It's Not a New Year's Resolution Kind of Faith: Romans 8:5-13

It’s close enough to the middle of March that I think enough time has sufficiently passed to reflect upon the following question: how are you doing on your New Year’s Resolutions?  Are you continuing to accomplish them, or are you like the vast majority of folks who have already given up?  I would include myself in that last category if I actually made New Year’s Resolutions.  I’ve given up on even making them because of my less than stellar success rate.

And aren’t New Year’s Resolutions an interesting thing?  I mean think about the things that folks usually try to accomplish.  Think about the things they often say that they will work on: losing weight, becoming a kinder person, becoming more generous, removing stress from life, becoming more diligent in prayer and spirituality.  Lofty things.  How come folks don’t say: you know what, for my New Year’s resolution, I am going to become more of a jerk in my daily life.?  I am going to become enraged while I drive.  I am going to work diligently to become as stressed out as I possibly can so that I give myself ulcers and end up on Prozac.  I am going to eat myself silly and gain 100 lbs by the end of the year.  I am going to work hard to stop praying and consume all my time with sitting in front of the television and computer doing nothing.  Why don’t folks make these kinds of resolutions?

One pastor whose sermon I listened to had a pretty good answer, I thought.  We don’t need any help doing most of those things.  They come rather naturally.  It’s easy to become enraged in traffic.  It’s easy to eat the things that are not healthy for us.  It’s easy to get stressed out over everything.  It’s easy to stop praying and seeking God on a regular basis.  It’s easy to sit in front of the television or computer and simply veg out instead of actively engage the world.  Such things are almost our default settings.  It’s a struggle to break out of them.

For the longest time, I thought Christianity was a lot like making those New Year’s Resolutions.  Promise to do the right things.  Promise to do what Jesus says.  Promise to love one’s neighbor and love one’s enemies.  Focus on such matters with great intensity, and accomplish them.  If you were failing to accomplish them, you simply weren’t working hard enough.  If your life was falling apart, you simply weren’t practicing your faith in the appropriate manner.  If you wanted to live a good, healthy life, you needed to do what the Bible said.  You might run into a few road blocks from time to time, but everything would eventually work out.  Everything would end up rosy and peachy if you simply focused on doing what God wanted you to do.

I no longer believe this.  Something happened along the way that made me reevaluate what I believed and preached and taught.  It started with getting stressed out and burned out because of circumstances that were well beyond my control–things that shouldn’t have happened because I thought I was doing the right things!  And then it was a revelation of exactly what my mind was set on.  God showed me the depths of my heart and what I was truly trying to get.  And that can be summed up in a repeat of this statement: If you wanted to live a good, healthy life, you needed to do what the Bible says.  Think about that sentence very carefully.  What is the end goal?  What is the deepest desire?  What is wanted above all else?  A good, healthy life.  You may ask: what’s wrong with deeply wanting a good, healthy life?

Here is what St. Paul has to say about such matters as we turn to our biblical text from Romans chapter 8: 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Paul here is not offering up condemnation.  He is not pointing fingers at anyone and name calling.  He is simply recognizing that there are two types of people in the world: there are those who live their lives completely and totally oriented toward the “things of the flesh”, and there are those who live their lives completely and totally oriented toward the “things of the Spirit.”  Please know that when Paul says the “things of the flesh”, he is not simply talking about the natural desires of our bodies–he’s not simply talking about food, drink, sex, sleep, and rest.  He is talking about all of the things of the world that demand our attention–that seek to influence us into believing that they can provide us with a deep sense of safety, satisfaction, and fulfillment.  He’s talking about the lure of status and wealth. He’s talking about the lure of achievement and knowledge.  He’s talking about the lure of possessions and acceptance by others.  Paul says that there are people who believe that these things are the ultimate goals in life, and their lives are oriented toward these things.  Everything they think; everything they do; everything they say is geared toward getting the things of the flesh–to living the good life.

But Paul also points out the problem with this life orientation: it is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law–indeed it cannot submit to God’s law; and it is not pleasing to God.  He says that such an orientation of one’s life leads to death.  We actually covered most of the reasons why such a life orientation leads to death in earlier portions of the book of Romans.  In a very real way, Paul is simply reminding the congregation of Rome of what he covered earlier, and he does so to remind them of what comes next.

Verse 9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.  Paul’s writing here is not a command.  It’s not a “Turn your lives around from the flesh and get into the Spirit.”  That’s not what Paul says.  He is being descriptive.  He is looking at the congregation in Rome–and to us–and saying, “You are not like that.  You don’t have that kind of life orientation.  You see things in a different way; your entire being has come under the influence of a different power–a different entity.”  Paul says, you/we are in the Spirit because the Spirit of God dwells in us.  Why is this important?

At the end of Romans 7, Paul declared that sin dwelt within the members of his body.  The word he used in Greek was that sin had established a military base within him to influence his members.  Here in Romans 8, Paul uses the exact same word in describing the Spirit’s indwelling–that the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ has established a base of operations deep within us–not in our members, but in our hearts.  The Spirit of God is working within us to reorient our lives so that we find life and peace.  The Spirit of Christ is bringing life to our bodies, not only after we experience our physical deaths, but right here and right now in this life.

How does this come about?  Let’s finish out Paul’s thought with verse 12 So then, brothers and 
sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  Paul says here that because the Spirit dwells in us, we no longer owe the world anything.  We are no longer in debt to the world for anything.  We know that the world cannot bring us fulfillment or peace or ultimate joy and happiness.  We know that the world only brings us temporary satisfaction; temporary joy; temporary happiness.  You know this.  You know this deep within even if you don’t want to admit it.  You know that whenever you achieve that business goal, there is another one that takes its place.  You know that whenever you work and buy your dream home, there’s always another thing to add to it.  You know that whenever you finally reach Friday, Monday morning is just around the corner.  There is always something more to buy; always something more to try; always something more to vie, always one more question why; and in the end you will die with something more to satisfy–if you live according to the flesh.

