“Alive in Christ”

Scripture: Romans 6:1-18

Last week, as we discussed Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary, we discovered that it was by the impetus of his great love for us that he was able to carry out the will of Almighty God – that a new way, and a new covenant might be established for the unworthy likes of you and me.

St. Vincent de Paul ran an orphanage in Paris during the first half of the seventeenth century. One winter day he opened the front gate to find an abandoned infant lying in the snow. He brought the bundled baby back into the warmth of the room where he was meeting with a number of wealthy women who helped support the orphanage.
Naturally, St. Vincent asked them what he should do with the tiny, frail creature. One of the women suggested that perhaps God intended for the baby to die, as a punishment for the sins of the mother.
Appalled at this attitude, St. Vincent angrily retorted, “When God wants dying done for sin, he sends his own Son to do it!” This is grace - mysterious, inexplicable, but touching and overwhelming. It is worth devoting the whole of our lives to a response to this grace.
--Taken from Richard P. C. Hanson, The Attractiveness of God: Essays in Christian Doctrine (Richmond, Virginia: John Knox Press, 1973), 146.

It is the Lord’s greatest desire that none should die because of sin, and he has prepared the solution to our dilemma. Sin, our ultimate failure to show God honor and respect, our breaking of his covenant of life, our turning our backs on his call to our lives, deserves the condemnation of death. And so, because of sin, the ”Perfect One of heaven and earth” gave his life in our place.

Read Romans 6:1-7

Last week, we talked about “justification”. Today, we begin to consider Paul’s understanding of “sanctification”. Justification is our being put in a right relationship with God through Christ’s great act on Calvary, while Sanctification is the process of change that we experience as we grow in faith. Justification occurs in a moment, but “sanctification” is a life long journey.

As Paul writes this chapter, he is focused on our becoming more committed and more resilient in faith, but he anticipates the errant thoughts that others may have. And quite honestly, why shouldn’t someone who is new to the faith think that, since God is Grace, why shouldn’t we help him to become even more through our sin? It almost makes sense. Almost. But it falls far short of the truth.
In last week’s passage, we read “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” (Romans 5:20) It isn’t that grace in God will increase, but that the grace that comes to us will increase. God’s grace is infinite and it can’t grow anymore. But it will flow in any amount, to anyone, who is in any need of it.

And Paul goes on to explain that more sin in the life of a Christian is not only a bad thing, but a truly unthinkable thing. Christ died that we might be freed from sin, and to intentionally go on sinning is nothing short of arrogance. Taking advantage of God’s mercy is, in and of itself, a sin.
Sanctification is about change – not an excuse to continue in the way we have always gone! Christ died for our sin, and in when we are baptized into his life, we are also made one with his death. In the early Church, baptism was always by immersion, and, of course, many churches still use this method. It symbolized death and burial, and when the person was lifted up out of the water, it signified a new beginning, a new life. And with baptism for today, whether by immersion or pouring or sprinkling, the significance is no different.
He died for sin, and we must die to sin. And when we die with him, we will also be raised into new life with him. As a matter of fact, that’s the only way it can happen – “new” life doesn’t come out of “old” life – it comes out of death to the old life. This concept is why Christians are referred to as Easter people. We are “resurrected” into new life right here and now! We don’t have to wait!

Read Romans 6:8-14

Verse 8 includes a very important word, and it needs emphasis – “IF” we die with Christ, we will also live with him. First death to sin, then life in Christ. We all know folks who think that if they are just good enough in this life, if they do more good than bad, if they are able to balance out their life by showing love to others, that it will be enough. Nothing about Jesus, and everything about themselves. Paul says that it just doesn’t work that way – that it is all about Jesus, and only for us.

The next concept that Paul introduces is that Jesus died once, and has accomplished all that is needed. Death once, then life forever, which tells us that his humanity has accomplished its purpose, and from now on, it will be his divinity that will continue to live for, and beyond, all time. In his human death, he destroyed our sin, and in death, it can never live within us again. Now I also need to say that this doesn’t mean that we are perfect. We aren’t! But the effect that sin has on our lives has been destroyed, and our captivity to sin, our slavery to the way of sin, has been broken. Life in Christ can no longer carry the penalty of death. Period.

Now, the last 3 verses of this section begin to shift our thoughts from what Jesus has done for us, to the way that we must live in him. Remember Jesus’ teaching in his Sermon on the Mount? In Matthew 6:24, he tells us that we can’t serve two masters – that we have to pick one and stick with him. When we give our lives to Christ, we have chosen our Master. And now it is our responsibility to do his will.
No longer can sin be our guide, it can no longer be our routine. We will still have those temptations, and from time to time, we will stumble over them. But Paul’s point is that we can no longer intentionally follow the ways of the world, and when we do fall, we can no longer stay down. There was a Christian contemporary song out a few years ago that said, basically, that a “sinner” is one who falls down and stays down, but a “saint” is one who falls down and gets up, over and over again. “Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” For now, sin will continue to be a force that must be reckoned with, but because we are under grace, we are under Christ and his redemption. If we were dependent on the law, sin would still have a hold on us. The law suffocates us, but God’s will frees us to do all that he has created us to do.

