Sermon Notes - February 20th

February 20, 2005
“God’s Promise Depends Entirely on Trusting God and his way.”
“Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

1. Have you ever gone on a trip or a long journey and had something happen that was dangerous or upsetting?

Well, this morning I want us to think about our relationship with God in terms of going on a trip – or like taking a journey.

So, often, I think, we tend to view our relationship with God as being one dimensional – you know, God is “up there” or “out there” and we are “down here.” Let’s try not to do that this morning. Let’s think in a more multi-dimensional way. Let’s think about ourselves as going on a journey – a spiritual journey – and that God is going with us. And that “salvation” – that overused term – is not about just “believing” in God – but more in terms of “trusting in God’s promises” as we go on life’s journey. And, as we shall see, that is what the story of Abraham is all about. And in many ways - Abraham’s story is really “our story.”

2. First, let’s back the bus up for a moment because I want to clarify some things from last week’s sermon.

Last week, as you remember, I tried to raise our awareness regarding the question of sin and temptation in light of the Garden of Eden story. And I tried to explain that this most powerful story implicates all of us. And that “sin” is not merely a specific moral act of wrongdoing so much as it is also a basic condition of human life. Namely, that “sin” is the universal awareness of our potential for good and evil which comes to every person sometime along life’s journey – usually when we make the fateful transition from childhood to adulthood. It is unavoidable and universal. It is part of the nature of being human. It is also part of God’s ultimate plan and subsequent despair over having given us a share in his Creation and the freedom to do as we wish for Good or Evil.

As we know, this awareness of the reality of Good and Evil is commonly called the “loss of innocence.” We all sort of know what that means - don’t we? So, let me ask, for a moment, “Are any of you out there who are still in a state of innocence?” Good! I didn’t think so!

3. In saying this, you must understand also that what I am saying is not
a matter of condemning you or me or anyone else. It is simply a matter of stating the obvious. It is simply a matter of explaining the basis for all of us being “human” in the first place. If you want to understand what the Adam and Eve story is all about - that’s it. Once you were an innocent child and now you are not. It’s as simple as that.

Now the facts of the matter should reveal to us that while sin is regrettable - it is not abnormal. And it is not something we should pretend is otherwise. For it is in the very nature of things. We are, it says in the Bible – sinful. We are sinful simply because we are human. We cannot totally escape it - because to do so would be to pretend that we are not human in the first place. Now, unfortunately, according to the Bible, the greatest sin of all … is pride.

4. And what is “pride?” - but the personal belief that we are somehow
better than we really are and ever will be. In short, it is the temptation we all have to believing that somehow we are perfect and without sin – that, somehow, we are still “innocent.” Sin, as pride, in other words is “denial.” It is denial of our very nature. And if we go down the path of denial far enough we eventually will come to think that we do not even need God and, in fact, we are God. It actually can happen to people in various ways. What’s that old line, “Who do you think you are – God?” And as I once heard a rabbi say, “It’s a tough business for God to be in … because so many others want to get into it, too!”

Pride is the height of self-centeredness. And religious people, it seems, are just as prone to commit this sin as anyone else is. Even religion, we must admit, will not get us “off the hook” totally – when it comes to sin. That is why we need to be honest and humble and to confess our “sin” - when we say, “forgive us our trespasses.”

5. Now, this prideful desire to assure ourselves of salvation
through our own pretentious efforts - instead of through God’s redeeming grace - is thoroughly and repeatedly illustrated in the New Testament stories of Jesus encounter with the religious authorities of his time. For, over and over again, it was the self-justifying persons who were most opposed to his message and, in contrast, it was the so-called sinners who came to him in humility and honesty and to whom he offered acceptance and forgiveness - primarily because they were spiritually honest and the others were not. This reality, I must tell you, really came home to me as I had a wonderful discussion of this whole subject with our confirmation class as we dealt with the whole question of what it really means to be “saved.”

6. What does it mean to be “saved?” Paul, in his letter to the Romans is very much concerned with the whole question of “salvation.” And what I want to raise in your minds today is the subtle and yet very important shift in biblical interpretation that is going on between more conventional ideas and a newer understanding of Paul’s writings. An interpretation that, for the sake of looking a things from a little different perspective, may lead us to substitute the word “trust” for the word “faith.”

What is the difference between “faith” and “trust” and how are they connected to “salvation?”

The dictionary says that “faith” is an “unquestioning belief” in something … whether it is a fact, a religious doctrine, an idea, or “God.” On the other hand, “trust” may be defined as “confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability, or justice of another person or thing.

To put this more simply – it is kind of like this: If I asked you whether you had “faith” in your mother or father or your best friend … what would you answer? Would you say, “Yes, I have faith that my mother lived 82 years, and lived in this or that place, and had X-number of children … and was married to my father etc. etc. – this of course would be correct – right? It is all a matter of fact, more or less – and also something we can have “faith in” – correct?