But if you live according to the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, and you will live.  What does this mean?  This means, that as Christians, we are in a constant state of putting to death our fleshy desires.  We are in a constant state of battle as the world tries to encroach upon us.  We are in a constant state of vigilance as we seek to squash anything that would lead us away from a life that is in the Spirit and pleasing to God.

And on the surface level, this sounds a lot like making New Year’s Resolutions. This sounds a lot like making rules for ourselves.  It sounds a lot like, “I’m going to follow what the Bible says so that I can live a good life.”  But that’s not it.  That’s not it at all.  That’s not how we fight that kind of battle.  If we try to fight the battle this way, we will lose, and we will not have abundant life.

Let me try and tie it all together with this example.  It’s pertinent to me since my family has joined the ranks of those playing Little League Baseball.  The world says, “Get your kids involved in sports because they will learn character.  They will learn how to work on a team.  They will learn life lessons that will give them a leg up throughout the rest of their lives.  Sacrifice in all other areas of life to make this happen.  Cut your family time.  Cut your church time.  Maximize your desire for winning.  Do everything that you can to avoid losing.  Your life–and more importantly, your child’s life–will be better for it.”

A New Year’s Resolution response would be: I am not going to let sports dominate my life, and because of this, baseball will be the enemy.  We will shun it and avoid it at all costs because it is cutting into other parts of our lives.  That’s not exactly easy or fun.  I mean, baseball is a game.  It’s fun!  Life can have enjoyment, you know?

Therefore, I think a Christian response would be this: Baseball, you are promising things that you cannot meet.  Ultimately, you cannot bring fulfillment.  Ultimately, you cannot change a heart.  Ultimately, you cannot turn either me or my child into a good person.  There is only one who can do that.  There is only one who can change a heart and make a person good from within.  There is only one who died for me and for the world.  There is only one who can bring the things that you are promising, and that is Jesus.  You, baseball, are a game.  Jesus is the Son of the living God.  I will engage with you because you are fun, but stop promising me the good life.  You can’t deliver.  Jesus already has.

And that, my brothers and sisters, is the key.  This is what Paul is trying to stress to the church at Rome and to us: when you are in Christ; when you are in the Spirit, Christ is in you; the Spirit is in you.  Trust in their work!  Trust in what they did and promised they would do.  Trust that Jesus has already died to save you.  Trust that the Spirit is working within you to overcome sin and put to death the desires of the flesh.  Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Look to the cross.  Concentrate on Him and the redemption that you have in Him.  Focus your heart and mind on the fact that He died for you when you least deserved it.  Focus on His willingness to sacrifice Himself for you and take your place, and your heart will begin to fill with the love of God.  Your heart will begin to fill with a great love for Jesus.  You will desire Him.  You will want to please Him.  Nothing else will bring you the joy that He brings.  Nothing else will bring you the peace that He brings.  Nothing else will bring you the fulfillment that He brings.  The answer to your quest to be a better person is not to make more resolutions; it’s not to try harder–it’s to orient your entire life toward the One who died and rose again.  It’s to think about Him.  Think about what He did for you.  Long to walk daily with Him.

My brothers and sisters, we have Jesus in us.  We have the Spirit of God in us.  We are walking in Jesus.  We are walking in the Spirit.  Don’t let the world lure you away.  Don’t let the world trick you into going into its path.  Stand firm in Jesus.  Focus on the cross.  Let Jesus be your vision.  Amen.

The Embrace of the Father: Romans 7:14-24

The other night, I had just drifted off to sleep.  It had been a long several days, and my body was craving sleep so badly, that I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.  But I awoke with a start as I heard someone moving in my room.  It was my oldest daughter.  She was breathing heavily, on the verge of tears.  “Daddy, I had a night mare.  I’m scared.  I can’t go back to sleep.”

I reached out and held her for a few moments.  I reassured her.  I sent her back to her room.  She left.  I looked at the clock.  Only thirty minutes had passed since I laid down.  I curled up, hoping to recapture the dreams that had held me captive and in restful sleep.

But sleep did not come because only minutes later, my daughter returned, this time in tears.  “Daddy, I can’t fall asleep.”  This time, there were no reassuring hugs.  I was stern, “Turn on you radio.  Go to sleep!”

She left, and once again, I pursued much needed rest.  It was not to be had.  Just a few minutes later, my other daughter entered the room.  “Daddy, I’m really scared!  I can’t sleep.” I hugged and reassured her. I told her, go back to sleep.”  As she exited the room, she said, “Kiera’s in her bed crying.”

By that time, I had had it.  I was angry.  Not only had my sleep been interrupted, but so had others.  It was time for stern measures.  It was time to force the issue of sleep.  I headed to my eldest’s room.

“Go to sleep!” I said as soon as I entered.

“I can’t go to sleep!” my daughter said through tears.  She had taken all of her stuffed animals off her bed.  She had the bare minimum of sheets and pillows.  I reached for a blanket next to her bed to cover her with, and she cried, “I don’t want that.”  And then, she reached for me.  She stretched out her arms and wrapped them around me, and I did the same with her.  I laid my head next to hers, and I simply held her.  Her crying stopped.  Her breathing slowed.  In moments, her breathing was rhythmic, and she was fast asleep.  Whatever nightmares had haunted her, they had vanished in seconds.  They had vanished because of the embrace of her father.

I arose and walked out of the room, and I looked in my middle daughter’s room.  She had turned on her bathroom light, her closet light, and the light next to her bed.  She was laying in bed with the covers pulled up to her neck and eyes wide open.  I walked to her bathroom saying, “No.  No.  No.”  I turned off the bathroom light, the closet light, and the light by her bed.  “No.  No.  No.”  I sat down next to her.  Embraced her.  Laid my head down next to her and held her tight.  Within moments, she too was sleeping soundly.  The fears and anxieties that had haunted her were gone.  She was at peace all because she had been wrapped in the arms of her father.

