Romans 1:8-17 "God on Trial"

Today, I have titled my sermon, “God on trial.”  I have done so for a couple of reasons.  First, there are many people in the U.S. who are walking away from organized religion.  Half of those who walk away say that they no longer believe in God for various reasons.  In a very real way, they have looked at the evidence for God and about God and have found it lacking.  They have put the idea of God on trial and convicted Him of absence.  The second reason is related to the first–God’s seeming absence in the face of injustice and evil.  This has been a major problem for those who believe in God for many, many years.  The logical argument is thus: if God is all powerful and if God is all good, then why does God allow bad things to happen?  Why doesn’t God cure illness and disease?  Why doesn’t God correct the many wrongs that go on throughout the world where people in power abuse those are weak.  Why doesn’t God do something about the hatred and anger and abuse and violence that goes on in the world?  Does God care and if He does, can’t He act?  In a very real way, folks who ask these questions are putting God on trial.  In effect, they are asking the question: is God just?  Is God righteous?

As we turn to our next installment of the book of Romans, I want to begin with a little bit of a study of the Koine Greek–the language in which the New Testament is written.  Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be too detailed, but the detail I am going to reveal here is important.  The Greek word for righteousness and justice is the same word.  Therefore, whenever you read through the book of Romans or any other New Testament book, if you see the word justice, you can interchange it with righteousness, and vice versa.  This will come into play in just a little while as we talk about Paul’s words to the church in Rome.

After Paul’s initial greeting, he follows the traditional customs of letter writing in the first century Roman empire.  He offers some gracious words of thanksgiving to the people he writes to.  In one way, you could say that he was buttering them up.

Paul begins: First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world.  Paul is using some exaggeration here most likely.  Most scholars believe that the church in Rome was not large by any extent.  In fact, our membership very likely exceeds the number of Christians in Rome at the time Paul writes this letter.  At a maximum, the church in Rome may have numbered 200 people in a city of over a million.  But this is no small thing.  Rome is the center of the Roman empire–the most powerful empire in the world at the time.  It is where the emperor: Caesar, sits enthroned.  To profess “Jesus is Lord” right under the nose of those who demanded all Roman subjects profess “Caesar is Lord,” is an act of extreme bravery–something we know little about in our present situation.  But the Roman Christians’ trust in God empowered them to hold fast to their proclamation despite the threat–truly something to proclaim throughout the world.

9For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, 10asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you.  Paul then offers an intriguing oath, swearing before God that he prays regularly for the Roman church–desperately wanting to come and visit them.  Speculation is that Paul may have included this heart-felt prayer because some of the members in the Roman church felt slighted that the self-described “apostle to the Gentiles” hadn’t visited them in the heart of the Gentile world.  Paul wants to soothe their soreness as he pens some very important words to them.

11For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.  Paul obviously feels that he has something very important to share with the church in Rome.  The jury is still out as to what he wants to share with the Christians there, but Paul quickly points out that he does not want to come simply to impart knowledge on his own behalf.  There is a mutual sharing and growth that will occur.  This is quite revolutionary for us to think about because oftentimes, our thoughts tend to trend toward the idea that “I go to church to get something.”  Certainly, when we come to church, we should receive encouragement as we face our daily lives, but the encouragement also flows from us into others.  In other words, I am not simply giving you encouragement when you come through those doors, you are giving me encouragement as well.  We mutually build one another up.  This is ideally the way the church works.

13I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. 14I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish 15— hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.  Paul now closes out his reasons for wanting to come to Rome as he wants to reap a harvest–meaning make converts to Christianity because he is a debtor to both Greeks and to barbarians–to the wise and to the foolish.  What does Paul mean by this?  Tim Keller offered up a very interesting way to understand what Paul is saying here.  There are two ways of becoming indebted to a person.  First, if I borrow $100 from you, then I am indebted to you until I pay you back.  Secondly, if you give me $100 and say, “Please give this to my friend.”  Then I am indebted to your friend until I pass on that $100.  Paul believes he has received something that is not his–the Gospel.  Paul believes he is indebted to the world–to Greeks and barbarians; to the wise and foolish–and he must pass the Gospel onto them.  He must pass the Gospel onto everyone.  Why?

