and relationships.  God will grant victory in bank accounts, bedrooms, social relationships, and hospitals if one simply begins believing.

The cross destroys such ideology.  Jesus' lived the perfect life, and He was crucified.  The earliest disciples--who saw Jesus raised from the dead, met their demise in persecution, suffering, exile, and imprisonment.  Christianity does not promise a life without suffering, but it does offer eternal hope.  It offers consolation when suffering occurs.  It offers the knowledge that when the worst happens, God will have the last say.

The Resurrection

For the cross was not the end of the story.  Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead and proclaimed that all who trust in His work will share with Him in this resurrection.  Two things are important: the work of Jesus and the future hope.

The Work of Jesus

The cross for Christians is not only the result of humanity's worst.  It is not simply a man being hanged because He dared challenge the power structures of the day.  Jesus certainly did that; however there was more to it; much more.

In the context of the Jewish sacrificial system, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice--the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world.  Theological jargon, I know, but let's try and break it down a little.  Mind you, there have been books written about this.  I'm trying to get it done in a blog post. 

Whenever sin occurred, one had to justify oneself toward God.  Atonement had to be made.  This isn't as foreign as it might seem to us living so far removed from the situation.  How so?  Well, whenever someone wrongs you, you demand justice.  You demand recompense.  You demand that things be made right.  Whenever you pay for goods, and those goods do not meet specifications, you demand your money back or that the goods be fixed.  Things must be made right.  In relationships, if you are hurt by another person, you demand an apology.  You demand that the person fix the pain caused. 

Yet, if you forgive another person, you bear the cost of that forgiveness.  You bear the cost of the broken goods.  You bear the pain of broken relationships.  On the cross, Jesus bore the cost of our brokenness with God.  He bore the cost of our hearts being focused on ourselves.  He bore the cost of our actions that break God's laws and commands.  He took the punishment so that we do not have to fear it, and instead of fearing God's wrath, we can look toward God's love and promise.

The Future Hope

Being assured of God's love and freed from worry about His wrath, we can now live lives honoring God.  We can be free of fear of death and destruction.  We know Who holds our future, and our lives are built upon Him.

The reformer Martin Luther summarized this in one of the stanzas to the hymn "A Mighty Fortress:"

Were they to take our house,
Goods, honor, child, or spouse,
Though life be swept away,
They cannot win the day,
The Kingdom's ours forever.

Wrapped up in this verse is the knowledge that suffering will occur.  There is the knowledge that it is not God who brings such suffering upon us.  We still don't have the answer for that; however, just because we don't have the answer to "why", we are free to ask the question, and we are free to know what the ultimate solution will be.  We are free to know the ultimate and final say will be a new heaven and a new earth where all bad things will be undone.  This is the promise of the cross and the resurrection. 

As flood victims are striving to put their lives together, the outpouring of support and love will do wonders to bring healing.  It is my hope that well intentioned people will not try to solve the why question, but instead will point to the God who suffers with and then turns mourning into dancing--the God who took suffering upon Himself and then transformed death into life. 

The Conundrum of Our Day

For the past few weeks, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching a class on Martin Luther and his vast influence upon Western history.  There have been more than a few moments of fantastic discussion which have triggered some deep contemplations on my part including the following:

This past Sunday, one of the folks attending class asked, "How was it that the popes of that time were able to get away with all the extravagance and abuse?"

The answers were quite simple:

1. Folks were biblically illiterate.  They had no access to the Scriptures in their own languages and had no way of seeing that such abuses were contrary to the commands of Jesus.

2. The Church at the time controlled most of the means of communication and could shut things down pretty quickly.  If someone started raising complaints of abuse, the Church could and would put folks to death to silence them.  There was no such thing as paparazzi to record everything that was going on and let the masses know.