I thought to myself at that moment, “That is what it is like to be embraced by the loving power of God.”  Whatever fears, whatever anxieties, whatever nightmares haunt you, they are erased in moments when you find yourself resting in the powerful arms of your heavenly Father–when you understand what grace is all about.

Unfortunately, today, most folks don’t understand grace because either they don’t believe in God or they have no fear of God’s anger toward sin.  There is a message seeping out into society that says, “You may make a few mistakes from time to time, but basically, you are a good person.  You are fine just the way you are.  Don’t get down on yourself at all.”  If you take God seriously, you simply cannot feel that way about yourself.  You can’t think that you are just fine.

The apostle Paul certainly did not feel that way about himself, and he is one of the greatest messengers of the Christian faith that walked the earth.  Last week, in out snippet from Romans Chapter seven, he laid out his case for how the law works–how it confronts us with our sinfulness.  If you were here last week, you were presented with a list of the demands of God.  I don’t think anyone in this room could fulfill even one of those demands.  If we use God’s standard for measurement, we are not simply sinful–we are sinners.

Paul knew this down to the very marrow of his bones.  He knew how he stood in comparison to the law.  He knew where he stood when it came to accomplishing following God, and it scared him.  It literally scared him to death.

Paul knows that there is a power at work within him.  He knows there is a power that is corrupting his body.  He knows that something is very wrong deep within him.  He knows that the law comes from God and is spiritual.  He knows that the law is holy and just and good.  But he also knows that he is fleshy.  He knows he is still under the influence of this world–sold into slavery under sin, as he puts it.  And he is not happy about this.  Because he wants to be good.  He wants to do good.  He wants to do the right thing at all times and in all places.  But he cannot, “I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate.”

Have you ever found yourself there?  Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I know what I should do...”  I know I should be more generous, but the economy looks shaking.  I know I should give my new neighbors a chance, but they have some weird ideas and don’t do things like I do them.  I know I should be forgiving, but the pain that person has caused me is so great.  I know I should talk about my faith in Christ to others, but I don’t think I know enough and people might get upset with me.  Can any of you relate?  Can any of you understand what it means to know what is right and yet fail to do it?

So, what is the problem?  Why is it that we know there is a standard that is good but fail to do it?  Why is it that we know that the law is good, but we fail to implement it?  Because, Paul now says, that deep within us–deep within him–is a power that is at war with the good.  There is a power that is moving deep within our members that is corrupting us and leading us astray.  There is a power that won’t release its hold on us.  A power that is subtle when it needs to be subtle; brutal when it needs to be brutal.  It is a power that will do whatever it takes to lead us away from what we know deep down in the innermost part of our being to be right.  That power, Paul says, is sin.  And it continues to corrupt us.  It continues to influence us.  It continues to work on us toward its purpose so that we do not become what God intends us to be.  “I can will what is right,” Paul says, “but I cannot do it.”  Sin dwells in me.  It corrupts me.

And so, I find myself at war, Paul says.  Deep within my heart, I love God and His law.  I love the commandments because I know that they are for my good.  I want to please God and honor Him.  I want to implement these things because they are given to me by God Himself.  Deep down, I know this.  Deep down, to the core of my being, I want to do this.  But, outside the core of my being, sin holds the rest of me captive.  I cannot escape it.  I cannot avoid it.  I cannot overcome it.  I am wretched!

What a horrible thing to say about one’s self.  What an absolutely horrendous thing to say.  When you call yourself wretched, you are saying that you are worthless, of no value, miserable, devastated, heartbroken.  None of us want to feel this way.  None of us want to go down this path.  But if we hold ourselves to the standard of God’s law and take God’s law in its entirety seriously, then this is exactly where we cannot help but end up.  Wretched.  Paul, when he gets to this point cries out, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”  Paul is having a nightmare.  Paul is unable to sleep.  Paul is scared to death.

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Who rescues us from this nightmare?  Who wraps His arms around us so that we can sleep?  Who brings us peace in the midst of this conflict?  Jesus.  Only Jesus.

“Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law’s demands”
Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone, thou must save, and thou alone”
Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.
Naked come to the for dress; Helpless, look to the for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me Savior, or I die.
Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.”

This hymn speaks deeply to what God has done in Jesus Christ.  It speaks of how Christ gave Himself up for us to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  It speaks of how in the midst of our sin, Christ washes us clean and clothes us with His righteousness.  We are indeed wretched, but we are cleansed.  We deserve God’s righteous anger, and we have received His marvelous love.  We are sinners who deserve just condemnation, and we are saints who have received salvation.

I wish I could convey to you better what this means.  I wish I had the ability to help you see this just like I had the ability to wrap my arms around my daughters in the midst of their fear and anxiety and bring them rest.  I wish I could convey to you the deep love of God for you–to show you the depths that He has gone to redeem you.  I wish I could make it tangible–to make it come alive within you so that each and everyday you might cry out, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  I wish I had the ability to have this settle deep within your hearts because it was this Gospel that changed the world so long ago.  It was this gospel that inspired a small group of disciples to take this message throughout the world.  It was this gospel that transformed individuals and then societies.  It was this gospel that brought people to a place where they didn’t fear to die; they didn’t fear loving those who were different than they were.  They didn’t fear the future.  They were consumed with loving God and loving their neighbor.  They offered forgiveness.  They offered hope.  They were at peace.

This is desperately needed in our world right now.  The anger, fear, and anxiety in our society are palpable.  You need only to read the news and see how people are treating one another today.  You need only to turn on the television to see how the seeds of distrust have been sown–how we tend to walk on eggshells because we don’t want to cause someone to erupt with anger and hatred.   How we have to measure every single word that we say or type because of how it can be misconstrued and used against us.  How we cluster into our various groups: conservative, liberal, democrat, republican, men, women, race, color, creed and look at others as a threat to us.  How we worry about threat after threat after threat.  Sin is using these things to divide.  To scare.  To breed hatred.   Sin is still very much a disease that infects not only us, but the world.

