Sermon delivered on Sunday, August 8, 2010 at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Lewis Center, OH. Due to technical difficulties the audio recording of this sermon is not available.
Lectionary texts: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 33:12-22; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40.
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
What is the Human Condition?
Good morning, St. Andrew’s! Over the last couple of weeks, you recall that in the Gospel lessons, Jesus has been talking about priorities and reminding us to put the things of God before the things of this world. In other words, Jesus has been reminding us to be the people God created us to be—to love and enjoy him above everything else, a love that will naturally produce an outward focus on others and their welfare as well as our own. It’s that summary of the Law thingy about which we are reminded each week, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
In the passage between last week’s Gospel lesson and this week’s, Jesus continues to remind us to keep our primary focus on God and not ourselves. He reminds us that God knows our physical needs—food, clothing, shelter, etc.—and will provide everything we need even when we don’t make accumulating these things our main priority. After assuring us that God is both willing and able to take care of all our needs if we seek him first, it is as if Jesus pauses to remind us about the obvious in today’s Gospel lesson. He tells us not to be afraid because it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom.
Why would Jesus feel the need to tell us not to be afraid? If the Bible contains a trustworthy reflection of the human condition, there is a good chance every one of us here is afraid of something. The Bishop of Durham, Dr. Tom Wright, tells us that “don’t be afraid” is the most common phrase in the Bible. I did a search on that phrase along with variations of it and found that “fear” or “afraid” is used 651 times in 527 verses in the Bible. Clearly we are a people who are alienated from God and afraid, and Jesus was wise in assuring us not to be.
So what are you afraid of? Some of us are afraid of losing our economic security. Others are afraid of catastrophic illness. Many of us fear growing old and infirm. We fear losing our loved ones or never connecting with someone in the first place so that we are left to live life alone. To one degree or another, we all are afraid that we will not be accepted for who we are.
But I think there is a greater fear among many of us. How many of you have dealt with the terrible fear that it really isn’t God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom because of who you are? In our honest moments we, like David in Psalm 51, cry out to God that we know our transgressions only too well and our sin is ever before us. We wonder how someone like us will be able to live in the presence of God’s perfect holiness for all eternity and it makes us afraid. How many of you here are dealing or have dealt with something like this?
I know that when I was a young man in my 20s and 30s I was terrified of dying and going to hell, and I read this passage from Luke over and over to try to find comfort in it. But usually it was like whistling through the graveyard. Much as I read in that passage that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom, I knew my transgressions and my sins were ever before me. You see, I was still laboring under the delusion that it was all about me, about what I did or did not do, and that will always turn out badly because none of us on our own is fit to live with God forever. So if you are someone who is afraid that it really isn’t God’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom, or if you are a “yeah-but” person—someone who believes the Gospel is true for everyone but you—I want to speak to you specifically this morning to offer you a word of encouragement and hope.
Where is God’s Grace
The next time you become afraid that it really isn’t God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom because you know how rotten you really are, ask yourself what you are going to do with these verses like the ones from Romans 8. (We could spend all morning citing similar verses but since I want to get you home in a timely manner so that you can start burning those weenies on the grill, I will stick to this chapter.) “Therefore [because of what God has done for us in Christ], there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (8:1). What about later in the same chapter when Paul talks about the fact that nothing in all creation can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, not famine or peril or persecution or powers or principalities? What are you going to do with these passages and dozens of others like them? Why do you think they are there? Do you think Paul and the other NT writers were simply cruel individuals who were making empty promises to make desperate people feel better or do you think there is real truth and substance to what Scripture has to say?
“Ah, but Fr. Kevin,” you retort, “the Gospel may be all well and true but you don’t know how bad I am or the things I have done.” To which I reply, “Never argue with your priest during the middle of his sermon. You will not get a word in edgewise.” Seriously, you are correct. I don’t know how bad you are or the things you have done. But I know how bad I am and the things I have done and I can probably match you tit-for-tat or more likely exceed what you have to offer.
But this misses the point entirely because it is not about us. Instead, what we have here is a classic “yeah-but” response. You are effectively saying, “Yes, I believe the Good News is true but it cannot possibly apply to me. I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.” To which Paul responds, “Very true! But there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because it is about God’s grace and wondrous love for you, not about your worthiness.” God’s promises to you in Christ Jesus are either true or they are not and if you do not believe them to be true or believe that they do not apply to you (which is essentially the same as not believing them at all), then why bother putting on a charade of trying to live a Christian life? Instead, go crazy. Become totally self-indulgent. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we will die and are toast—literally.
But if what Paul writes is true, that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, then it changes everything and we have no reason to fear. When I finally realized that the Gospel was about God’s great love, mercy, and grace for me in Christ, and not about me, I stopped being afraid that God really wasn’t pleased to give me the Kingdom.
