Tough text Thursday
For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:23-28)
Thoughts: To start off, I have never posted a blog entry titled "tough text Thursday" nor do I imagine myself doing so in the future. Mostly because its a terrible name––one of those cheesy cliche church post alliteration names like, "multiply Monday with Dave Ramsey" or "wonderful Wednesday cook-off" and... umm.... well I couldn't think of anymore. But secondly, I just don't posses the fortitude to show up and blog each Thursday about some tough biblical text I have been working through––it's draining.
With that preface in place however, this text in Romans has been sticking out to me for the last few weeks––ever since I started prepping the last session of East Avenue's God Images series. The reason is, it strikes me like a wrecking ball. Seriously, and that's an uncomfortable experience.
Last Sunday I preached a message from Romans 5:12-21 in which Paul is summing up an argument he has been making for the last four chapters in Romans about the nature of sin, grace, faith, and Jesus. Paul is preaching the Gospel in written form. A Gospel that confronts every presupposition I hold about those same issues––sin, grace, faith, and Jesus. It's a Gospel that as Timothy Keller writes, "redefines everything."
Everything, that's a big word... Everything.
I think sometimes we hear the word "Gospel" and think intrinsically about that one night at youth group (that sounds odd...) or that extra special Easter message we heard growing up. It has emotional baggage attached to it because it's the story about Jesus saving humanity, including me and you. But for most of us that's where it ends, the Gospel is the message of Jesus saving us from sin and death––Jesus defeating evil, rewriting wrongs, and all those other really wonderful abstract things preachers like me talk about. Then we go to play out real life and the Gospel gets relegated to the title of some ethereal spiritual experience we had the week before. Wheres the everything?
That's the thing though, wheres the everything? I think more than anything else that might be what we miss, or at least what I miss. That the Gospel, the story––the essential news about Jesus doesn't just touch those personal, emotional, and spiritual elements of our lives, but actually weighs down on everything. Because the message of the Gospel is a message about total redemption, that the rightful King has ascended to His throne. To just say that the Gospel effects our "spiritual" life is to relegate the kingship of Christ to one area, that seems a bit strange––telling Jesus what He's king of.
That's what Paul is saying in Romans 3:21-31, the Gospel has been proclaimed and now everything changes. It's that second part that becomes difficult, we love to know Jesus saved us from sin, but it's harder to admit that the Gospel message demands a redefining of our lives. We no longer have the right to "boast" as Paul says in our own accomplishments, to find our identity in our pursuits––because Christ is bigger and His story is simply better.
It isn't easy though, that's where the Gospel becomes even more beautiful. Because on our own we are powerless to redefine––but we don't have to force that, people have been trying and people have been failing for all of recorded human history.
I John 4:19 says, "We love because we He first loved us." There it is, right there. On our own we are too weak to change, to redefine our lives, even to redefine our lives according to the Gospel. Under the weight of the Gospel though––the story about Jesus' infinite love, sacrifice, and power––under the weight of that it's possible. It's about being captured by the story as opposed to just knowing it. If we know who Jesus is and what He did, and we saturate ourselves with that, I think we become captured with Jesus––the King, the Savior, the God. When we are captured by Jesus, when the Gospel––the full weight of the Gospel is let loose we get to see Jesus as more worth it than anything else. When Jesus looks like the treasure buried in the field, we can give everything up to get Him.
That's why its a tough text because it begs the question. Is Jesus worth it?
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Jonny