Jesus is the cure.  Jesus can bring healing.  And it starts right here.  With us.  With our hearts being captured by His love.  With our being a community of people focused on Him.  I pray this day that we all may know the depths of His love for us, that we too might find peace and rest in Him; that we may be a community that lives in Him; that we feel His presence with us and that our fears and anxieties may cease.  May we all know the love of Jesus.  Amen.

Making the Cut: Romans 4:9-12

I had a seminary professor who one day spoke to us about an experience he had in a small town where he served a small, Lutheran congregation.  Right across the street from his church was another small, Lutheran congregation.  By this time, each congregation was in the same synod.  My professor thought it was pretty stupid that these two little congregations remained separate especially since they worshiped with the same hymnals; at the same time; with the same liturgy; and were with the same denomination.

One day, my professor asked one of the matriarchs of his congregation, “Why don’t we try to work to become one congregation?”

The matriarch looked at him and said, “Oh, pastor, that will never work out.  We use cards to register for communion.  They tell their pastor directly.”

That, my friends, is worthy of a major face palm!!  Some of the boundaries that we draw to distinguish ourselves from others are truly stupid.

Now, before I go too further, I want to make something very clear, this is not a sermon about bashing boundaries.  There are some well intentioned pastors, professors, and Christians who proclaim that Christianity is all about destroying the boundaries that exist between each other.  They say, “Jesus was a boundary breaker, and we should be too.”  As respectfully as possible, I would like to say that these folks are absolutely, completely, totally, wrong.  Christianity is not about abolishing boundaries.  Jesus did not come to eradicate them.  He came to redraw them.

God knows we need boundaries.  Boundaries help us know what is right and what is wrong.  “Do not steal” sets up a boundary between what you do not have and what someone else has and says, “Don’t take stuff that doesn’t belong to you.”  A marriage is a boundary that is formed between a couple and the rest of humanity that says, “We have committed to one another in a special relationship–no one else is allowed this intimacy.”  Property lines are drawn and sometimes solidified with fences to show–this belongs to one person and that belongs to another.

When it comes to the human aspect of boundaries, they help us know where one person stops and another person starts.  Boundaries say, “This is me.  This is not me.”  They give us a sense of identity, and they differentiate us from the environment and other creatures.  Boundaries help us distinguish ourselves from other animals.  What is the difference between us and apes?  What is the difference between us and chimpanzees?  What is the difference between us and stubborn, hard headed mules?  A few of you are looking around and saying, “Not much.  Not much at all.”

To eradicate all boundaries would leave us with a sense of chaos.  If everything is permitted, you have anarchy, and eventually, the law of the jungle will prevail.  The biggest and strongest will rule over everyone else, and everyone else would have to survive by hook, crook or subservience.  We need boundaries, but we must be careful with those boundaries.

If we draw the boundaries incorrectly or if the boundaries have no wiggle room or play, there can be drastic consequences.  For instance, we have a boundary called the speed limit.  Not too many really pay attention to it, but it is a boundary none-the-less.  If your child has an accident and you need to get them to the hospital as quickly as possible, is it okay to break the speed limit?  Most judges would be lenient because they realize that there are some circumstances where boundaries need to be a little flexible.  If boundaries are drawn incorrectly, conflict ensues.  Property owners go to court.  Nations go to war.  People resort to harsh words or even fists.  Boundaries must be drawn sometimes with the utmost of care.

As we work through the book of Romans we have come to a place where Paul is indeed carefully re-drawing the boundaries of what it means to be a child of Abraham and a part of the family of God.  To recap where we have gone so far, Paul began his letter by showing how all have failed to live up to the expectation of God.  All have missed the mark tremendously and are deserving of God’s wrath.  Yet, instead of unleashing His wrath against us, God worked a mighty act through His Son, Jesus Christ who became a sacrifice of atonement for all sin.  We have been made right with God not by any action of our own but through sheer grace–a gift of God’s gracious giving.  And we receive this righteousness–this being made right–when we trust in Jesus’ actions instead of our own.  As Paul says, it is “effective through faith.”

Paul now has to deal with several issues in light of God’s action through Jesus Christ.  The first is: if we are saved by grace and not by any work of the Law, does that mean that the law is meaningless?  Paul quickly answers: NO, but H-E-double hockey sticks NO!  We uphold the Law.  Paul will get into this later in the book of Romans and explain what this means.  There are still boundaries, but they have drastically shifted.

Last week, Paul worked through one of those shifts digging into the history of Judaism.  He showed how Abraham was not justified or made right with God through his following of the Law.  Abraham, according to Genesis 15 verse 6 was justified when he trusted that God’s promises would come true.  This was before the giving of the Law.  Now, Paul will show how the boundary regarding circumcision has been redrawn.

Let’s take a look at the text: 9 Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, ‘Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.’ 10How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. Again, Paul digs through the scriptural history to prove his point.  Revisiting Genesis chapter 15 verse 6, Paul asks, “When did God say Abraham was made right?  Was it before or after Abraham was circumcised.”  The Jewish rabbis generally agreed that Abraham was circumcised 29 years after the events of Genesis 15:6.  Hence, it logically follows that it was not the circumcision that made Abraham right with God; it was not the circumcision that made Abraham the founder of the Jewish nation; it was Abraham’s trust in God.  Period.  If it was the only the circumcision that counted, well, then Abraham spent 29 years outside of the covenant with God.  Abraham spent 29 years without God’s blessing and promise.  Abraham spent 29 years as just Abraham and not the patriarch of the Jewish people.  No respected rabbi would dare to suggest that.  None at all.  So, Paul has this logic all sewed up.  Abraham was made a part of God’s family before he was circumcised not after.  So, what does circumcision mean, then?

Verse 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, 12and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.  Paul says that circumcision is a SIGN and a SEAL.  It is a sign that Abraham has put his trust in God–it is a response; an indelible mark that shows unequivocally that he is a Jew–a child of God.  It is also a seal of that same covenant.  It is a stamp over a signature that cannot be removed permanently holding that signature in place.  It is not a saving action.  It is a physical reminder of the promises that are made.  It is like a wedding ring.  The ring does not bind a couple together.  Their promises do.