3. There was a particular theology at play which said that such wealth and extravagance was a blessing of God.  If I have arisen to such a position, then I am entitled to such luxury.  Couple this theology with the fact that most Church positions were not given to those who exhibited great faithfulness or were steadfast in study and discipline but were rather awarded to the highest bidder, and you had a recipe for abuse.

Of course, this prompted comparisons to today where some "pastors" revel in such gross interpretations of theology.  I mean, what pastor in his right mind says that they need a $60 million dollar jet? 

However, this also points to a much larger problem in our society--one that I pointed out in class.

In Luther's day, people were highly, biblically illiterate because they did not have access to the Bible in their own language.  They couldn't call out such behavior because they were ignorant.  Today, people are highly, biblically illiterate even though they have unfettered access to the Bible, and even though there are those willing to call out such behavior, such calls fall upon deaf ears and make little difference.

Why?

This brings us to the conundrum:

In our technological age, everyone has a voice.  Everyone has the opportunity to expound upon and interpret whatever text they choose.  From Tolkein to Plato to the Bible, anyone can expound and give input to what is written and said. 

Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself.  It is good to have free interchange of ideas.  We certainly do not want to return to the days when you could be killed for offering up an interpretation outside the mainstream.  Orthodoxy needs heresy to keep it on the right path, but heresy does not need to be met with destruction.

But neither does it need to be met with acceptance.  And we are far too accepting of heresy today.

How so?

In this manner: 

Someone decides they would like to learn more about Christianity and the person of Jesus.  They pick up a Bible and begin reading.  Before long, they stumble upon Jesus' teachings:

If you are angry with a brother, you are committing murder.

If you look at a woman with lust, you are committing adultery.

If you divorce and get remarried, you are committing adultery.

If you want to be a disciple, you have to hate family and life itself.

If you want to be a disciple, you must give up all possessions.

Many might quit right here.  They might see the impossibility of such actions and throw in the towel, but others might just want some clarification.  Others might want to understand why such teachings are given.  They seek out advice from a pastor or a learned individual.  They ask, "Did Jesus really mean what He said here?"

Of course, most pastors will try to soften Jesus' teachings.  "No, you don't have to give up your possessions or hate your family or life itself.  Jesus means, you must love Him more than you love your possessions and family and life.  You can have possessions and be a disciple.  No, you are not committing adultery if you look at a woman--that's a natural human instinct.  God created you that way, so it isn't sinful.  Getting angry is just a part of life.  As long as you don't act on it, you are fine."

Do you see how in each of these cases there is an actual departure from the teachings' of Jesus?  Do you see how in each of these cases, Jesus' actual words are disregarded and replaced with a different teaching?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book The Cost of Discipleship, would have said, and it's a great quote, we are trying to justify the sin instead of proclaim the justification of the sinner.

And yet, Bonhoeffer, (and I) are simply regarded as one more voice out there; one more interpretation to consider; one more option to think about that may or may not work out for whoever is striving to understand.

With so many voices speaking and interpreting, it is nearly impossible to make any headway in discovering the Truth.  With the ability to go and find someone who gives me comfort and lets me continue on in my merry way with no change or transformation; with so many interpretations at the click of a mouse; I can weed out anything that challenges me or calls me to reevaluate my own worldview. 

How can the Gospel be proclaimed without sounding like simply "one more voice in a cacophony of voices?"  How can someone stand and say, "This is the Truth," when the prevailing view is "what is true for you is true for you, but it's not true for me."?  How can any true form of debate take place if that trump card is played?  There cannot be any striving for truth if truth is that relative.

Hence the conundrum.  Hence the struggle of the Christian Church. 

Is it possible for the Church to proclaim to others, "Listen for God's voice" when we are drowning in a cacophony of voices?