Here is where we begin to return to my original statement about God being on trial.  Paul lays in the next two verses what he will be arguing about in the rest of the letter: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’  If you just read through these words quickly, you can gloss over it and not think much about them. However, if you read through these words slowly and try to understand them, you will find yourself scratching your head.  What in the world is Paul actually saying?  Why does he have to state that he is not ashamed of the Gospel?  What and how is the righteousness or justice of God revealed?  What does through faith for faith mean?

Let me begin by reminding you that the Gospel hinges upon the person of Jesus.  Jesus would have been considered a failure from a Jewish perspective because he failed to bring about the promises surrounding the Messiah.  He did not free the Jews from oppression.  He did not usher in world peace.  He did not cleanse the Temple system.  Everything continued to run as before despite what Jesus said.  AND, Jesus was also hung on a tree–which meant, according to Jewish scripture–he was cursed.  All of this amounts to tremendous failure from the standpoint of Jews.  From the standpoint of Rome, he was also a failure.  Jesus was considered a criminal who was seditious.  He was crucified because He challenged the power of Rome and proclaimed allegiance to another kingdom–God’s kingdom.  No Roman citizen was happy about knowing someone who was crucified.  It was a source of shame.  But Paul was not ashamed of any of this.  Not in the least.  In fact, Paul saw the Gospel as power. Paul had traveled throughout the Roman empire and preached Jesus.  Whenever he preached Jesus, hearts were changed; minds were changed; lives were changed; people acted and spoke differently–all because of the story of Jesus.  A story.  Mere words changed people deep within.  One commentary even said that some must have thought this to be magical.  But Paul saw it as power because of what it revealed about God.

For the Gospel showed that God is indeed just.  God is indeed righteous.  Now, we will be spending a lot of time on this in the coming weeks, so I will try to summarize and keep things as brief as possible in the limited time we have.  First, Paul will show that humanity has rebelled against God.  No one has an excuse when it comes to knowing what God would have us do.  Deeply embedded in creation is the knowledge of right and wrong.  Deeply imbedded in our being is the idea of fairness and justice.  Deeply imbedded in the core of our being is the knowledge of the way things should be.  We know what we should do, but we do not do it.  Justice; righteousness demands that such rebellion must be punished.  Justice; righteousness demands that wrongs be made right.  Justice; righteousness demands that evil be reversed and dealt with.

Every one of us knows this deeply.  Every one of us knows what it is like to be wronged by someone else.  Every one of us knows that for the wrong to be righted, some payment must be offered up–an acknowledgment of wrong; repayment of that which was lost; the repairing of what was broken.  Until we feel satisfied with repayment; restitution; apology; we do not feel as though justice has been served–we do not feel as though all is right.

But now we run into a problem.  Two problems in fact.  First, we run into the problem of our own inability to right the wrongs.  We are incapable of righting the wrongs that we do.  You may disagree with me here.  You may say, “Yes, I do some bad things, but I also do a lot of good things.”  I understand what you are saying, but let me get you to think about this a little bit.  Let’s say that one day you are careless and you back into anther person’s car.  You are embarrassed, and the damage isn’t too terrible, so you leave the scene.  “It was just a little ding,” you say to yourself.  You know it’s wrong.  So, later that day, you see a homeless person with a sign asking for donations to get food.  You put a $20 bill in the guy’s cup.  You instantly feel better about doing some good.  Things have evened out right?  Wrong.  They other person’s car still isn’t fixed.  Until you right the wrong you committed, you are still in debt to the other person.  Until you right the specific wrong, you haven’t made things just.  And if you break God’s commands...can you become completely right?  Can you become completely just with God.  The answer, we will see is no.  We cannot become right with God.  That’s problem one, and it is certainly not Gospel–good news.

Problem number two is the amount of injustice that permeates the world.  Very, very few of the world’s people ever get justice.  Very few of the world’s people ever have the wrongs committed against them righted.  People who died as slaves never received freedom.  There are people who were murdered whose killer were never found.  There are people who have been swindled out of money who never received a dime back from it.  People who try to do the right things end up having terrible diseases are killed by natural disasters and suffer terrible loss.  The powerful take advantage of the powerless, and not much ever happens.  Things are not right.  They are not just.