And Paul wants to emphasize this because it has some important implications.  First off, since Abraham entered into the covenant and became the first of God’s family through the promise–and not through circumcision, then he can be seen as the father of the Gentiles who become Christians.  They are uncircumcised yet made right with God just as Abraham was uncircumcised when he was first made right with God.  Secondly, because Abraham was the first of the circumcised, he is also the father of all Jewish people.  It is extremely important for Paul to show this because Paul unequivocally wants to show that God was faithful in His promise to Abraham.  God indeed has ensured that Abraham’s descendants can be counted in the number of stars in the sky and grains of sand in the sea.  The boundary has been redrawn to do this.  The boundary of who is allowed into God’s family is not whether or not the follow the Law.  Paul’s answer is no one does, and all would be excluded.  Paul also now says that the boundary as to whether or not someone is in God’s family is also not circumcision lest some don’t quite make the cut.  (Thank you for your recognition of the brilliance of that pun.)

The boundary is whether or not a person trusts in Jesus Christ.  The boundary is whether or not someone trusts in Jesus’ redeeming action instead of their own actions.  The boundary is whether or not someone trusts in Jesus’ death and resurrection instead of any physical trait they have.  Trust in Jesus equals admission into the family of God.  Faith in Jesus Christ makes you a child of Abraham.  That’s it.  Period.  End of story.

What does this mean?

In today’s terms, the message is stark because there are those who still try to draw the boundaries hard and fast in other terms.  How so?  Tell me if you have heard these things or something like them:

∙ You can’t be a Christian and vote for Donald Trump.
∙ You can’t be a Christian and vote for Hillary Clinton.
∙ You can’t be a Christian and vote Democrat.
∙ You can’t be a Christian and vote Republican.
∙ You can’t be a Christian and drink alcohol.
∙ You can’t be a Christian and be homosexual.
∙ You can’t be a Christian and support our military.

Oh, I could go on and list many, many more–including the fact that there are some Christians who believe that only their particular denomination is the family of God.  There’s an old joke about a guy who dies and goes to heaven.  St. Peter meets him at the gate and starts showing him around.  Peter says, “Well, I noticed that you didn’t attend any particular church, so I am going to show you around up here and let you see all the different denominations.  After looking them over, you can decide which one you want to hang out with.  St. Peter points out the Lutherans, and they are all drinking beer and dancing having a great time.  The guy looks at them and thinks, “Well, that looks like fun.”  Next, Peter points out the Baptists many of whom are drinking beer and dancing for the first time while shouting out Amen! with great frequency.  The guy, thinks, “Well that’s cool too.”  And so Peter goes about continuing to point out each group.  Finally, Peter comes to a big wall.  The guy asks, “What’s up with the wall?”  Peter replies, “Shh.  Keep your voice down.  That’s the Missouri Synod.  They think they’re the only ones up here.”

These boundaries are not the correct boundaries.  It is in our nature to draw them and say who is in and who is out.  But we must remember something–God’s boundaries are the most important boundaries, and He has gone to great lengths to admit as many people into His family as possible.  He has gone through great pains and sufferings to welcome as many to the table as He possibly can.  He has done this because He loves the world and the people in it.  He does not want to see them perish.  We know this because Jesus unequivocally said, “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.”

And that God justified the ungodly.  That God justified you and I when we were ungodly.  God justified us when we were most to be pitied.  And so we seek to proclaim that justification to others.  We seek to help them trust in Jesus and His action.  For God wants all to be in His family.  All.  We do not seek to condemn people for their differences–for their different boundaries.  We seek to help them to see how God has rewritten them to make a place for them.  After all, God has redrawn the boundaries, for you.  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.

No Expiration Date

I almost lost my grandmother earlier this week. 

She was admitted to the hospital this weekend with a pretty severe case of pneumonia.  She grew weaker and weaker.  I talked to her on Monday, and she sounded terrible.

Then Tuesday about 3:45 p.m. I received a phone call from my dad, "If you want to see your grandma before she dies, you'd better get down here."  Dad was crying.  I knew it was bad.  Dad never cries.

I told my wife I needed to go.  Thankfully she handled the kids' homework and dinner.  It was a three and a half hour trip to Corpus.  There was plenty of time to think.

As I drove, my thoughts centered on my grandmother--this often happens when a loved one is near death.  We think about all our interactions with them.  We think of specific times and instances which shaped our relationship.  We think of particular quirks, sayings, habits, and the like.  Sometimes, we are overwhelmed by all the memories to the point where we have trouble recalling all of them.  In those moments of blankness, you sometimes think--how is it that I've known this person for so long but cannot think of a single thing right now? 

And so you think of other things for a moment.

One of those other things did not settle well with me.  The terminology I have heard used in hospitals recently regarding death.  I dreaded hearing, should my grandmother die, the words, "The patient has expired."

Oh, I know the term is an archaic usage which means death.  I am also aware it means to come to an end or to the exhaling one's breath (of which a final expiration is a sign of death).  

But what is so hard about saying someone has died?

Is it more sensitive to say that someone has expired?

I mean, really, when I hear the word expire, I immediately think about the stores of food I have in my pantry.  What's the expiration date?  When is that moment when something becomes unusable?  Worthless?  Unsafe to digest our use because it might bring harm?

Maybe expiration date wasn't the best of choices of words to use when talking about food items because this is now the main usage of the word, I believe.  It's certainly how I use the word most often, and I don't like talking about death in terms of expiration.

I mean, if my grandmother "expires" does she suddenly become worthless?
Is she suddenly "unusable" as if we humans were meant to be used for something?
Is she suddenly "unsafe" or a threat to harm someone in some fashion?

No.  She would simply be dead--a state all of us will eventually enter into.

And I know my visceral reaction to this term when applied to death comes from my adherence to the Christian faith.  Death is not an expiration date.  It's a transition.  It's a threshold.