Read Romans 6:15-18

The issue of slavery has carried a negative connotation for many years. There were slaves who were chained to the oars of Roman galleys. There were slaves in the homes of Jesus’ day, who had no say regarding their lives. We have a legacy of slavery in our own country that we are still trying to set right. Slaves have always been seen as ones who had no life of their own – it was their master’s, to do with as he saw fit, and death was the only release.
Slavery to sin is like that, but being a “slave for Jesus” is something totally different. Yes, it still means that the master’s will is the will for our lives, but it is no longer about endless toil, and endless beatings, and endless agony, and endless struggle. It isn’t a sentence that will only end in death, and it isn’t just a sentence of obedience. It is about a new kind of commitment that comes from Christ, and one that we simply accept. And when we do accept it, the “sentence” of slavery in Jesus’ name is eternal life, and eternal joy, and eternal peace!

A wise, old Middle Eastern mystic once said “I was a revolutionary when I was young, and all my prayer to God was: 'Lord, give me the energy to change the world.' As I approached middle age and realized that my life was half gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to: 'Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come into contact with me. Just my family and friends and I shall be satisfied.'
Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been. My one prayer now is: 'Lord, give me the grace to change myself.' If I had [only] prayed this right from the start, I would not have wasted my life.”
--As quoted in Paul J. Wharton, Stories and Parables for Preachers and Teachers (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1986), 31.

When God’s grace changes us, life takes on a whole new meaning. We “have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Now that’s a sentence that we can “LIVE” with!

“Out of Death”

Scripture: Romans 5:12-21

Throughout the centuries, humanity has been both tormented and intrigued by the specter of death. And these two emotions exist for the same reason – no one knows much about the phenomenon. We fear those things that we can’t easily define and understand, and we are, at the same time, captivated by the unknown.
And what about life? Everyone knows what life is all about, because everyone exists in it. Life doesn’t mean the same, or bring the same for everyone, and it isn’t always easy, but very few have any fear of life.

From a worldly viewpoint, human life is good and human death is bad, but the truth is that few people understand the consequences of either! And the spiritual aspects of life and death? That is even stranger – there is even more confusion over the spiritual concepts of life and death, and some even try to avoid it by denying that they even exist.

Since the earliest days of the Church, there has been controversy over what happens after human life ends. The gospel writers convey Jesus’ words on the subjects, and even the epistle writers comment over and over again on the issue of life versus death, and still confusion reigns.

In today’s lesson, Paul addresses the issue of what differentiates spiritual life from spiritual death, and I will venture a guess before we even begin that it still won’t bring us a perfect understanding. But that’s never stopped us from trying before! So let us begin.

Read Romans 5:12-14

Last week, as we considered the first 11 verses of this chapter, the concept of justification, or God’s great act that set our relationship with him in the right aspect, was put in perspective for us. Today, Paul continues to show us why the Lord’s act is necessary, and why a relationship with Jesus is vital for our spiritual lives.

He begins at the beginning with Adam and Eve, who only had one commandment to follow, and temptation would lead them to break it. “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) And, of course, they ate, and death would be theirs. Oh, they didn’t experience human death immediately, but while it was not in their future initially, it would now come soon. But human death was not the most important aspect of the curse – spiritual death, or the breaking of the created relationship between humanity and Almighty God, would also come to be. And that would happen almost immediately, which, in turn, would cause their rejection from the eternal garden.

This first sin – the original sin– brought about the curse of labor in life and darkness in death (Genesis 3:1-19), and there was no remedy available at the hand of humanity. Eternal life had been created for Adam by God, and there was only one thing that he had to do to keep that life – “Don’t eat the fruit on that tree!”. When his faithfulness failed, so did the promise. And until the coming of Moses and the giving of the Law, all hope was lost to human life. No hope, no justification, no opportunity, no life.

Read Romans 5:15-17

“The gift is not like the trespass.” Paul is saying that the gift of justification by Christ doesn’t just balance out the sin. It “is not like” sin because the gift of God goes far beyond the penalty of Adam. Sin would happen almost without challenge within the glory of that beautiful garden, while redemption had to fight its way back against the overwhelming darkness of death. In overcoming the curse of sin, Grace, in essence, had to create a whole new reality, a whole new covenantal relationship that would be offered, not just to one person, but to the entire world.

One man, Adam, began the downward spiral of sin into death by breaking one commandment, while one other Man, Jesus Christ, would be the gift that, for all who would accept it, would break the fall from grace. It was the gift of Divine Sacrifice that the world needed, and the cross of Christ would accomplish that very thing.

William Frazier wrote:
In failing to keep the cross at the center of salvation, and the death of Jesus at the center of the cross, Christians and the Christian point will continue to pass each other in the night.
-- As quoted in William B. Frazier, “The Incredible Christian Capacity for Missing the Christian Point”, America, 21 November 1992, 400.