What is God’s answer to both of these problems?  Jesus.

First, God’s righteousness/justice is revealed on the cross. God pays your debt that you have accumulated with Him.  Revisiting the car analogy: the owner of the car fixed the ding without asking you to pay damages.  What became free to you, cost him time and money.  And if he decides not to press charges, you have a lot to be thankful for.  When it comes to sin, God changes our status before Him.  He reveals our righteousness and our justice by paying the price for our sins.  He does this out of His great love: for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all of those who believe in Him will 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.

Secondly, God’s righteousness/justice is revealed in how Jesus lived as He announced the breaking in of the kingdom of God.  When the news of the Gospel takes root in your heart and mind, you are changed.  You are transformed.  You want to live and move differently.  You want to participate in a world where there is no more hunger, thirst, or poverty.  You want to participate in a world where all people are treated as children of God with dignity and respect.  You want to see reconciliation take place, and so you seek out others who share this view.  You seek out others who want to be a part of such a kingdom and you form a culture within a culture.  You form a church–a church which seeks to be the kingdom of God in the world; engaging the world; without becoming a part of the world.  In the church, justice/righteousness is practiced because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

Finally, God’s justice/righteousness is revealed in the resurrection.  For in the resurrection all the evil that had been done was undone.  All the darkness was transformed into light.  All the sadness was transformed into joy.  The promise of the resurrection is the promise that all evil will one day be overcome.  Death will be defeated.  God will reign supreme.  The resurrection says that God will have the final word, and so we live in hope.

And we put our trust in God.  We put our faith in the one who died to make us right with Him.  We put our faith in the one who has established His kingdom on earth and made us a part of it.  We put our faith in the one who will make all things new.  When you focus on God revealed in Jesus, you too can say as St. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.”  You can see that God is indeed just.  You can see that He is indeed righteous.  You can see that there is no need to bring God to trial.  There is simply a need to trust in what God has, is, and will accomplish.  For He transforms you through the Gospel.  He transforms the world through the church, and He will transform heaven and earth in His good time.  Amen.

Intriguing Questions

Yesterday, I received some very intriguing questions from a congregation member.  They made me think quite a bit.  I answered as best as I could, but thought I'd share with you as well.  There is a lot to chew on, I think.   The questions and comments by my member are in italics--copied by permission.  My answer is in regular print.

Pastor: I just finished a book “Holocaust Survivor”. It’s a book about a young man who became a Rabbi before he was 20 years old. That was during the early part of WWII. Being a Jew he later was put into concentration camps where he was severely punished. He said that the only thing that kept him from giving up was that he believed that one day those who were dishing out the punishment would eventually be punished. He told of once when they were transported from one prison camp to another. They were put in overcrowded boxcars, shoulder-to-shoulder, standing room only. One night a lady gave birth. The baby was crying because of hunger and the severe cold. When they arrived at their destination they were hurried out of the boxcar and the baby was crying even more. One of the guards took the child by its feet and slammed its head against the side of the boxcar and that stopped its crying.

More and more I’m buying into what you are preaching. I can understand that Jesus died for that guard who slammed the child’s head against the boxcar, too. But I also believe there has to be repentance. 

For years and years we used the (ALC Service Book and Hymnal) and during the public confession part the pastor would say, “As a minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I declare unto you who do truly repent and believe in him, the entire forgiveness of your sins.

“On the other hand, by the same authority, I declare onto the impenitent and unbelieving, that so long as they continue in their impenitence, God hath not forgiven their sins, and will assuredly visit their iniquities upon them, if they do not turn from their evil ways and come to true repentance and faith in Christ, ere the day of grace be ended.”

The repentance part is deeply engrained in me and it’s hard for me to understand otherwise. Most of the people I know believing like the Rabbi about the eventual punishment for our sins.
 

The repentance one is the most difficult, and I am going to have to give you a slightly nuanced answer to it.  Remember first, that we are not saved by any work that we commit--that includes repentance.  You cannot turn repentance into a work.  You just can't.  Jesus' action even overcomes our un-repentance.  My evidence: Jesus' own words from the cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do."   Forgiveness for an unrepentant sin.  