"For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain."  So said St. Paul in Philippians chapter 1.  For Paul, death meant a reunion with Christ--a joyous occasion when the temporal became eternal.  For Paul, death was a transition, not an end--not a termination--not an expiration.

Christians believe we do not have an expiration date.  The body may die, but we will be raised again to a new life.  And because of the eternal nature of the self, Christians believe we all have value--we are not simply useful creatures; we are not simply here for another person's pleasure or the pleasure of the state, capitalism, our family, or what have you.  We are here, made in the image of God, as creatures of immense worth--even in our brokenness.

In my opinion, using the term expired--particularly in the context of our culture and society today--cheapens the value of human life.  And as a Christian, the term is simply not true at all.  :-)

Setting MInd on Things of the Spirit: Sermon on Romans 8:1-11

 Romans 8: 1-11

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.


   I have said for many years that St. Paul oftentimes becomes pretty convoluted in his writing.  I mean, there are some portions of his letters which are straight forward and easy to understand.  It’s not hard to understand him when he says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  We get this.  We get this easily.  But then there are those portions of his letters in which we get bogged down.  There are those portions of his letters where he seems to ramble on and on and on, and the more you read, the muddier things seem.  I’d argue our second lesson is like that.  Paul talks at length about what it means to have one’s mind set on the Spirit and one’s mind set on the flesh.  One of these is good, and one of these is bad.  We get that part, I think, but I’m not sure we fully understand it–at least as it relates to the Gospel. 

   For I think many of us come away with the idea that Paul is telling us here, “Think about all the things God wants you to do, and then make sure you do them.  That leads to life.  But don’t let your mind get caught up in the flesh–the sinful stuff; the stuff that is against God’s law, because if you get caught up in this, then that leads to death.  It does not please God.”  This is where we tend to end up, but I’d like to remind you of something right now.  I’d like to remind you about where Paul started out before he became a Christian, and it also has ties to Jesus’ encounters with the Pharisees.  Remember, Paul tell us in his letters that he was blameless according to the Law.  Paul had fulfilled all the requirements of the Jewish Law–many of the Pharisees had as well; yet, Jesus nearly always had harsh words for them.  Here was St. Paul, following the Law to a tee, and here were the Pharisees doing the same thing, yet Jesus spoke against them.  Why?

    Why did Paul in the middle of these verses from Romans 8 say, “7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”?  Let’s take a moment to consider what it really means to have one’s mind set on the flesh and then to have one’s mind set on the Spirit.

    Before converting to Christianity, St. Paul had his mind set on the flesh.  Likewise, the Pharisees had their minds set on the flesh as well.  “How is this possible?” you might ask.  “Weren’t they following God’s Law?  Weren’t they following the Ten Commandments?  Weren’t they worshiping correctly and offering all the sacrifices to God in the appropriate manner?”  Well, yes they were.  So how is it that their minds were set on the flesh?

    Here’s the answer: they were trying to work out their own salvation.  You might ask, “How is that such a bad thing?  They are doing the right things.  Isn’t this what religion is supposed to get you to do?”

    If religion were only about what you do, then sure.  But you see, God isn’t interested in simply what you do.  He’s interested in who you are.  He’s interested in you to the very depths of your heart.  He looks into your heart and sees what’s going down deep in its recesses, and when God looked deep into the heart of the Pharisees–when God looked deep in the heart of St. Paul before Paul was converted, do you know what God saw?  He saw self-righteousness.  God did not see a heart bent on loving and pleasing God.  Instead, God saw hearts which were totally selfish.

    How could that be?  Think about this for a moment.  Why does a person follow the commands of Jesus?  Why does a person follow the Ten Commandments?  If a person follows them to work out his or her own salvation, then the person is following them for a very selfish reason.  What?  You might say.  Yes.  If you follow the Ten Commandments or the teachings of Jesus because you want to go to heaven, you are following them for a selfish reason because you are following them to avoid punishment.  You have a deep self-interest in avoiding punishment and getting rewards.  You are trying to save your tail-end.  You are only trying to please God for your sake, not for God’s sake.  Can you see this, or do I need to explain further?  And when you are trying to save yourself, your mind is set on the things of the flesh.  Your mind is set on yourself.  You are no different than those folks who engage in sinful behavior to make themselves feel good.  You are both sinful.  One disobeys the law of God to feel good about one’s self through indulgence.  One strictly obeys the law of God to feel good about one’s self through obedience.  Neither has God at the center of their heart.  Both are centered on themselves.

    This is why Paul says that a mind which is set on the flesh is hostile to God.  It cannot follow the Law of God and please God.  It is only concerned with itself.  Nothing else.  It may be doing the right things, but for completely wrong reasons.  And this is why Paul says, “Set your mind on the things of the Spirit!”

    Now, what does that mean?  How does a person set his or her mind on the things of the Spirit?  What are the things of the Spirit?

    Simply put, setting the mind on the Spirit means concentrating on the Gospel.  You know the Gospel.  I’ve been saying it over and over and over again in my sermons for the past 10 months.  I’ve repeated it again and again and again.  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 may be saved through Him.  This is at the core of what Christianity proclaims.  God took on flesh in the form of Jesus the Son, and He died for us while we were still sinners.  He died for us when we were not following the commands of God.  He died for us when we were centered totally and completely on ourselves.  He died for those who were disobeying God’s Law, and He died for those who were following God’s law to save themselves. 

    Jesus came to live the life we could not live, and He died the death we deserved in order to reconcile the world to God–to reconcile you unto God.  You didn’t do a blasted thing to help this process.  It was all on God.  It was all on Jesus.  Your salvation; your reconciliation unto God was accomplished for you when you were heading in the opposite direction.  When you begin to contemplate this, you are setting your mind on the things of the Spirit, and this changes you.

    How?  How does thinking about what Jesus did by dying for us change us?