But, suppose I asked you whether or not you “trusted” your mother or father or friend? How then would you answer? Not everyone, I am sure, would answer in quite the same way for - a variety of reasons to be sure. Do you see the difference? Believing is not exactly the same as trusting. For trust is a much more risky thing – isn’t it? Trust goes to the heart of what it means to have a real relationship with someone and this involves risk, uncertainty, and calls for that most important of all things – Love.

7. Millions of Americans say, in opinion polls, that they “believe in
God.” After all, who is going to deny that – except for a rare few? But, if we asked, “Do you really trust God?” That would take things a lot deeper – would it not?

In fact, it was the great Jewish writer, Martin Buber, who asked the question “is God an “it”- an impersonal object - or a living person with whom we can have a relationship with? In other words, is God merely a one-dimension Deity to whom we give praise and honor and nothing more -- or is God actually interested in who we are and what we do all throughout our journey in life?

Now, we might all say we mean the latter. And yet, quite a few people while they pay lip service to their beliefs, actually live as if God, were more of an abstraction than a reality. For if we say God is really more than one-dimensional thing or idea then if we are to have a relationship with God it means that we, too, must live in a multi-dimensional spiritual world. A world where everything is really a seamless web - created by a loving God who, despite all the trouble and misfortune, works continuously to achieve the best for His creation, including each and every one of us here and now, every day, all the time.

8. Now, if we accept the concept that God is not an impersonal object or a mere idea. If we know that God is actually someone who can be trusted and confided in and is available for discussion, morning, noon and night - then what we may begin to understand is that - as we go through life – God goes with us. What happens next is that our life becomes a kind of journey – a journey with God – a spiritual journey. And every one of us has our own unique journey, our own life story and our own spiritual relationship with God.

For instance, sometime over 150 years ago my great grandfather, Doctor John Billington, left Norway for America. He ended up in Chicago where he attended the Rush Medical Institute. While there he treated patients in the great cholera epidemic. Working long hours - he attended many that died of that terrible plague. He married and moved to Wisconsin where his first wife died. Eventually, he moved to Decorah, Iowa where he was the school doctor at Luther College. According to the history of Luther College, which I once looked up at the Luther College Library, he examined soldiers who were enlisted to fight in the civil war. His two-line advertisement is listed in the local paper – the Decorah Posten in 1862 – with these words – “Dr. John Billington, physician and surgeon.”

Later on, during the summer - when school was out - he spent time in Canby where he treated patients. In those early pioneer days, if you had a health problem, you waited until summer when the doctor came and you could be treated. Imagine that!

Now while this story does not reveal the religious and spiritual values of John Billington … we cannot but be impressed with what a journey in life he must have had - which may cause you to think about all the people who were your forebears. What stories they could tell? What tragedies and hardships they must have faced? What faith in God … or in something … they must have had to leave their homes to journey to a “New World.” And, if we reflect further, we may ask, “How does their life journey, their life story, affect our life today? -- and our spiritual journey, as well.

9. Now, of course, the greatest immigrant journey of all history … is the biblical story of Abraham. Abraham, who left his home to begin a long and troubled journey to the “Promised Land.” Abraham’s story was, as we know, not just a physical journey from place to place, it was also a spiritual journey on which “the fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way.”

Notice for a moment the difference in the words of Paul in the NRSV version: “it depends on faith”--- and the passage we just read by Eugene Peterson: ‘the fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way.”

So, this morning, in response to Paul’s letter, we may ask ourselves, “what does it mean to have a spiritual journey in which we trust God’s promises?” How is Abraham’s journey a model for our own lives today - in the 21st century? What journey are we on? Where are we going?

10. We may also ask “What was the spiritual journey that God’s Chosen People the Hebrews were on - beginning with Abraham down to the time of Jesus?” Well, the understanding of religious “faith” in the Jewish world had gone through many changes and revolutions over the years. For, by the time of Jesus, everyone had pondered at great length the meaning of how God - out of the misty past of ancient history - had seemingly called the Israelites to be “His people” And yet history they realized, despite the powerful faith of the Jewish people, had not been kind.

Time and again this small nation had been overrun … made slaves in Babylon … recovered … only to be overrun again … their Temple destroyed … and restored … and then again … by the time of Jesus they were conquered once more by the greatest and most powerful outfit ever known … the Roman Empire.

They did not give up, however. The worse things got …the more they resisted and fought back – always unwilling to give up on God – always unwilling to believe that the God who had called Abraham and Moses and had led them out of Egypt so long ago had abandoned them. For despite the obvious circumstances - they adamantly refused to believe that their “journey with God” had come to an end.

Desperate and oppressed, they continued to hope that somehow God would rescue them once again. That somehow Yahweh would send a Messiah, a Redeemer, a Chosen Leader, a son of David to restore their people and make them a great nation like it had been in the days of old.