There is no Such Thing as an Atheist

    As I begin my sermon this morning, I want to make something very, very clear.  The Bible does not say that there is only one God.  The Bible says that there is only one True God.  If you listened carefully, you heard what I am saying.  The Bible does not deny the existence of other gods.  Listen to the first of the 10 Commandments, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.”  Listen carefully to that last statement, “You shall have no other gods before me.”  Meaning, there are other gods out there, but we should not put them in front of the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

    This morning, I would like to argue that there really is no such thing as an atheist; that each and every one of us has a god of some fashion, and then show you why the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the only one worthy of setting our hearts and minds upon.

    First, let’s deal with point one.  There is no such thing as an atheist.  If any of you here this morning lean that direction or are sympathetic to atheism, you might think I am crazy.  You might think that if someone doesn’t believe in a transcendent being, then by definition, that person is an atheist.  Let me take a moment to read to you what Martin Luther says in his Large Catechism.  What Luther says is very important as he defines what a god truly is:

    A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need.  To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe him with our whole heart.  As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and idol.  If your faith and trust are right, then your God is the true God.  On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you have not the true God.  For these two belong together, faith and God.  That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God.

    What is Luther saying here?  Just this, whatever you put your heart’s trust in is your god.  Whatever captures the imagination of your heart has become god for you.  And every human heart is captured by something.  Every human heart.  This definition is quite different than seeing God as a transcendent being beyond the universe that may or may not intervene in this world.  If this is your definition of God, then you can actually be an atheist.  You can say that you do not believe in a being beyond this physical universe.  You can say that you do not believe in a transcendent being who created this universe.  However, if you understand Luther’s definition of a god, then there is no one who is an atheist.  There is no one whose heart is not captured by the imagination of something or someone.  Even those who have called themselves the “New Atheists” are not really atheists.  Richard Dawkins’ heart is captured by evolution and science.  Daniel Dennet’s heart is captured by philosophy and reason.  Sam Harris’ heart is captured by neuroscience.  Now, unequivocally, each of these folks would not say that they see these things as god.  None of them would admit they worship science and reason and philosophy; however, from Luther’s definition, one could say such folks are living a delusion.  (That’s a bit of a twist considering Richard Dawkins’ book titled, The God Delusion where he argues folks who believe in God are delusional.  Looks like the shoe might actually be on the other foot, if we were to agree on Luther’s definition.)

    The fact of the matter is that all of our hearts are captured by something.  All of our hearts’ imaginations are grasped in one way, shape, or form.  Thomas Chalmers in his sermon titled, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection,” puts it this way”

     It is seldom that any of our bad habits or flaws disappear by a mere process of natural extinction.  At least this is very rare that it happens through the instrumentality of reason or by the force of mental determination.  What cannot be destroyed may be dispossessed.  One taste may be made to give way to another and to lose its power entirely as the reigning affection of the mind.  A youth may cease to idolize central pleasure but it is because the idol of wealth, the desire to make money, has gotten the ascendency.  So, he becomes disciplined.  But the love of money might actually cease to have mastery over his heart if it is drawn more to ideology and politics.  Now he is lorded over by a love of power and of moral superiority instead of wealth.  But there is not one of these transformations in which the heart is left without an object.  The human heart’s desire for one particular object is conquered, but its desire to have some ultimate object of adoration is unconquerable. 

    If you listened carefully to Chalmers’ sermon, he basically said this: our hearts will move from one affection to another.  I guarantee that most of you here this morning know this.  You know this even though you may not have thought of it.  Remember when you were younger.  Remember when you wanted a toy or a new truck or a new house or a new outfit?  Remember how you just couldn’t live without it and your heart longed for it?  Remember what happened when you got it?  You probably rejoiced for a few days or weeks, but then what happened?  What happened to your heart?  Well, another object popped in there.  You suddenly wanted another outfit, a piece of land, a different car or so on and so forth.  Your hearts desire wasn’t quenched, it was only displaced.  To go back to Luther’s definition of a god, one god was replaced by another.

    I want to break from this train of thought for a moment to return to our reading from 1 Peter.  Today, I want to focus on verses 13-21.  Take a quick listen to these verses again

    13 Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. 14Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 15Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; 16for it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’  17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. 18You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. 