That being said, is the wording from the previous confession service wrong?  No.  Not in the least?  Why?  Remember, God does not condemn us to hell.  It is God's desire to save everyone.  Only those who choose separation from God receive it.  If you do not repent of your sins as someone who has been exposed to Jesus and His action, then you are purposely choosing to separate yourself from God and remain estranged from Him.  Thus, you are condemning yourself and still in your sin.  This means the confession and forgiveness spoken in the previous hymnal is only, only mind you, for those who have professed to follow Christ.  This cannot be pointed at those who are not Christian. 

(This was the end of my emailed reply.  I have a few further thoughts.)

I do believe we will somehow be held accountable for our actions, although I do not know exactly how this will take place.  I don't know if we will be made to relive the event and then feel the pain we caused.  I do not know whether or not we will stand before the Father in judgement and feel a deep sense of shame--so deep that it will inflict a terrible pain upon our hearts.  I just don't know.

But what I do know is that the punishment we deserved fell on Jesus.  That's one of the radical claims of Christianity.  We proclaim:

 "But he was wounded for our transgressions,
   crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
   and by his bruises we are healed."  Isaiah 53:5

Just as that little baby's head was crushed, so was Jesus'.  Just as the German guard deserved to have his head crushed in return; Jesus took that punishment for that guard so that the guard would receive forgiveness and be reconciled to God.  

This may be hard to accept because we like to say that one sin is greater than another.  We like to think our smaller sins do not measure up to someone bashing an infant's head against a train car, but remember, Jesus equated anger with murder!  Anytime we become angry with another, we commit murder!!

Why would Jesus equate the two?  

I think it is because they have the same root cause: a sense of superiority.  That German soldier believed he was superior to the Jews and that little baby.  Whenever we become angry, we believe we are somehow morally superior to the one who we are angry at (I would never do something like that to anyone!).   Whether it is moral, mental, or physical, the idea that we are somehow superior to another person leads us to anger, contempt, frustration, and the like.  If we have no sense of humility or shame, atrocity follows.  

This underscores the importance of grace and what Jesus did for us on the cross!  For as I have proclaimed in my sermons--passed down to me from others--the Gospel does not allow you to have any sense of moral superiority at all.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  All need Christ's redemption on the cross.  Big sin.  Little sin.  No matter.  It is the heart that counts, and all hearts are messed up in some way, shape or form.  

Thanks be to God for Christ's work which redeems us all! 

Also: In confirmation we were taught that gambling was a sin. Today it seems that gambling is so common place, raffles, football pots, scratch offs and casinos that most folks no longer regard that as being sinful. Where do we stand on that?

Secondly, gambling.  I do not believe the ELCA has a position on this.  I know our congregation does not.  I personally do not regard gambling as a sin as I do not believe there is any biblical law speaking out against it.  Are there other things to use one's money toward which are better than gambling?  Absolutely.  Would it be a sin for a person to gamble instead of putting food on the table?  I believe so, strongly.  Is it right for the state of Texas to have a lottery given that mostly poor people buy tickets?  I don't think it is.  There are better ways to get funds.  Again, there are no biblical prohibitions or admonitions here, but I think I would be on firm theological ground here.

Your Offerings are Worthless!!

    As I begin, I can’t help but wonder how many folks looked at the sermon title this morning and then thought to themselves, “Well, I might as well just put my offering envelope up and save the money I was going to give to the church this morning.  How dare anyone put such a title as their sermon?”  Before you actually void or tear up that check or put that cash back into your pocket, I hope you will bear with me as we work our way through my sermon this morning.  Perhaps you will understand and then, at the end, be even more willing to give than before.

    Just over 100 years ago, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche helped lay the groundwork for many of the ways our current culture acts.  I can hear a few of you moaning in your heads right now. “Pastor’s going to get all philosophical and stuff.  We will never be able to understand this stuff.  We might as well go to sleep right now.”  Believe me, I understand.  You see, they didn’t have a Nietzsche for dummies book, so I actually had to wade through some of his writings.  More than a few times, my eyelids had to work double time to stay open!!