11. But under all that pressure and disappointment, their religion had in certain ways become increasingly rigid. Their customs were subject to criticism and unrest. Their leaders had, out of circumstance and pure survival, sold out to the Romans. It was not a pretty picture, to say the least.

So enters Jesus … who was to turn things not only around … but upside down. The same Jesus - who came not only to save the Jews - but also to bring the Kingdom of God to all humankind. Jesus not only said it – he did it … he ate, talked to, and associated with all manner of people regardless of wealth, beliefs, ethnicity, gender, age, illness or misfortune – Jesus is totally inclusive to the joy of many and the consternation of others. How revolutionary! How disturbing! How wonderful!

It was not at all what the Hebrews expected. In fact it was much more than they expected. It was altogether too much to handle all at once.

12. Paul, especially it seems, was taken by surprise. A good and loyal
Pharisee, he upheld the law … he was gifted … intelligent … a most unlikely candidate to become a follower of Jesus.

However, God, calls whom he calls. God does not always play by the rules. God’s ways - as the Psalmist says – “are not the ways of men.”

And so, if most people were shocked and surprised when Jesus, the unknown son of carpenter, came down to be baptized by John at the Jordan River. It must have been an equally great shock to the early Christians when Saul of Tarsus … the persecutor of Christians … suddenly shows up in Jerusalem proclaiming himself to be a follower of Jesus. It was unbelievable, really.

“Jesus,” Paul confessed, “told me to stop persecuting you guys!”

13. But how? How could Paul in “good faith,” turn around and challenge the very Jewish scribes who had been his teachers? How could he argue against the very Law, the Torah, which he had been taught and whose laws he had faithfully upheld? Not only that, but how could Paul now say that message of Jesus would not only be for the Jews but also for those who were uncircumcised? Those who were pagans?

Paul, himself must have struggled with this greatly. What now he must of asked himself? What do we believe now about God? What about the Jewish Law? How will the Torah pertain to the Gentiles? For to Paul it was becoming more and more obvious that the Gospel of Jesus the Jew was going to become the Gospel of salvation for all humankind? All of these are questions Paul confronts throughout his many letters to the churches in Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, Phillipi and Rome.

14. So, in Romans, Paul responds to the whole question of the Law and the Gentiles.

In this passage, Paul is following a time honored Jewish custom called “midrash” - which was a way of interpreting current problems in light of the Hebrew Scriptures. Remember, when Paul was writing his Epistles - the Gospels had not even been written down. And Paul wanted to somehow get around the idea that only those who adhered to the Law of Moses are the chosen people. And, being the learned biblical scholar that he was …he found his answer in the story of Abraham.

For Abraham, Paul clearly points out, was not around when Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. Therefore, it was clear that Abraham, the great forebear of the Jewish faith … lived not by the Torah but followed God’s promise only by pure trust.

So, Paul was very smart - it turns out … because this idea had long been a sticking point in Jewish thinking. Now, if Paul had not, in the first place, gone to the prestigious Jewish Seminary in Jerusalem he might not have known all this.

15. So Paul is saying that while the Jews are saved under the Law – the Torah - yet we too are saved … like Abraham purely through our trust in God. It is therefore because of our willingness to trust God in worship, prayer, and in our actions that God is able to call us into a relationship with Him … and thereby allow his spirit to dwell within us. And this, my friends, is what it means to “be saved.”

God, in short, doesn’t want us to just “believe in him” – but to “trust Him” with our lives. In other words, faith is not merely an intellectual assent to some creed or doctrine or belief … but a living, working, on-going relationship with our Creator on a daily basis. This is exactly the same kind of thing that we see in Abraham and his journey to the Promised Land. We are all, therefore, to be like Abraham. - Pilgrims on a journey toward the Kingdom of God.

That is why a living, trusting relationship with God cannot be other than an open-ended journey. And, as Eugene Peterson puts it, spiritual journey is not an ironclad agreement – not a business deal – it is really a gift from God. “Trust me,” God seems to be saying, and away we go.

Does this mean that we don’t need the Ten Commandments any more? Far from it – for Jesus was also to say, “I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.” But, trusting in God is more than just adhering to a set of rules or beliefs. It means having an ongoing spiritual relationship with God.

16. And, where then will our spiritual life journey take us? What will be the outcome … how much are we willing to risk?

Well, although we may not quite be like Abraham, who was willing to stake everything to reach the Promised Land … nor are we entirely like Jesus … willing to put our whole life in God’s hands. I think we could all try to go a little further, trust a little more … and be a little more open to God’s presence as we travel down life’s path.

And every once in a while, as I often do, we could take some time and think about the lives of those immigrant ancestors of ours who, like Abraham, put everything up for “grabs” and got in those little boats and journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a better life in America.

What trust they must have had? … one can only wonder.

What courage they must of have had? … for not everyone made it of course.

And, what, I wonder, could those folks have to say to us today … about what it means to trust God’s promises as we go on the journey of life?

What would they say to us?