    Peter exhorts us to set our hearts–to set all our hope–to set all our trust–on God; particularly on God revealed as Jesus.  And as people who set our hearts on this holy God, we too are called to be holy.  Peter basically says the condition of our hearts where we place our hearts’ desire and our hearts’ imagination will directly affect how we live our lives in the world.  Let’s see how this works.

    Remember how I argued earlier with Thomas Chalmer’s sermon that all of our hearts have an ultimate desire?  An ultimate concern?  An ultimate affection?  Why should we set our hearts on Jesus instead of anything else?  Why should we set our hearts on Jesus instead of science or money or clothing or possessions or our family or our friends?  Why should we set our hope on Jesus instead of all of the other gods of the other world religions?  What makes Jesus better than all of these things?

    Just this: no other god is willing to die for you.  None of them.  All the other gods; all of the other things that capture our hearts’ imagination will sure as heck demand obedience from us though.  They will demand our attention and affection.  They will demand our time and energy.  They will demand our efforts, and sometimes, they will even demand our very lives.  And they will never give us satisfaction.  What do I mean by this?

    Well, let me use an example from my childhood.  One of the members of my home congregation was very involved in teaching and leading the youth group.  He was a great guy who really tried to do some good work with us kids.  Just before I entered into that youth group, this guy stopped leading it.  There were some things happening in his life, and from what I could see, he decided to focus on his job.  And he was very, very good at it.  He was an ag teacher at one of the local schools.  He began pouring himself into that job.  And he excelled!  He did fantastic work!  He was even awarded the Ag Teacher of the Year!   Sounds pretty great doesn’t it.  But I didn’t tell you the cost, did I?  For as he poured himself into his job, his family life suffered.  His relationships with his wife and children fell apart.  He ended up divorced, and his son reeling from the brokenness between his mom and dad began questioning the existence of God because, “God let my mom and dad get divorced.”  When this guy’s job became his god, he excelled, but at great cost.  At terrible cost.  And if we are honest with ourselves, we will see that this is the case with all of our false gods.  Every false god demands obedience at great cost.  Every false god demands obedience before giving any sort of reward.  Every false god says, “Do this, and then I will love you.”

    Only Jesus does the opposite.  Only Jesus says, “I love you.  I value you.  I give you your worth and sustenance, now, love me; serve me; follow me.”  And how does He love us?  How does He prove His love for us?  By dying for us when we least deserve it.

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

    This sets our God apart from all the others.  This sets Jesus apart from every other religion or philosophy or train of thought.  This sets Jesus apart from money and science and philosophy and possessions and the like.  This is what makes our God holy.  And you need to realize the biblical understanding of holiness.  Holiness means to be set apart.  Holiness means to differentiate from all the other stuff.  God is holy in that He acts completely different from all the other Gods.  The goodness and grace that He gives to us is not contingent upon our actions.  It’s contingent upon Jesus’ actions.  It’s contingent upon Jesus’ living the life we should live, dying the death we deserve and then placing His righteousness upon us.

    When we begin to set our minds upon this–as Peter instructs–things begin to change.  Those false gods find they have less and less of a foothold in our hearts.  Those false gods find themselves with less and less power.  And our hearts find themselves desiring other things less.  Our hearts find themselves less enamored with power and prestige.  They find themselves less and less enamored with popularity and power.  They find themselves less and less enamored with acceptance and being right all the time.  Our hearts find humility.  They find peace.  They find love.  Our hearts become centered on Jesus and captured by the Gospel. 

    Then, this love of God which has captured our hearts begins to filter out into the world.  It begins to look at others with kindness and compassion.  It begins to look at others with a sense of longing to spread the Gospel to them.  It begins to look differently and act differently than the world around us, and when it does, then indeed we are holy as God is holy.  We are set apart because our hearts aren’t captured by everything the world deems important.  Instead, our hearts are captured by Jesus.  Amen.