We don’t like the image of death (we still don’t understand it!), and we like even less the thought that God would, or even could, die for the benefit of his created. And yet, that is just what he did.

Read Romans 5:18-21

It was the result of one sin that began the condemnation of humanity, and it is one act of pure righteousness that reestablishes the relationship that had been broken. Adam, the symbol that encompasses all of humanity, chose to break the covenant that God had created for him, and only God could put it right again. There was nothing that Adam could do to heal the rift, there was nothing that anyone could do, through all of time, that could get us back in God’s good graces. If the Lord wanted us to be reconciled with him, then he would have to make the way.
Paul explained it this way - “it was the disobedience of the one man [that] many were made sinners,” and it was “the obedience of the one man [that] many will be made righteous.” But how far must obedience go? Disobedience was easy – one simple act was all it took. But what about Jesus? Was his obedience only on Calvary?
Think about the gospels and of all the stories that surround Jesus’ ministry. He was in perfect conformity with all that the Father had ever commanded, and only overturned those laws that had come from the minds and hearts of humanity - he would remain in agreement when the Pharisees challenged him again and again with their law; he would never compromise when his closest friends couldn’t seem to get it right; he would be in perfect harmony with God when approached by Satan in the wilderness; the message that he delivered never changed - whether he was teaching Jews or Gentiles, it never deviated; and his commitment to salvation for us continued to lead him up that long and bloody hill and onto the cross. For Jesus, obedience to the Father’s Will was never in question – it was, therefore he did.

Righteous obedience is not a one or two or even ten-time thing. It is life long, and that is why we will never be able to amass enough merit by being right and good. It is because of the human condition that we never have been, nor will we ever be, perfect. A “full time righteousness” is simply not in our makeup, so we have no choice except to look to the only one who is always righteous. And what is the cause of all this imperfection? Paul says that it is because of the law – that it is the Law that causes sin. I think he is right.
Think about the laws in our own nation. Personally, I don’t think that anyone has the slightest inkling as to how many laws we actually have on the books in Washington. And if that isn’t bad enough, how many more laws do each State in the Union have, how many laws do towns and cities and villages have? And when I was growing up, my Dad added a few more for my brothers and me that government never thought of! I think that it is safe to say that no matter where you live, no matter how focused you may be on being a good citizen, no matter how careful you are to be obedient to the laws of our nation, and state and town and village and city – and parents (!), it’s inconceivable that there is a single moment of any day in which we do not break some law!

We need Jesus! And God’s laws are nowhere near as extensive as our nation’s laws. Break one of our nation’s laws (and there is no doubt that we will and we do!) and the only recourse is to pay a penalty. Break one of God’s laws (Adam did, and so do we!), and we have two choices – pay the penalty, which is death to our Divine relationship, or seek restoration through the justifying act of Jesus. The way of the world is penalty. The way of God is reconciliation. The way of the world is death and darkness. The way of God is light and life.

There is a statistic that puts this into an interesting perspective:
Do not ride in automobiles; they cause 20 percent of all fatal accidents.
Do not stay at home; 17 percent of all accidents occur in the home.
Do not walk on the street or sidewalk; 14 percent of all accidents occur to pedestrians.
Do not travel by air, rail or water; 16 percent of all accidents happen on these.

However, only .001% of all deaths reported occur in worship services. Hence, the safest place for you to be is in church. Sunday School is also relatively safe.
--Executive Speechwriter Newsletter, 8, No.1, (1993), 8.

So what do you think – safe in the Lord and dead to the world, or just plain dead? Choose for yourself this day where and how you will live. (Joshua 24:14-15)

“Justified In the Blood”

Scripture: Romans 5:1-11

Many years ago, a gold prospector by the name of John, at last believed himself rich. But he was starving amid the shifting dunes of Death Valley.

On a scrap of paper John scribbled, “Died rich.” Then hugging a small boulder of mica, whose pyrites, resembling gold, apparently had deceived him, John passed away. Decades later, a party of motor tourists discovered the skeleton. An old miner’s pick lay nearby. A rusty watch was also found, but was not running.

The miner’s decision to justify his life with wealth gained only at the end would have been merely sad if it had been real gold that was clutched between his fingers; it becomes tragedy when one realizes that what he had sought and paid for with his life was worthless glitter [– a “fool’s gold”].
- Homiletics OnLine

Isn’t it interesting that humanity loves to put all of their hope and trust in things which, in the grander scheme of things, have no value whatsoever. We are so easily deceived by the allure of promise of wealth and an easy life style, while knowing full well that the things of earth are fragile and tentative, at best! And like the prospector, we fall for the lies and half-truths of this place, and pin our entire existence on nothing more than pyrite and rust and paper.

There ought to be a better way!

Read Romans 5:1-5

Justified by grace, and granted access into grace by faith, which then will bring us to the glory of God. This means that the Lord justifies by faith, and glory is bestowed on those he justifies – and these are concepts that are not easily understood. Some folks would say that this isn’t any different than the “fool’s gold” that lead the prospector to his doom. But the truth is that the hope and justification of Christ is completely different than the false hopes of earth.