    But that is not the point.  The point is much more important, one that I hopefully can give you some time to ponder.  For you have undoubtedly run across more than one of the consequences of what Nietzsche taught.  You have undoubtedly encountered someone who adheres to at least part of his philosophical system.  You have undoubtedly run across someone who says, “There is no absolute truth.  What is true for you is true for you, but it’s not true for me.  That is just your opinion because no one can really know the truth.”  You see, Nietzsche proposed that there is no such thing as absolute truth.  He proposed that since there is no absolute truth, the concept of the ideal is irrational.  There is no such thing as justice.  There is no such thing as ultimate kindness.  There is no such thing as good.  There is no such thing as evil.  It is all a matter of one’s perspective.  Therefore, if something works for me and is good for me, then I can continue to pursue it–because it is good for me.  That it might be bad for you is only a matter of perspective, and it shouldn’t really matter too much to me because there is no ultimate judge of right or wrong.

    Are you with me so far?  I hope so.  I hope you haven’t gotten too lost because the next part is pretty crucial.  If there is no right and no wrong, what then is our motivation for doing things?  Why do we engage in the things we do or think the things we think?  Nietzsche offered up this thought: it is all about power.  It is all about how we obtain what we want.  It’s all about how we further our own position and basically survive in this world.  It’s all about our own self interest, making our self more powerful and ultimately, putting ourselves in the most advantageous position possible.  Chew on this for just a second.  I mean, really chew on this.  Without any sort of transcendence; without any sense of something beyond ourselves; it leads us directly to relativism–no right and no wrong and unbounded self-interest.  Do you see how our society today has been impacted by Nietzsche?  Do you see how such things infest our culture?  If you need any further evidence, I point to this past political cycle and the fallout from this past Tuesday’s election.  Have you noticed all the spin put on the results?  Each side is trying to manipulate what happened to its own advantage with the goal of obtaining more and more power to accomplish its own agenda.  Nietzsche nailed it.

    There is a bit of a quibble I have with Nietzsche; however.  Nietzsche was famous for stating that “God is dead,” and it was from this starting point–the lack of anything transcendent–that he arrived at the conclusion that everything was all about power and self-interest.  I personally don’t believe you need to get rid of God for folks to continue to act in their own self-interest and to engage in all sorts of power plays.  Even if one believes there is a God, that person can still do exactly what Nietzsche proposes and try to manipulate things to his or her own advantage.  What do I mean by that?

    Let’s take a quick walk through our Old Testament reading this morning from the book of Amos.  Here’s a little background.  Amos was a prophet who was called from shepherding to confront the injustice in Israel.  Much like our own situation, the rich were getting richer.  The poor were getting poorer.  But unlike our situation, there were no programs, no initiatives to help the poor and the needy.  They were basically on their own, and they were suffering.  The poor were suffering badly.

    And Amos holds nothing back.  He brings the Word of the Lord with conviction and with words that proved very, very unpopular.  “Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!  Why do you want the day of the Lord?  It is darkness, not light; 19 as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake.  20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?  21 I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  22 Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon.  23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.”

    Let’s work our way through these verses.  I will come back to the day of the Lord stuff momentarily because it is important.  But before I do that, let’s concentrate on what Amos says about the peoples’ offerings and their worship.  See, my sermon title doesn’t come from me: it comes directly from Amos.  The Lord says, “I hate your festivals.  I will not accept your offerings–they are worthless.  I do not want to hear your worship.”  Why?  Why is God saying such things?  Some point to the next verse to bring it all to a close.  God doesn’t want offerings.  God doesn’t want worship.  God doesn’t want festivals and assemblies.  Instead God wants justice to flow like a mighty water and righteousness to flow like an ever flowing stream.  This is what really counts.  This what is really important.  So, go out and do justice.  Go out and make righteousness happen.  Sermon is over.  Be happy it is shorter than normal!  (Psyche!)

    Let’s re-think this for a moment.  Because God commanded festivals and solemn assemblies in the Law.  God commanded the people to bring Him offerings.  The Law is explicit about this too.  God also commanded the people to worship Him.  These are things that God wants!!  So why is He rejecting them?  Why does He say He hates them?