    First off, remember, if you are trying to work out your salvation and avoid punishment, you are acting with a ton of self-interest and selfishness.  The same goes for thinking that you have to do something to keep your salvation.  I mean, there are plenty of Christians who believe Jesus died for them and saved them, but they also believe they have to work their tail ends off or they will lose their salvation.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Your salvation is complete.  It is done.  Period.  End of discussion.  Jesus paid the price for that.  Jesus lived the life you should have lived.  He died the death you deserved.  It is finished.  It was done by Jesus, and you can’t claim any credit for it.

    This is important to realize because it means you can’t be self-righteous anymore.  You can’t look down your nose at another person and claim that you are somehow morally and spiritually superior to another person.  You are not.  None of us are.  When you know that you were saved by sheer grace, and it hits your heart, all of a sudden, there are sins revealed to you that you didn’t even know you were doing.  As I’ve said before, one of the ones that was revealed to me was when I listened to Timothy Keller give a lecture on evangelism and he talked about being reclaimed by the gospel.  Keller talked about those of us who are clergy and how we really don’t get the gospel.  How?  Keller said, “I don’t know what extent it is for you, but to some degree your self-worth is tied to your ministry.  How do I know this?  When the worship attendance is up, your spirits are up, and when worship attendance is down, you get depressed.  Your self-worth is tied to your ministry to some extent.”  I hung my head because I knew it was true.  I wasn’t living out grace.  I was still caught up in trying to get my self-worth from other things.  This kind of sinfulness is revealed to you when the Gospel takes root in your mind.  You know you are broken.  You know you are still in need of healing, and it humbles you.  It humbles you so that you don’t see yourself as any better than anyone else–you see that you need Jesus just as much as that other person out there needs Jesus.  And a well spring of thanksgiving swells up in your heart because you know Jesus died for you when you were broken.

    And that leads you to say, “How can I show my thankfulness?  How can I show my appreciation to Jesus for what He has done?”  This is important because there are many who think that grace gives them sheer license to do whatever they want to do.  I can do whatever makes me feel good because I’m forgiven anyway.  There’s a term for this: cheap grace.  Cheap grace means you don’t understand the price that was paid for you.  Dr. David Lloyd Jones used a sermon illustration to get at this.  Let’s say you come home from vacation one day, and your neighbor comes over to give you your mail.  He says he saw a bill in your mail, and he paid it for you.  Dr. Jones said, “At this point, I need to know how large the bill was in order to know how to respond.”  If it was simply a matter of postage due, I can offer a word of thanks and go about my merry business.  But if it was a letter from the IRS telling me I had to pay thousands of dollars in fees that I didn’t have, well then there is a very different response.  That’s when I fall on my knees to thank you profusely.

    If we realize the size of the debt that Jesus paid for us, then we fall at His feet in thanksgiving and we seek to please Him–not because we are trying to get anything from Him but because we have already received it.  Not because we feel good about ourselves but because we know what Jesus did for us when we weren’t too good at all.  We follow the Ten Commandments and what Jesus taught us because of what He first did for us in dying for us and removing our debt.

    This is what the Gospel is all about.  Jesus dying for us when we were still sinners leads us to a place of humility.  It leads us to a place of serving God for His sake and not for our own.  It is far removed from setting our mind on the things of the flesh.  Thinking about the Gospel is setting our mind on the things of the Spirit, and that leads us to abundant life.  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.

Revisiting Salt and Light

Last week, I received an abnormal amount of hits on one of my previous sermons "Salt and Light." 

Every three years, this particular teaching of Jesus is placed before pastors and congregations that follow the Revised Common Lectionary.  Last Sunday was the appointed time for this text:

¹³“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. ¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Apparently, some folks had reached the bottom of the barrel when it came to looking for sermon hints, and in a last ditch effort, several read mine.  :-)

As I saw the hits mount, I decided to read that sermon again.  I don't think it was all that bad, but as I read through it, I thought to myself, "Where is the grace?"

There was none.

My sermon focused completely and totally on action: my action, my congregation's action, the things we were supposed to do.

Where was forgiveness?

Where was God's love for us?

Where was the transformation of heart and soul gifted by the Holy Spirit?

It just wasn't there.

And a straight forward reading of this text, with no other context, doesn't have much grace at all.

But if you place it within the larger context of the Gospel message...

You ARE the light of the world...

You ARE the salt of the earth...

Intriguing use of words there by Jesus, is it not?

You ARE!

Not, if you follow me and believe in me and do what I say, then you will be.  No.  You ARE!

We are created to be light for the world; salt for the earth.  It is our purpose.  We didn't ask for this.  We didn't seek out this purpose.  We didn't ask God for the light to shine through us--God put it there.  We are created to shine light into a world of darkness by doing good works and glorifying our Father who is in heaven.

The problem: we like putting a bushel basket on ourselves.   And it's not because of some sort of humility driving us to do that.

There is a part of us that craves the darkness.  There is a part of us that craves being superior to everyone.  There is a part of us that craves the baser things of life, and when light shines on such things, it shows them for what they are: sinful.

And so, we cover the light.  We hide the light so it doesn't shine and reveal the fact that we enjoy sinful pursuits and perverted pleasures.  We hide the light so it doesn't show our complicity in systems which promote poverty and abuse and subjugation.  We hide the light so it doesn't reveal our darkest secrets and desires of greed, lust, envy, anger, and the like.  We hide the light so that we can go on thinking we are good people because we don't act out those very thoughts.

²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

You see, the Pharisees and scribes were the purity folks of Jesus' day.  They were the folks who concentrated on following all the rules to a tee.  They were the folks who put on an air of holiness, and Jesus tells His followers their righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.


How?

Well, the scribes and Pharisees might have had an external facade, but it was the inside that counted.  That's where true righteousness comes from.  True righteousness comes from having a heart oriented toward God--a heart that unashamedly and humbly puts itself on a lampstand to shine light into a room.

And who can have such a heart?  Who can make their heart do such a thing?