The writer and theologian Frederick Buechner writes:
In printers' language to "justify" means to set type in such a way that all full lines are of equal length and are flush both left and right; in other words to put the printed lines in the right relationship with the page they're printed on, as well as with each other. The religious sense of the word is very close to that. Being justified means being brought into right relation.
--Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking (Harper & Row, 1973), 48.

Justifying Grace, therefore, is God’s offering a right relationship to us, and it is placed in effect when we accept that relationship. And it is all made possible through the suffering and death of Jesus, through the shedding of his blood. And if Almighty God endured all of this just so we could have a proper relationship with him, is it even possible that he wouldn’t see it through to completion?

Paul continues with this thought by showing that we are full partners with him in this life. But life doesn’t change much just because we place our life in Christ Jesus and his promise. Struggles will still come, and suffering will always be waiting right around the corner for us. But in Jesus, it doesn’t end there. With the power that comes from faith in him, we are able to endure the scrapes and skirmishes of life, and as we grow in faith and trust in the Lord, we move along the path that Jesus has prepared for us until we have the hope that will never disappoint us, the hope that will never let us down, the hope that leads to life in the Spirit, and never to death.

Read Romans 5:6-8

The first phrase in this passage to catch my eye was “at just the right time”. Jesus’ death wasn’t a random, accidental, unplanned happenstance. It came to be while the world was still embroiled in a sinful existence, and it was given exactly when and as Jehovah God knew it must be. And what was there about that timing? It wasn’t about a moment in history - it was all about our situation, our inability to do anything about our sin. The Cross wasn’t about God – it was about us – you and me.

We read of soldiers who died in battle while protecting their buddies, and we read of mothers and fathers who give their own life to protect the life of their young children. But how often do we read of someone giving their all for the benefit of someone who has taken a stand that is in direct opposition, direct conflict, to their own? I think that it is safe to say “ALMOST NEVER!” And yet, that is exactly what Jesus did for us. He endured the most abject cruelty and hatred that the world could throw at him, and he did it willingly, and lovingly, and unwaveringly, and patiently. And this incredible and unexplainable love wasn’t given only to those who would, one day, come to appreciate what he had done, for those who would give their lives to him. He gave his all for the entire world.

Jesus didn’t die for the righteous – they wouldn’t need it. He didn’t die for the “perfect” – there are none. Jesus died for the sinners of earth. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And don’t think that he died to make us perfect – because we aren’t! Remember the piece regarding justification in the printing industry? (It is also an option in the word processors of today!) We can choose to align our lives to the left, or to the right, or even to the center, but Jesus has made it possible for us to be aligned to him, and not to any other reference. He died to bring us into a right relationship with him, and it is all given in spite of our sinful ways.

Read Romans 5:9-11

We have been justified by the blood – by the suffering, the struggle, the humiliation, the death - of Christ. We have been reconciled – reunited, proven, made right - to God through his own justifying act at Calvary. We have been saved by claiming the cleansing, the realignment, the justification that only comes by the Blood of Jesus.
Note that there is nothing that we have to do here – no great act of righteousness, nothing to earn God’s pleasure, nothing to gain or prove our worthiness – all we need to do is to exhibit faith in Jesus Christ, to rejoice over the Holy Presence that has come to our lives - right here and right now.

Think of all the people in scripture who received Justification from Jesus – the disciples, Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:1-3), Nicodemus (John 3:1-21) , Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52), the woman at Jacob’s well (John 4:1-42), the man controlled by the “legion of demons” (Luke 8:26-39), the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30), not to mention the thief on the cross (Luke 23:32-43). Every one of them were outcasts, living at the bottom of the societal ladder. None of them would be allowed 1 step inside the home of the elite and righteous of Israel, and yet, Jesus welcomed them all into his heavenly home.

The “justifying blood” of Jesus was given for all, but it only becomes a benefit for those who accept Christ by faith. Verse 1 – “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The right relationship with the Father is won and offered in the blood of Jesus, and it is received by all who believe in Jesus Messiah.

Are you washed in the justifying blood of our Lord? It is the only way to eternal victory.

“The Story of Two Sons” (Lenten evening worship series at local churches)

Scripture: Mark 10:46-52

When I was growing up, and I know that most of you will find this hard to believe, I was not a perfect child! I was fairly intelligent, but nowhere near as smart as I thought I was. I was rude to my parents and showed them little respect and honor, and to make it even worse, I thought that I was in the right. After I graduated from High School, with less than perfect grades, I might add (!), I joined the Navy, and an amazing thing happened – every time that I came home on leave, I could see that, somehow, my folks had gotten smarter!
Now, I’m sure that you know that it wasn’t my folks who changed, but rather that it was me who had experienced the changing. As I gained some experience in life, I came to appreciate who my Mom & Dad were, what they stood for, and what they had done for me, and very soon, I discovered that I was actually proud to be their son. And I think that it may have been then that I truly and fully became a “son” in the family.

This evening, I want to tell you about two other sons who, even though they had come from very different places and backgrounds, would come to have a relationship beyond anything that the people of earth would ever expect.