    Let me illustrate it this way. I remember vividly growing up as a kid.  More than once I heard one of my friends say, “It doesn’t matter that I am going out drinking this weekend.  I’m going to go to confession, and it will all be forgiven.”  Or, “It doesn’t matter if I’m having sex with this girl.  I’m going to confession, and it will be forgiven.”  Hearing folks say this always bugged me.  It didn’t seem right.  And it’s not.  Why?

    This is why: because by doing the rites and rituals, the folks who said this believed they were making a claim on God.  They believed that if they just did the proper things–offered the appropriate worship; offerings; or confessions, then God would have to forgive them.  Essentially, they were saying, “God, I know you really don’t want me to do those other things, but you said I would be forgiven if I did x, y, and z. I’ve done x, y, and z, so you cannot be mad at me.  You cannot punish me.  I’ve jumped through your hoops, so you have to forgive me.” 

    Let me stop for just a second and see if you can see how this is a power play.  Can you see how this serves a person’s self interest?  Can you see how this is ultimately about getting the better of God?  Can you see how this is not focused upon God and what God wants but is focused upon what I want and how I can obtain what I want without any consequences? 

    And this stuff was going on long before Nietzsche penned his works.  It’s exactly what the Israelites were doing.  They were disobeying God’s law.  They were not letting justice flow like mighty waters.  They were not letting righteousness flow like ever flowing streams.  They were abusing and using the poor.  They were trampling them underfoot and destroying them.  They were padding their bank accounts at the expense of others and laughing at how blessed they were.  And then they would go to the temple and offer their sacrifices.  They would chant their prayers.  They would sing their songs.  They would make their offerings convinced they had done their duty and God would love them and bless them because they had given God what He wanted.  They’d satisfied Him by their worship and offerings and sacrifices.  They were good to go.  They’d done their duty.

    And God says, “I hate, I despise your assemblies.  I hate, I despise your offerings and do not accept them.  I hate, I despise your singing and your worship.”  Why?  Because the people are trying to make a power play on God.  They are trying to have their cake and eat it too.  They are thinking that by worship and sacrifice and offering, they can excuse their behavior even though they know it’s wrong. 

    And they are looking forward to the Day of the Lord–yes, the day when God comes to restore everything to the way it should be and justice will be meted out.  They are looking forward to this day thinking they will have a grand time because they’ve worshiped; they’ve put their money in the plate; they should be good to go.  But God says, “Think again.  You have not even come close to satisfying my demands.  You have only and have ever only looked out for yourself.  My wrath will burn against you.  Why do you want the Day of the Lord.  It will be darkness not light!”

    Scary stuff.  Very scary stuff.  And so, what do we do about this?  Do we stop here and think, “Wow!  I hear what Amos is saying.  Our offerings; our worship; our singing; all of it is for naught.  We need to stop this stuff right now, and we need to go out and do justice.  We need to work for righteousness.  We need to throw ourselves into these things because the Lord demands this of us.”

    Stop right there.  Stop right there and think about where you are headed with this train of thought.  For if you think that you will satisfy God by doing justice and making righteousness flow like an ever flowing stream, what are you doing?  Or better yet, why are you doing it?  If you are scared that your offerings aren’t satisfying God and that you need to throw yourself at doing justice because that is what God requires, then I’d submit to you that you are attempting your own power play.  You are attempting to satisfy God with your actions once again and save yourself from the coming wrath.  You are not focused on God, you are once again focused on yourself and your own best interests.  I’m doing what God commands because I don’t want to face the darkness on the day of the Lord.  We are right back to Nietzsche. 

    Can anything break us out of this self-centeredness?  Can anything get us away from focusing on ourselves? 

    How about this?

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all 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 may be saved through Him.

    You knew I was going to get to Jesus somehow.  At least I hope you knew I was going to get to Jesus.  For you see, Jesus is the one who acted completely the opposite of what Nietzsche proposed.  Instead of seeking His own self-interest; instead of seeking His own power; Jesus sought to fulfill the will of the Father.  Jesus sought complete obedience to the one He was equal to.  Jesus sought to become powerless even though He had access to absolute power.  And instead of kingdoms, Jesus found the cross where He endured the wrath meant for us.  He became the blameless offering and sacrifice to end all offerings and sacrifices.  There was no longer any need to offer sacrifices of atonement to get ourselves right with God.  All was accomplished by Jesus.