The Importance of Reformation Sunday

  

 Why is Reformation Day so important?

    C.S. Lewis, in his appendix to the book The Abolition of Man showed how nearly every single culture in the world; every single philosophy; every single world religion espoused one particular axiom.  In effect, C.S. Lewis showed that the axiom “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is a universal truth and teaching found in every culture and teaching.  That’s a rather astounding thing considering how diverse cultures are throughout the world.  It’s rather astounding since they all begin with different assumptions about how the world works and how it came into being.  It’s rather astounding that as varied and as different as we are as human beings, there is one universal thing we all claim to grasp and understand.  We should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. 

    But there is an interesting corollary to this universal axiom.  It’s a corollary that is not usually talked about in various academic circles.  Because if the axiom “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is indeed a universal teaching, the corollary which follows is, no one does it.  No one does to others what we would like them to do unto us. 

    Think about it.  Think about it really hard, and think about it honestly.  How many of us are as patient with others as we would like them to be patient with us?  How many of us as are considerate of others as we would like them to be considerate of us?  How many of us are forgiving of others as we would like them to be forgiving of us?  How many of us truly talk as kindly of others as we would like them to talk kindly of us?  How many of us are as generous to others as we would like them to be generous to us?  And the list goes on and on and on.  If we are honest with ourselves, we do not even come close to following this universal axiom.

    And if we are honest with ourselves, we know we have no excuses.  We know what we should do.  We know how we should act.  But we don’t do it.  Either because we can’t or because we won’t.

    St. Paul knew this.  He knew it well, and so he penned these words from the third chapter of the book of Romans, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.  For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”

    What is Paul saying?  He’s saying exactly what I just said about doing unto others.  We know we should, but we know we don’t.  And when we are honest with ourselves, we are silenced.  We know we have no room to talk.  We know we have no room to tell anyone else to shape up because we are out of shape.  We know we have no room to condemn anyone else for failing to follow the teaching because we don’t follow it ourselves.  Our mouth’s are silenced.  And if this axiom comes from God–which most folks believe it does, then we must be held accountable to God because we have broken His command.

    And here’s where things begin to get a little interesting.  Because here is where Christianity begins to make a clean break with the rest of the world.  Every other philosophy and every other religion’s answer to accountability is thus, “Try harder.”  Yep, you heard right.  If you aren’t doing such a good job of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, try harder.  Work harder.  Try to be a better person.  Satisfy God and justify yourself by following that command. 

    And why shouldn’t that be the answer?  I mean, that is what we are taught from the time we are infants and throughout adulthood.  When you are starting to walk and you fall down, parents say, “Get up and try it again.  Sooner or later, you will get it!”  When our kids have trouble in school learning math or reading or writing, we say, “Practice, work harder.  You will get it!”  When we start working at a job and not doing so well at it, our supervisor (if he or she is patient) says, “Keep after it.  You will figure it out before too long.”  Over and over and over, we get told this.  Over and over and over, we implement it.  Sometimes we are successful, and oftentimes we get the idea in our heads that if we simply just keep trying; if we just keep after it long enough; things will come together and we can accomplish anything!  Nothing can ever hold us back!  And where does that lead us if we truly have this mindset?  Where does this lead us in regards to others who struggle and have a hard time?   Do we become patient with them?  Do we become understanding with them?  Do we offer them positive encouragement over and over and over?  Maybe some of the time, but certainly not always.  For it is far too easy to become contemptuous and angry at those who don’t seem to get it as quickly as ourselves.  It is far too easy to become self-righteous and say, “I was able to do it; they should be able to do it too.”  And we look down our nose at others.  Do unto others...do you like it when others look down their nose at you?  Of course not.  Very few do.  But this is inevitably where “try harder” gets you.  It gets you right back to breaking the command–the very place you tried to get away from to begin with.