Our first son.
Read Mark 10:46

The first son is Bar-Timaeus.
Hebrew lesson #1. The name Bartimaeus is actually two words – the first word, “Bar”, tells us that he is a son – and the second word tells us that his father’s name is Timaeus. This is also the same understanding that we receive from the term “bar mitzvah”. This term literally means “son of the law” - the divine law, of course. A bar mitzvah is the ceremony when a Jewish boy attains the age of maturity, or literally, the age of religious duty and responsibility.
BarTimaeus is a son of earth and a son of the law. But he is also a blind son, and the law says that because his body is imperfect, or at least less perfect than the ones who were defining “imperfection”, God must be displeased with him. In short, if the blindness came about at some time after his birth, it can only be as a result of his sin. If, on the other hand, blindness had been with him since birth, it would have been his parents’ sin that had brought about Godly wrath.
And to make his situation even worse, he is unable to do any meaningful work, and therefore has no means of support other than his dependency on the gifts of others – or in other words, begging. Some friends might take pity on him and lead him daily to his place along the road, and others, also out of their obligation to the law, might toss a small coin in his cup as they passed him by on the road.
But that’s pretty much the extent of his life - he has absolutely nothing else in this entire world.

BarTimaeus, as a son of the law, and as such, was obligated to the law and all that it demanded of him. The law was as much a part of his family as was his father Timaeus.

Our second son.
Read Mark 10:47

Our second son is Jesus.
Hebrew lesson #2. BarTimaeus attempts to get the Lord’s attention by yelling “Son of David, have mercy on me!” The title Son of David wasn’t just a statement regarding lineage – it was a traditional reference to Messiah. This reference is continued by BarTimaeus when he asks Jesus to grant him mercy. After all, who could possibly grant mercy to this blind and sinful beggar other than God himself? And so, the man cries out. Over and over again.

But the crowd is huge, just as it always was wherever Jesus went. Everyone would be asking him for something – healing, a meal, a blessing, a gift – everyone wanted something from Jesus! Not because they worshiped him, not because they honored him as Messiah, but because they had heard that he could do practically anything! And above the hue and cry of hundreds, and maybe even thousands, he is supposed to hear the petition of BarTimaeus? And not only that, but why should any respectable rabbi respond to the request of the likes of this blind man - this sinner????

Read Mark 10:48

His friends and neighbors try to shut him up, but it does little good. But why would they try to stop the man’s cry for mercy? Shouldn’t they be crying out, too? They may have seen Jesus only as a learned rabbi, and not as Messiah, and they didn’t want him to become irritated at the relentless badgering by their friend. Or perhaps they were becoming embarrassed by the man’s incessant cries. Regardless, enough was enough. “Be quiet, BarTimaeus! Quit bothering the rabbi! Enough already!”

But it wasn’t enough for our “son of the law”. Even in his blindness, he could sense something different in this Jesus. Even from a distance, even separated by the crowd, even while sitting by the side of the road, even beyond his sightless eyes, he could “see” something that his sighted friends could not. BarTimaeus’ no longer could depend on his human eyes to see and evaluate – it was his spiritual eyes that were serving him so well on that day. He could see Jesus for who he truly was, not simply as the man that others saw. He didn’t have to depend on his mind, or his ears, and especially not on his eyes to know that this was the Lord. He simply knew!
And he wasn’t about to let his Messiah – his Lord – his God – get out of reach without standing before him to present his request.

Read Mark 10:49-50

And his persistence pays off. Jesus hears him, and tells him to come. And all of a sudden, his friends have a change of heart, and now they are encouraging their blind friend. “Hey! Get up! The rabbi’s calling you! What are you waiting for! Go see what he wants to say to you!”

Their attitude has changed from “Shut up!” to “Get up!”, from “Don’t bother him.” to “See what he wants!”, from being a stumbling block to the man who so desperately wants to talk to his Lord, to those who seem to be his greatest encouragers.

They don’t know Jesus, and probably don’t know why BarTimaeus is so excited, but the blind man doesn’t care. These friends no longer matter to him – only Jesus matters! He jumps to his feet and goes directly to the Lord – he doesn’t take slow and deliberate steps, he isn’t afraid of tripping, he doesn’t even wait for the arm of a friend to guide him. His sightless, worldly eyes no longer are a limitation for him – he has new eyes, he has perfect eyes, he has spiritual eyes, and they can see Jesus perfectly.

Read Mark 10:51-52

The Son of David and the son of the law become one. And it’s almost as though Jesus says to the man “Son of Timaeus, you see me for who I am, and not just for what you want. But still, tell me what you would like me to do for you.” And the son of earth replies, “I don’t want to be dependent on the ways of earth any longer. I want to see.” And in response, we can almost hear Jesus thinking “But you already have perfect sight to see me – what more could you possibly want?”

But he knows all too well why the man of earth needs his human sight, and by faith, it is given.