    And that completely changes things for us.  No longer do we have to worry about a power play
with God.  We do not have to seek to save ourselves and act with self interest.  We can seek God and His righteousness for His sake and not our own.  We can seek to let justice flow like a mighty water and righteousness flow like an ever flowing stream not because this is what God demands lest we be punished, but because we know it is something near and dear to God’s heart, and in thankfulness we wish to please the one who acted on our behalf.  We gladly lift up our voices in praise and worship not because it’s going to affect our salvation, but in joyful thanksgiving that our salvation has already been accomplished.  We give our offerings of time and talent and money not to satisfy the commandment, but to show our gratitude to the God who took on human flesh and died for us.  And we now await the coming Day of the Lord with joyful expectation.  We no longer have to save ourselves.  We no longer have to worry about whether or not we have done enough good; or worshiped enough; or gave enough.  Jesus already gave it all.  Amen.

Singing in Harmony with God

    I do not know if it is my age or if it is something else, but my tastes in music have changed.  For the longest time, I thoroughly enjoyed it when a soloist would take the stage and belt out a particular piece of music.  I thought this was the best singing had to offer.  Perhaps it is singing in our gospel group that has changed my taste, but I now have a much, much higher appreciation for harmony.  For some reason, music becomes more meaningful, more touching when several voices sing together and fill out the chord.  Recently, I was introduced to Pentatonix an a capella group.  They did a cover of Lourde’s “Royals”, and in my estimation, if you listened to Pentatonix, you’d wonder why their’s isn’t more popular.  I think it’s 100 times better because of the harmony.  So, what does all of this have to do with our lessons for this Sunday, especially that Gospel lesson from the 5th Chapter of the book of Matthew?

    The core Gospel proclamation of Christianity is obvious.  John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all who believe in Him may 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.”  Further, this core proclamation occurred by pure grace.  It happened without any action on our own part.  Christ died for us while we were still sinners and completely unrepentant.  For those of us who know this message at our deepest core, we also have come to know that no matter how hard we try–no matter what kind of new leaf we try to turn over, we cannot stop sinning.  We know we still fall short of the glory of God.  We are not perfect.  Sometimes, it’s painfully obvious.

    With this in mind, we hear Jesus tell us this morning, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

    Whoa!  Wait a minute.  What happened to grace?  What happened to God’s unconditional love and mercy?  What happened to Christ dying for us while we are still sinners? 

    Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.  What’s going on here?

    Let’s look at this within the context of ancient Israel.  First, let’s recognize who the Scribes and Pharisees were.  These were two Jewish groups who thrived during Second Temple Judaism.  The Scribes were, of course, those who wrote on and interpreted the Law.  They were held in very high esteem as those who were blessed by God as they wrestled with interpreting and living the Torah.  The Pharisees are often Jesus’ main nemesis throughout the Gospel stories.  The Pharisees longed and yearned for the coming Kingdom of God, and they had a very particular understanding of how that Kingdom would arrive.  They believed that the Jewish people needed to be holy and pure so that the Kingdom would come.  They believed that the Jewish people needed to be obedient to the purity code with all its various intricacies in order for God to take notice.  Basically, the Pharisees believed if a person ate the right food, associated with the right people, washed hands in the right way and right times, tithed to the temple appropriately, offered the right sacrifices, and so on and so forth, then they would be seen by God as holy and righteous.  Once they were seen by God to be holy and righteous, God would finally forgive Israel for its sins, drive off Israel’s enemies, and establish Israel as the world power and beacon of light and hope God promised Abraham it would be.  When it came to keeping this code, the Pharisees were the supreme example of righteous living–at least as far as most of the populace was concerned.

    So I am sure Jesus caused a few heads to be scratched when He said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of God.”  Is it possible to be more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees?

    Apparently so, because Jesus then begins laying out what it means to be truly righteous.  #1. “You have heard it was said, ‘You shall not murder.’ but I say if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment.”  Stop and think about that one for a minute.  Anger must disappear.  This is true righteousness.

    #2. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ but I say if you even look at a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery.”  Stop and think about that one for a minute as well.  Lust toward a person of the opposite sex must disappear.  That is true righteousness.

