Two weeks ago, if you remember, I began the sermon based on Romans 6 stating

Transcription

1 Romans 7:9-18 What Religion Reveals Two weeks ago, if you remember, I began the sermon based on Romans 6 stating that one must be a genius or a fool to preach from this theological masterpiece. That Sunday, I m sure, gave proof I am not a genius, and likely today verifies the other thing. Indeed, one person has said to me, I don t know why you re trying this again. Though I had been encouraged earlier when someone said that he hoped I would return to Romans; but I can t know if he was intrigued by my interpretation of Paul or if he simply enjoys watching me squirm. But this is a massively important Christian document, and whether my preaching from it is inspired or helpful- or even correct, you may wish to debate. But the truth is that Romans has often been understood incorrectly, and that is dangerous to any people who want to worship God and claim to love the good news of Jesus the Messiah. So if my prologue has put you in the frame of mind not to expect too much, I think we are ready to proceed. And perhaps this is the place to begin, that Romans will not permit us to say- as some do and have for centuries, law- bad but gracegood, Old Testament- incomplete but New Testament-complete, Judaism- faulty but Christianity- perfect. These are false divisions and wrong assumptions, and Paul would never allow them. They are only a few steps from a mindset that

2 believes my God is better than your God. And the first thing to remember in every teaching from Jesus and from Paul is that God is the same through all ages; and if God is the same, then the New Testament understanding of God should be the same as the proper Old Testament understanding: the God of the gospel is merciful, gracious, loving and forgiving, and so too is the God of the Old Testament. That Christians do not perceive the God of Israel in this light says more about us than it does about the Old Testament writings. We must remember that Jesus our Lord and Paul, the greatest teacher of our faith, were life-long Jews. So, we cannot read these verses as criticism of the Law of Moses, or of the practice of religion. Romans 7 is a continuation of chapter 6, where Paul had written to answer a certain type of response to the gospel of grace, that considers grace to mean complete freedom from religion, let s just keep sinning and let God forgive us- won t that show how much we appreciate and trust in God s grace? someone might ask. But Paul swears, Absolutely not! even though the ultimate element in relationship with God is grace. But grace is also the ultimate element in the teachings of the Old Testament, which Jews believed had been handed down from God.

3 Now, if we will believe that grace is a concept of the Old Book as well as the New, we are on our way to understanding this passage. Realize though, there are deep levels of interpretation here- I am convinced this is about as profound as scripture can get- but I m not scholar or preacher enough to attain to those depths. But maybe this is a starting point, a place for us to begin to see what religion is for, that religion is supposed to open and expand our understanding of the world, and not close us off from it. And note that I am generally using the word religion instead of Law, because religion is a term we can apply more easily to our situations as Christians, while not really changing the meaning of the scripture. Religion reveals. That is its purpose. All serious religions attempt to reveal the purpose and meaning of human life, found in the teachings of wise and virtuous prophets. The writings of holy scriptures and the rules and practices of religion are the ways people connect to their God, or to some higher ideal. Thus, we can say, religion reveals God: we Christians believe Jesus, God s Son, has shown us the exact nature of this holy God of perfect love. And one of the main points of Romans 7 is that God has been revealed in the Old Testament, as well; the Law was God-given, it is spiritual, Paul writes (verse 14), it is holy and just and

4 good verse 12. We meet God in the words and the life of Jesus, and in the writings of scripture and the commandments of religion Religion reveals sin. In verse 7 Paul said he wouldn t have known what sin was except that the commandments said, thou shalt not ; and then in verse 9, that Law arrived and sin revived, and he was destroyed; sin is too powerful for us. We are unable to obey the tenets of our religion, and so we die. Our weaknesses, our desires- the word Paul uses is the flesh ; flesh divides us from God, and that is death. Part of our difficulty in understanding this passage in Romans, and the reason we get so easily confused about religion, is that we are sometimes tempted to blame religion, or certain commandments. But that is wrong, did that good thing bring death to me? Paul asks in verse 13. Absolutely not! It is sin; in me; that brings death. Religion reveals the things that separate us from God. And those are the things I am unable or unwilling to overcome. And so, religion reveals ourselves. We see our own inadequacies through religion. I am carnal verse 14, Paul says; and in verse 15, I do not understand myself, I cannot do what I want ; nothing good lives within me, verse 18. The answer is not to do away with religion or commandments- or to emphasize certain kinds of commandments, that won t make us stronger or kinder, but to do away

5 with the idea that religion itself is the ultimate thing. Because out of that comes guilt or blame, fear or prejudice, and ego and condemning and religious divisions. Rather, religion is that good thing that causes us to see ourselves and not only see the faults of others- if we will look closely and honestly. A true appraisal of ourselves. That we are all the same- weak, sinful, selfish flesh- and religion is that good thing that reveals to us a power that cares and can help, and demands of us humble humanity. The commandments of our religion are not meant as ultimatums- that viewpoint comes out of a selfish and arrogant application of religion, and makes sin out of this good and God-given thing. Religion and commandments are not the final answers to our questions, do not create a complete and perfect relationship with God; rather, they are guideposts to point us to the love of God, and love for God and for our neighbors. The final answer is grace, so eloquently discussed in chapter 6, and certainly implicit in chapter 7. And our response to grace is always gratitude. Just as Paul wrote in verse 25, at the end of this difficult scripture, so let it be our daily prayer, Thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ!

6 Maybe you read about the Palestinian teenager picked up off the streets last week by a gang of Israeli vigilantes. And then burned alive. He was just a regular kid, not guilty of anything, at least nothing in particular. But some of God s chosen people just want to kill. Now I m not saying Palestinians are blameless. It is a troubling situation over there. But I do want to point out a photograph I saw that was taken in response to the teenager s death. A picture of two young Israeli women posing for the camera and holding a sign that read, Hatred isn t racism, it is a virtue. Big smirking grins on their faces. I m still trying to understand where that sense of justification can come from. Think of the self-righteous protesters from Westboro Church in Kansas, God hates fags! their signs proclaim. Consider the hate at the heart of the KKK and other racist organizations, and the bombers of women s clinics, and those who would throw homosexuals in jail, or stone them to death, even as they profess the Christianity behind their beliefs. The Taliban, radical Judaism- people who hate, people prepared to kill for their faith. What has religion revealed to them? Nothing. It has not brought light to their lives. Instead, they have made selected commandments the ultimate factor in their belief systems, and have left out grace; have refused to admit that the biblical word of God s love and mercy

7 means, as well, that God loves and is merciful to everyone. Every color, every nationality, every tribe, and every lifestyle. If our God is God of the universe, as we confess, then this is true about God. The God of Jesus is the God of Love. And so, we dare not hate; we must not be the first to cast stones, but rather be the first to strive for peace. Let us in all things give thanks to God, and learn to love one another.