Think about BarTimaeus’ situation for just a moment. When he woke up that morning, he was just a sinful and sightless beggar, completely dependent on the mercy and generosity of the world and its people. He was a member of his human family, and he was a member of the family of law. And then, in a heartbeat, he had become a new man, with new eyes and a new purpose in life.
Messiah had freed him from dependency on the world, and had given him so much more than just new eyes. Jesus had given him a new relationship – he had become part of an entirely different kind of family!

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.”

And what does this newly found man do? It was by faith – his trust in God – that sight has been given, and by faith, he would follow Jesus down the road. We aren’t told how far he follows, or what he does with his new found vision and his new found relationship, or how many others he might tell about his merciful Messiah. We only know that he follows, and for us tonight, that, too, is enough.

How many people of earth, sons and daughters of the law, have come to know freedom and family in Jesus? How many have been stumbling around, alone and blind to the truth of God, and never knew what they were missing? Until one day, in a sense of total frustration and helplessness, they cry out “O precious Jesus, Son of God, show me your mercy. I’m not worthy of it Lord, but I don’t know what else to do, I have no other place to turn! Please Lord, help me.”

This has been the story of the day that the son of Timaeus met the Son of God, and they became brothers. But there is another story that is unfolding here tonight, and that is your story – the story about the night when you cried out for mercy, and Jesus heard you. There may be someone here tonight who feels lost and helpless and blind and alone, and is in the deepest and darkest place of their entire life.
There may be someone here tonight whose faith is not what they want it to be. There may be someone here who has been walking with the Lord, but needs to refresh their commitment and decision for him. I want all of you to know that Jesus is standing before you right now. He has heard your cry, and is saying to you “Come. I can make you new!” He has come a long way just to speak to you, and all you have to do is take just a step or two toward him. And when you take those steps, you will hear him ask you “What do you want me to do for you?”

Do you hear Messiah, the Son of David, calling you into a new relationship? “Son of the law, daughter of the law, won’t you come and leave the inadequacies of the world behind? Won’t you please come and put your life in me, put your dependency in me? I love you so much, and I want to do wonderful things for you, and I want to do incredible things with you. Please, come to me.”

Do you want to have the same blessed joy that filled BarTimaeus on that dusty street in Jericho so many years ago? Do you want to become part of Jesus’ family in faith, just as this other man did? Do you want to renew or restore your relationship with the Lord of Life?
If so, then come. Jesus is waiting.

“The Righteous Promise”

Scripture: Romans 4:13-25

“Promises, Promises!” It’s a phrase that we know all too well. It implies that most promises won’t last any longer than the breath that produced them. Remember the three great promises? “I love you.”; “The check’s in the mail.”; and “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help you.” Promises, promises!
Of course, one of the problems with promises is that the person who the promise is addressed to may not hear the same thing that was in the mind of the speaker! Whether they are campaign promises, medical diagnoses, romantic conversations, job descriptions, or even sermon proclamations – it is a decided struggle to know what to believe and what to take with skepticism.

A father promised his kids he would take them to the beach. While they were getting ready, he lay down to take a nap. The children were playing but were eager to get going to the beach. The father woke up, but pretended to be asleep and kept his eyes closed. Soon, his little 5-year-old daughter came over to him, pried open an eyelid, peeked in and said, “He's still in there.”
- Homiletics Online

A promise had been made, but was Dad still “in there” to live it out? And what about our heavenly Father’s promises that go back as far as Abraham. Can we trust them? Is the Lord still around to keep them?

Read Romans 4:13-15

I guess it all depends on how you intend to collect on the promise! Paul reminds the people that the promise was about kinship, and that Israel thought that it would be conveyed through their becoming worthy. They felt that it was all about following the Law as well as they could, and by offering sacrifices to relieve them of the consequences of their failure.
But Paul tells them that they got it all wrong – that the people of this world will never be able to earn the gift of kinship by their goodness – that they can never be that good! But faith in God has always been a major problem for Israel. They couldn’t trust him in the desert, they couldn’t trust him at the entrance to the Promised Land, they couldn’t trust him enough to follow his judges, and their mistrust would dog them throughout their history. But it is Hebrews 11:1 that spells out the problem – that faith is being confident in God’s promises and knowing that we can be certain of them, even though there is no hard evidence to back them up.

“Trust me!” is another one of those sayings that tend to ring hollow for us. It may have, originally, been a statement of assurance, of a guarantee that your word will always be good. But today, it is more of a joke than anything else. “I promise” and “Trust me” have become a human lie, and many people believe that when the Lord tells us to trust him, that we can no more depend on his word than we can on humanity’s.

Read Romans 4:16-17

By the 4th century, Christian faith was beginning to suffer in major ways. False teaching abounded over who Jesus was and who he wasn’t, and who could be saved and who couldn’t, and what God’s promise was really all about. But Paul seems to be telling us that, even in these earliest days of the Church, that there was some question as to who actually was an heir of the promise made to Abraham! Paul writes that heirship was established for both Abraham’s offspring through the law as well as those who were “adopted” into the family of God through faith. He remembers a verse from Genesis 17:1-7, in which God claims that his covenant with Abraham is not just for the one nation of Israel, but for his descendants in many nations.