Not us.  Not on our own.  St. Paul wrote in the 7th Chapter of the book of Romans:

¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

We know the good we should do.  We know the light we should shine.  We know we shouldn't have certain thoughts of anger, lust, greed, envy, and contempt.  But we have them anyway.  We don't do the good anyway.  As much as we would like our hearts to be oriented toward God, we keep fighting to have them oriented toward ourselves.

Yet, despite this, Christ still died for us.  Christ still offered Himself on the cross to reconcile us unto God.

Only a love like that can change a heart.  Only a love like that, once it's power infiltrates through our barriers can change a person.  Only a love like that can bring a person to his or her knees with thanksgiving and humility and awe and wonder.

"You ARE the light of the world..."
"You ARE the salt of the earth..."

What terrifying, humbling, and empowering words at one and the same time.

I Decided to Know Nothing Except Christ Crucified

    St. Paul writes, “When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”

    Most of my life and in most of my time as an ordained minister, I have tried to do the exact opposite of what St. Paul says in these opening words of the second chapter of 1 Corinthians.  I hate to admit this.  I really do.  I hate to admit that for most of my career, I have tried diligently to learn as much as I can and then show how learned I am.  I have tried using lofty words of wisdom in my sermons, on my blog, in Bible study, and in conversation.  I have oftentimes been convinced that such lofty words of wisdom will convince many in today’s society of the reasonableness of Christianity.  I have oftentimes been convinced that Christianity has all the answers to all the questions that exist and that if I just learn them and articulate them, well, then I can have a tremendous impact in the lives of others.  I have oftentimes been convinced that our churches simply need to get with the right train of theological thought–the right train of wisdom, and then all will be well. 

    I don’t think I am alone in what I have done and to some extent continue to do.  It’s the way the world works.  I mean, just browse through the comments section on any particular political article.  Jump onto an internet message board and read through any particularly controversial thread.  Look at what stands out when people engage in dialogue about such subjects.  Well, first filter through the comments which are simply baseless attacks.  Then, read the more serious ones.  See what they do.  Time and again, they list: point by point; reason by reason why their “side” is correct.  Time and again, they will provide links to studies, articles, and citations to bolster their particular point of view.  Time and again, they will show statistics and numbers to prove their particular position.  All of the facts must be shown, and once the facts are presented, then one shouldn’t be able to argue with my position.  After all, I am right!  I have the facts on my side.  I have thoroughly researched this issue, and by God, I know what I am talking about.

    Oftentimes, the rebuttals are swift, and one of my favorite ones is, “So, you have a degree in whatever subject matter is at hand, I suppose?  You are a climate scientist, a social scientist, a biologist, a biblical scholar, a doctor, a political science major, a lawyer, or what have you.  The rebuttal is that unless you have studied the subject matter and have a degree in it, then you are not qualified to speak with any kind of authority on the matter.

    It’s part and parcel in the way the world works.  We love appealing to our experts.  We love appealing to those who have numerous letters behind their names.  Of course, if certain experts disagree with us, then we will find other experts, but hey, that’s the game, isn’t it?  Lofty titles.  Large degrees.  Plenty of status.  That’s what awes people into believing what you have to say. 

    I am reminded at this point of a joke I love to tell.  It’s about a church congregation president who decided to call on several members who hadn’t been in church for some time.  He goes to see Farmer Joe. 

    Farmer Joe is out in the field chopping cotton.  Bob parks his car down in the turning row and walks up to Joe.

    “Hey Joe! How’ve you been?”

    “Aiiight,” Joe replies.

    Bob continues, “Haven’t seen you in church in a while, Joe.  Thought you might like to come back.”

    Joe wipes the sweat off his brow, spits in the dirt and says, “Well, why should I come back to church?”

    Bob says, “Joe, you have got to come and hear the new preacher we got!  He’s fantastic!”

    Joe slowly says, “Well, what makes this here preacher so special?”

    Bob replies enthusiastically, “Joe, he’s got a B.S. an M.S. and a PhD!”

    Joe shakes his head and says, “Well, that settles it.  I ain’t a comin’ to church as long as that preacher’s there.”

    Bob is taken aback.  He can hardly believe his ears.  “W-w-w-why?” he stammers.

    Joe spits in the dirt and says, “Well, we all know what B.S. is.  M.S. is just more of the same.  And PhD is piled high and deep.”

    Don’t laugh too hard now.  I personally have a master’s degree.

    But there is something to be said here.  There is something to be said regarding those who try to proclaim the message of God based in wisdom and lofty words.  There is something to be said about those who claim to have special knowledge of God and how God operates.  There is something to be said for those like myself and others who have tried time and again to use knowledge and reason and other such things to talk about God–to try and convince everyone that we’ve got it down pat when it comes to knowing and understanding God and His ways.

    And that something is not necessarily pretty.  You see Paul was onto something when he proclaimed the Gospel to the Gentiles. “I didn’t come with words of wisdom.  I chose only to know Christ crucified that your faith may not rest on worldly wisdom but on the power of God.”

    You see, Paul knew it wasn’t what he knew that counted.  Paul knew it wasn’t about what he had accomplished.  Paul knew his resume wasn’t the important part of the equation.  Paul knew very well that it wasn’t about anything he had done that mattered.  If people were resting their faith on what Paul had done, there would be problems.  But if they rested their faith on what God had done, well, then that was quite a different story.  And now we must ask: what has God done?

    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 may be saved through Him.

    On the cross, Jesus died–God died–to reconcile the world unto Himself.  God died to pay the price of forgiveness–to take away our shame, our guilt, our debt to Him.  It was on the cross that the world’s redemption took place.  “When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

    I am beginning to change, my brothers and sisters.  I am trying to leave behind this notion that I must be filled with lofty wisdom and knowledge and understanding.  I am trying to leave behind the notion that I have to be super-knowledgeable about Christianity, the Bible, all sorts of theology.  I am working to focus on the main thing: Christ crucified and the grace that flows from the cross.  It’s all about that grace.  It’s all about what God has done.  None of us need a degree to proclaim it.  All of us can do it, and when we do, we live God’s Word daily.  Amen.