For you see, at the heart of our fears about being denied God’s Kingdom is either an inadequate faith or a misapplication of it. We either do not know or do not really believe the promises of God in Christ or we put our faith in ourselves rather than in God’s grace (or some variation of these themes). That was at the root of the problem in today’s OT lesson. The people of Judah had stopped putting their faith and trust in God and had turned to themselves instead. Yes, they went through the motions of religious ritual and observances but their hearts were far from God and he called them on it. Yet even then, did you notice that God offered Judah the hope of redemption if the people were able to get their minds right and turn back to him?
As the writer of Hebrews reminds us in today’s Epistle lesson, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” So what is it we hope for? Having a kind of relationship with God that will lead to life both now and forever. We hope for the day when we will get to live forever with God in his new city, the New Jerusalem. And we remember that hope as the NT writers used it does not mean wishful thinking. It means a sure and certain expectation. So, for example, if the writer of Hebrews were to say, “I hope I get paid for my work” he would really be saying that he expects to get paid, not that he wishes his employer will pay him.
So what is the sure and certain expectation that we call our Christian hope? That God has solved the intractable problem of human sin and the separation it causes by becoming human, dying on a cross, and bearing the terrible consequences of our sin himself. Because of the blood of Christ shed for us, we believe that when our mortal bodies die, our spirits will go to be with Jesus until his coming again in great power and glory. When he does, God will finish his redemptive work started on the cross and bring about his New Creation. We will be raised to life, given new resurrection bodies that are equipped to live in God’s New Creation, the New Jerusalem, where we will live forever with the Source and Author of all life, never again to be afflicted by any kind of evil or suffering. And what do we do to earn all of this? Not a thing. It is impossible for us to earn this because of our sin that is so much a part of us, and which makes us unholy in God’s sight and causes us to be alienated and separated from him.
Instead, we draw on our faith that God’s promises to us in Christ are true and act like we believe it because saving faith always manifests itself in action. I cannot tell you entirely how God expects you to manifest your faith, but one thing I do know is this. If you really have a saving faith in Christ you will stop “yeah-butting” and start reciting with Paul that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, giving thanks with your whole being as you do.
And if you find yourself waiting impatiently for the promise to be fulfilled, as the writer of Hebrews reminds us, faith is made manifest in waiting. None of us likes to be kept waiting, especially living in the age of instant gratification. But wait we must because we are on God’s schedule, not ours, and we must either decide we know better about how to run the universe and how to best redeem sinful humanity or that God does. If we believe that God knows better, our faith will help us wait patiently for his promises to be fulfilled, even in the midst of adversity and trials. Abraham did it, Paul did it, and so have all the other saints of God. Not perfectly, mind you, but the faith of God’s saints allows us to persevere with real hope as we embrace his wondrous promise to us.
Where is the Application?
So what can we take from all of this? First, if we believe that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, then it follows that we had best be working hard at developing our relationship with him, something that will take a lifetime. We must be fully literate in the Christian hope and promise that is in Christ so that our expectations are clear and we know what to expect. We must be aware of his living Presence in us and we can best cultivate our awareness of his Presence through an active prayer life. This will take your time and effort and it is not always easy, but growing in our prayer life is critical. If you need help with your prayer life, seek the counsel of other faithful souls to help you so that you can grow in grace together.
Second, if we want to grow in our faith, it is a good idea to hang around those who are faithful so that we can see how God’s saints manifest their faith and use it to help sustain them in life’s darkest moments. In other words, we must see how others manifest their faith in waiting. We can typically do that best inside small groups. I cannot tell you how inspiring it has been to watch members of my own small group draw on their faith to help sustain them through some very real and difficult problems such as alienation and loss of all kinds. I watch these saints of God draw on their faith to sustain them and help them deal with their trials with grace and courage. It is simply an awesome thing to behold and in so doing, Christ uses them to help me grow in my own faith. Satan would like nothing better than to keep each of us isolated so that he can pick us off one at a time and destroy our faith. Don’t let him do that to you.
Summary
There are many things in this life that make us afraid, but there is no reason for anyone to ever be afraid to believe that God is eager and willing to give us his Kingdom. “Yeah-but” as we may, faith dictates that we must eventually come to grips with the wondrous Good News of Jesus Christ, Good News that is available to anyone who will accept it through faith. We give thanks that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We know this because we believe that God became human and bore the terrible consequences of our sin by dying for us on the cross. We believe the promise of his New Creation because we have seen Christ’s empty tomb and know that he has been resurrected from the dead, giving us a preview of coming attractions of the New Creation. We have the very Spirit of Christ in us testifying to us about his Gospel. We have God’s word in Scripture to remind us of God’s story of redemption for his sinful and broken people. And we have each other to help sustain us when life goes wrong. These are all God’s good and gracious gifts to us and when we make the promises ours by faith, we believe and trust that there really is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is precisely at that point, folks, that we have Good News to sustain us for the living of our days, now and for all eternity.
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.