Israel has always been very focused on genealogy. It is vitally important that they know exactly who they are in their heritage. The majority of the book of 1 Chronicles is about heritage. Both Matthew (1:1-17) and Luke (3:23-38) intentionally list Jesus’ heritage, even though each of their listings are different from Jesus back to King David, and Matthew only goes back to Abraham, while Luke takes it all the way to Adam. Regardless, it was important to show that Jesus was part of the Jewish covenant. For most, they never quite understood that Jesus was the Covenant, and not just part of it. He is the One who implements the faith aspect of inheritance.

Read Romans 4:18-25

The covenant began to come about only when Abraham and Sarah could no longer claim any glory for themselves. They were both well beyond the years when they could conceive a child, and yet that is exactly what God was able to do for them. They couldn’t, but the Lord could!
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul mentions his “thorn in the flesh”, and claims that God works best through our weakness, that his “power is made perfect in weakness.” And this is what faith is truly about – being sure of those things that we have no assurance of, and trusting that when we “can’t”, that is the best time for God to “do”!

How strong is your faith? That’s the only strength that we really need, you know. It was faith that allowed the apostles to speak in tongues at Pentecost so that people from many other nations could understand Peter’s gospel message. It was faith that caused the chains that held Paul and Silas captive to fall off and to swing the prison doors wide open. It was faith that opened Martin Luther’s eyes to the truths that Paul had written in his letter to the Romans. It was faith that lead John Wesley to Aldersgate Street that night. Christian faith has never been about the followers of Jesus Christ doing any great and glorious acts – it has always been about Christians surrendering their strengths, so that Christ could work through our weaknesses.

And I expect that a lot of people still struggle with this concept of faith – that the things that we do only occur because of the power of Jesus (Philippians 4:13). Have you even laid in bed at night, thinking about how God works, trying to imagine how his plan always seems to come together so well, how it would be so easy to take credit for God's working, and yet knowing that you never can. It’s enough to keep you awake all night!

Anglican Bishop Michael Marshall contends that many American Christians have settled for a brand of “decaffeinated” Christianity - it promises not to keep you awake at night.
- Homiletics Online

Maybe the Bishop is right – a true and righteous walk with the Lord should keep us awake – in awe, in amazement, in thanksgiving, in glory, in unbridled joy that the Omnipotent (all powerful), Omnipresent (present everywhere through all time), Omniscient (all knowing) God wants to work his wonders through the likes of us. Caffeine is a stimulant, as anyone who drinks a couple cups of coffee before going to bed well knows! Faith should stimulate us even more.
But the Lord doesn’t work in all lives – just those who allow him to fill them with a righteous spirit. Paul tells us that it was righteousness that brought Isaac into the world through Abraham and Sarah, and that it was by faith that Abraham received his righteous credit.

God says “I promise!” God tells us to “Trust Me!” And these are not hollow and worn out phrases, they are not halfhearted expressions meant to deceive us, they are not lies that the Divine Lord tells so that people will worship and honor him. They are sure, they are perfect, they are true, and when the Lord says it, it is as good as done.
"I died to your sin and my new life is for you. Believe!"

Rejoice, for his promises are for you!

“The Way, the Truth and the Life”

Scripture: Matthew 7:1-29

Today is our 6th and final week in considering Jesus’ teachings in his Sermon on the Mount. He has taught us what it means to be his disciple; he has given us his thoughts on trusting God, as well as the consequences of putting our trust elsewhere; and he has told us about the right way of living a life that professes a relationship with God. The entire focus of his hillside message is to establish the basis for his ministry to the people of earth.
He challenges us to set aside the worldly ways that we are so accustomed to, as well as those things that we are completely comfortable with, in favor of living a righteous life that will bring honor to the Lord. People will readily follow Jesus for his healing and feeding and his protection, but when he begins to teach about accepting the completeness of a walk in faith, that is when many folks begin to fall away. Cheap grace, cheap faith, cheap salvation - those things that we receive from the Lord is all that most people want from Jesus – the costly aspects of this relationship, those things that we must sacrifice, those things that we must leave behind, are not so interesting to most people.
But for a true and fulfilling life in Christ, we have to be all in – nothing missing, nothing held back, nothing of the world. It is either his High and Exalted Way, or our low and shameful way – there is nothing in between. In John 14:6, Jesus tells us that He is “the way, and the truth, and the life.” And that “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Today, we see his teachings on how we are to live that righteous life in him.

Read Matthew 7:1-6

The church’s failure to follow the teaching in this passage is why the world calls us “hypocrites”. We want to not only tell others about the right way of living, we also want to pronounce the judgment of condemnation on all who don’t do what we say! And all too often, our teaching itself is a bit marginal. We like to interject our own take on what Jesus is all about, and without a complete and careful study of his words, we will always fall far short on our pronouncements. And the reason? Because it is always easier to see the shortcomings in others than it is to see and acknowledge the ones in ourselves.