    #3. “It was also said, ‘You can give a woman a certificate of divorce.’ but I say if you divorce a woman except on the grounds of unchastity, you cause her to commit adultery.  And if you marry a divorced woman, you commit adultery.”  Pause once more to consider Jesus’ words.  Life-long commitment is the only option.  That is true righteousness.

    #4.  And last, at least for this little snippet of the Sermon of the Mount.  “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ but I say, don’t swear at all.  Let your word be yes, yes or no, no.”  Reflect on that for just a second.  How many of us accomplish that one?  True righteousness makes no excuses, doesn’t try to be tactful, doesn’t try to explain one’s position or be nuanced about it.  True righteousness says yes or no.  No wiggle room.  Period.

    Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  How is that possible?  Jesus gives it to His disciples on the hill that day and to us without hesitation. 

    You see, the Scribes and Pharisees had all the externals going on.  They were doing all the commands of Torah to keep themselves holy and pure.  They were following the law, and from the outside, they looked squeaky clean.  They looked like they were pure.  They looked like they were holy.  But in reality, they were a brand new Corvette Stingray with a flawless exterior with a rusty modified Fort Pinto engine underneath.  The inside didn’t match the outside.

    This was problematic, and for this reason Jesus made that intriguing comment in the middle of this teaching, “29If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.”

    Now, when you first hear this, you might think Jesus was being literal.  Go cut your hand off if it causes you to sin.  Go pluck out your eye if it causes you to sin.  But everyone would have recognized what Jesus was really getting at.  A HAND DOES NOT CAUSE YOU TO SIN.  AN EYE DOES NOT CAUSE YOU TO SIN.  Where does sin come from?  Where does anger come from?  Where does lust come from?  Where does a lack of commitment come from?  Where does the fear of being straightforward and honest come from? 

    It comes from the heart.  Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of God.  How is this possible?  Well, the Scribes and the Pharisees weren’t righteous.  They had the externals, but their internals weren’t so good.  Their hearts weren’t oriented toward God.  Their hearts were oriented toward themselves.  For, by God, you know that everything revolves around me.  If I do the right things; if I say the right things; if I follow the commandments the right way; if I believe the right things and tell everyone I love Jesus; if I come to church every Sunday of the month; if I put the right amount of money in the offering plate; if I do all these things and more, then I have a claim on God.  He has to listen to me!  He has to give me what I ask for!  He has to unleash the Kingdom of God.  He has to grant me health, wealth, and security.  I hope you catch the sarcasm here.

    So often, we think the externals save us.  We think the externals bring about the kingdom of God.  We think the things we do make us holy and righteousness.  But we can and do a lot of good things for the wrong reasons.  And Jesus calls us on it.

    If your heart isn’t in line with God, then you will never enter the kingdom of God.  Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of God.

    So, get your hearts in place!  Make your hearts right!  Turn them toward God! 

    If it were only so easy!

    Me telling you to do that this morning is equivalent to me telling you, “You have a blockage in your heart, give yourself a bypass.”  Do you think you are capable of doing such a thing?

    St. Paul writes in the seventh chapter of Romans, “I know the good that I am supposed to do, but I cannot do it...Wretched man that I am!  Who will save me from this body of sin?”

    Paul knew he suffered from a heart condition.  We suffer from that same condition?  Who will save us from this body of sin?  Who will save us?

    “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all 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 through Him.”

    You see, by Jesus’ death and resurrection and the unleashing of the Holy Spirit into the world, God works to turn our hearts toward Him.  Through the Word become flesh, God acts in you and me to pound our hearts into submission and orient them toward Him and His love.  God enters into our very being to stomp out anger and lust and lack of commitment and selfishness and fear.  God lives within us as our hearts are convicted by the power of the Gospel.  And when our hearts are convicted by the Gospel, they beat in line with God’s heart.  They begin to sing–not a solo by any means, but they sing in harmony with God.  They join the chorus of God’s own song for the world which says, “I love you.  I died for you.  You are my child!”

    Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Because of Jesus, your righteousness does exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, not because it is your own but because it is based on Jesus’ righteousness.  Jesus died for you that your heart may be turned toward Him.  And when your heart is singing with Gods, then you are truly Living God’s Word Daily.  Amen.