    Christianity is different; however.  Christianity offers a different path.  Instead of try harder, Paul lays out the alternative:
 
    “For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”  Following the law doesn’t justify us.  It only leads to despair or self-righteousness.  It cannot break us out of the cycle.  It can only show us what we have done wrong.  I wouldn’t know I was breaking the speed limit unless I saw the speed limit sign.  Because there is a sign, I know I am breaking the law!  Slowing down doesn’t justify me from having broken the law in the first place!!  So what does?  What does justify me?  What makes things right?

     “21 But now, irrespective of law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.”  The answer Paul gives is, “It’s not your actions.  It’s Jesus’ actions.”  By breaking the command of God, you have earned His punishment.  You have earned His anger and His wrath.  You must pay the price for doing what you know to be wrong.  God cannot allow such breaking of the command to go unpunished because then God would not be just.  But instead of you facing the punishment; instead of you facing God’s wrath, Jesus–the God made flesh–stepped in on your behalf.  Jesus, offered Himself to die and endure the wrath of God upon the cross so that you wouldn’t have to.  This is the sacrifice of atonement Paul spoke of.  He took your place.  He took the punishment which you were destined for.  You couldn’t do unto others; Jesus did.

    In some ways this doesn’t make sense to our way of thinking.  If you commit the crime, you should be held accountable.  If you do the wrong, you should face the punishment.  If you break the law, you should face justice.  On one level, we know this very, very well.  But let me put it to you another way–a way I think you may grasp very easily.  Most of us who are parents have a rule for our children: don’t play in the street!  It’s a pretty hard and fast rule for many of us.  Now, what parent who sees his child playing in the street with a car approaching would allow the car to run over the child because, after all, the child broke the rule and deserves what he or she gets?  What parent would allow his or her child to be gravely injured or to die because the rule got broken?  What parent would allow this tragedy to befall his son or daughter?  None that I know of.  And yet, I know of many a parent, who would gladly and willingly run into the street, breaking the parent’s own rule to save his or her child.  I know many a parent who would gladly die to save his or her child from immanent death.  Take my life instead because I love my child.  The answer would not be try harder to follow mommy and daddy’s rule.  The answer at that point–when the rule is already broken and death is immanent–is save your child even at the expense of your own life.

    “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but so that the world may be saved by Him.”

    And now, we put our trust in this saving action.  We put our faith in this saving action.  We do not trust ourselves to follow the commands because we know we cannot fully accomplish them.  Instead, we throw ourselves on the mercy of Jesus who did follow the commands and who took our place.

    “Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.”  And since we are justified–we are made right by what Jesus has done and not what we do, can we boast?  Can we brag about how well we have done unto others?  Can we brag about how well we have followed the Law and made ourselves right with God?  Can we brag that we have done enough to warrant God’s love for us?  No.  We can’t.  Because we did nothing.  Jesus did everything.  We are justified apart from the works of the Law.  We are justified by Jesus and trust in His action not our own.

    Oh, there are more than a few folks–even within the church–who would like us to operate the way the world works.  There are more than a few folks–even within the church–who would like to think our salvation is contingent upon our actions and our ability to follow the Law.  They would gladly tell us to get our lives in order lest we find ourselves damned.  They would gladly tell us we must do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God lest we incur God’s wrath.  They would gladly tell us to stop drinking, smoking, dancing, and expressing our sexuality or the devil will play with our souls for eternity.  They would gladly tell us we must give 10% of our income to the church or God will strike us down.  They will gladly tell us God sends things like the Ebola virus or famine or drought to punish us for what we do–hoping that we will repent and cease our destructive behavior.  They will gladly try to rope us back into trying to be like every other philosophy or religion that is out there.  They will gladly try to get us to try harder.

    But that is why we need Reformation Day.  That is why we need to be reminded of the Gospel.  This is why we need the Martin Luther’s of the world–we need to be reminded that Christianity is not basically about what we do, but about what God has done through Jesus Christ saving you by His grace through faith.  Amen.