But aren’t we to be aware of sin and its effects in our lives as well as those in the lives of others? Aren’t we to help others to leave their sin behind? Yes, of course we are, but that isn’t the point that Jesus is making. He says that we are not to “Judge” others. We are not the ones to determine and declare the sentence for the sins of earth! In John 12:44-50, Jesus says that he will not judge the world in this life; that he has come to save the world. But he continues with the thought that “the very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.” What he has taught is the truth that all will be judged by. And he is also telling us that when we are living the righteous life, it is only then that our vision will be sufficient to help others to leave their sinful lives behind, too.
And who are these “dogs” and “pigs” in verse 6? There is a lot of controversy over this, but it is very possible that Jesus is not offering these words against the gentiles, but rather against those in the church who would profane his word by taking it out of context, or applying it in an unholy way, or using it for their own advantage. Regardless, if we judge others, we will certainly be judged by that same standard. If we happen to judge too harshly or improperly or incorrectly or out of context, then our acceptance into Glory will hang on that same balance.

Read Matthew 7:7-12

Ask, seek and knock. This isn’t about looking for, and receiving, the things of earth! It’s all about receiving the goodness of God. These three commands are about prayer, and Jesus tells us that we should never pray to win the next multimillion dollar lottery, never pray that God’s wrath will fall on a person who you don’t especially care for, never pray for forgiveness if we have no intention of ending the practice, never to ask the Lord to make you look good in the eyes of others. Verse 12 sums up the intent of this section – do for, give to, bless, honor, benefit others in the same way that you would have them treat you. Give to others first, and then let that be the prayer for our own lives.
This is no less a vital commandment than is Love the Lord with your entire being (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), and love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:17-18).

Read Matthew 7:13-14

The wide road, the glitzy street, the big crowds, the fun way – that’s what we want! And not only don’t we believe in narrow gates, we don’t like gates at all! This is the way of universalism – that no one should be excluded from the Kingdom. Heaven should be open to all of creation, not just a few who satisfy some arbitrary and narrow standard. We want Heaven to be a place of joy and celebration and endless partying with our friends from the first life, not just a place of eternal praise and glory to God. We hope that it will be the ultimate utopia that we envision every day of our life.

But Jesus says that this is not the truth - that the way is narrow, like a mountain trail – no room for maneuvering, no room to deviate, no room to pass, and that the gate that we must pass through will be equally narrow. For Israel, the concept of “gate” could generate a couple of different visions. The first might be that of the city gate. It was a place where decisions were made, as well as a place that could be closed to protect the populace. The second would be the image of the gate for a sheep pen that would be protection for the flock. Jesus compared himself to this gate - that any predator would have to get past him before they could attack his people, but also a gate that his flock could easily pass through.
Either way, it was not a place that everyone would be allowed to enter. Our journey in faith through this life is not a broad and beautiful path – it is narrow and perfectly well defined. The entry into glory is equally narrow, and, as a gate, is controlled by God Himself, who has defined the gate as his Son, Jesus the Christ, being able to know and rejoice in his own.

Read Matthew 7:15-29

They will come as “wolves in sheep’s clothing”! How many knew that it was Jesus who coined that phrase?
These wolves are the false prophets that we read about over and over in Jeremiah 23:9-40. We read about them in 2 Peter 2 and again in 1 John 4:1-6. But the most telling passages are throughout Revelation. We read about the Satan (the false god), and the antichrist (the false savior), and the false prophet (the false spirit). And every being who relates false information regarding the Lord is immediately condemned.
And we have to understand that the false prophets that Jesus is speaking about aren’t those who are on the outside of the church – they are the ones who are part of the fellowship. They are the radical right as well as the radical left. They are the ones who claim to understand everything that God would have us know, and they are the ones who claim that scripture is only a nice story and at best, is only a suggestion for life. They are the ones who read scripture so narrowly that there is no room to breathe, and they are the ones who would throw open the gates of heaven so wide that no one will be left out. And Jesus says to beware of them all.

Jesus wants us to know that while we may be deceived by their words, we will be able to see the truth by watching what comes from their lives – “by their fruit you will recognize them.” And Galatians 5:19-26 reveals what is good and what is not. Acts of the sinful nature are listed, as are the Fruit of the Spirit, and these verses are an excellent guide in ferreting out the perpetrators of lies.
But Jesus doesn’t end with his cautions regarding the lies that come from the world. He tells us what the truth truly is. He is the foundation of rock that will never fail us, and the lies that are of the sand will only bring a sense of false security to our lives. In him, we will be able to withstand the tempest of earth, and without him, we will fall.

And his marvelous sermon ends with the comment from Matthew that the people were awed by his teaching, because he spoke as one who had authority – unlike the Pharisees. And as we enter into this season of Lent, we need to remember that Jesus is, and will always be, our authority – on life, on truth, on the way to eternity. “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus’ words, Jesus’ redemption, Jesus’ touch, Jesus’ Spirit – these are the only hope that humanity will ever have.
Learn his words well, live them well, and share them well.

A joyful Lent to you all.