I'd Rather See a Sermon
I’d Rather See a Sermon by Rev. L. John Gable
February 18, 2018
If you have been following along with us you know that we are making our way through Paul’s letter to the Romans and today, as we continue in chapter 2, we see that he hasn’t yet run out of things to say about the wrath of God. Like a dog with a bone he has been expanding on this idea that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness” (vs.1:18) and he wants to make sure that we understand he means “all” not just some; that no one is exempt; that no one has an excuse. Remember though, his purpose for doing so, for giving us the “bad news” first, is not to get us to feel badly about ourselves, but rather to remind us or to convince us of our need for a Savior, which is the “Good News” of the Gospel, which I promise we will get to soon, or at least eventually.
So, in our passage this morning he takes one more pass at explaining the pervasiveness of our sin by focusing on the self-deception we can fall in to, and I do mean “we”, not “they”, whenever we think that perhaps we may be exempt from God’s judgment because we are His “chosen” ones, that is the spiritual version of the “favorite child” syndrome.
He speaks about God’s chosen people in this passage by referring to them as “the Jews”. That would make sense in Paul’s context since Scripture is plain to tell us that the Jews, ancient Israel, were, in fact, God’s chosen people all the way back to Genesis 12 and the covenant God made with Abraham and Sarah and their descendants. However, since the coming of Christ we, as Christians, have come to understand ourselves to be the “new Israel”, the new chosen people with whom God has made a new covenant in Christ. While that is true it could lead us into thinking that Paul is here citing “their” sins, rather than “our own”. That is not his intention at all, nor should it be ours. So when Paul references “the Jews” here, it would behoove us to think not of a particular religious tradition or a certain ethnicity, but to think instead of anyone who may think of themselves as being God’s chosen people today, i.e. you and me, so possibly be exempt from His judgment. Again we see that Paul is holding a mirror up to our faces, asking, “Do you see yourself in it?”
So in this passage we see that Paul rather masterfully leads us into our new self-awareness before setting the hook of his conviction. Listen to the way he gets his readers, then and now, to nod our heads in agreement. If you have your Bibles open I am going to paraphrase his teaching beginning at verse 17:
- You call yourself part of God’s chosen people, right? And we smile and nod our heads in agreement.
- And you rely on the teachings of Scripture?
- And boast of your relationship with God?
- And know His will and determine what is best because you are instructed by the Scriptures? Yes and yes again.
- And you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the Scriptures the embodiment of knowledge and truth? Yes, yes, yes, we are all of those things.
We can almost anticipate the commendation he is about to give us, but
instead he convicts us by asking, “You, then, who teach others, why don’t you teach yourselves? While you preach against stealing, why do you steal? While you condemn the sins of others, why do you continue in sin yourselves?” (vs. 21-23) Again, as we have seen before, his list of offenses is not exhaustive but exemplary or explanatory. He wants to remind us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (vs. 3:23), not just some of us, but all of us; not just “them”, but us too! Even God’s chosen are not exempt.
This teaching is very similar to the critique Jesus gave of the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders, of His day. They loved the outward show of their religiosity, but inwardly they were spiritually dead, “whitewashed tombs”, clean on the outside, but empty on the inside. Their words and their actions were in conflict; their appearance did not align with their conduct, so they rested on their laurels, “We are God’s chosen people. We have Abraham as our father”, to which Jesus answered, “Woe to you, hypocrites!”
What of us today? Are our words and our actions consistent? While we claim to know the Scriptures, attend church, teach Sunday School, serve as an elder, a deacon, a pastor, do our actions conform with the confession of our faith?
I have been reminded of an illustration I used in one of my first sermons here at Tab, perhaps even my first sermon. One of you has a much better memory of what I’ve said than I have. I posed the question, “If it was against the law to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” This appears to be the question Paul is posing here. I hear you say you are a Christian, one of God’s chosen people, but where is the evidence of that in the way you live your life? It is an interesting question to ask of ourselves. If I never actually told anyone that I was a Christian or that I went to church, would anyone ever suspect such a thing of me by the way I live my life? Is there any proof or evidence? One of the great critiques of the Christian church has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus, and everything to do with the actions of those who claim to follow Him. Paul says the same here when he writes in verse 24, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles/ the non-believers because of you.” We do harm to God and our witness to an unbelieving world when our actions belie what we say we believe. Now, friends, believe me when I say it sounds as though I am asking these questions of you, but in truth I am asking them of myself, and Paul of each of us. Do we see ourselves in the mirror he is holding up to our faces?
In the second half of this passage Paul uses the example of circumcision, the Jewish rite which marked inclusion as the people of God, again a very old tradition. The Christian correspondent to that mark of belonging would be our sacrament of baptism. Listen then to Paul’s teaching using baptism rather than circumcision, so we can better hear his question directed to us, rather than to them.
Picking up at verse 25, “Baptism is of value if you obey the law/ the teachings of Christ; but if you don’t follow the teachings of Christ has your baptism become “un-baptism”? Does our lack of obedience in following in the way of Christ somehow “undo” what we claim God has done for us in baptism? Again, it is an interesting question, isn’t it? Or asked another way, “If someone who has never been baptized acts more like a Christian than someone who professes to be a Christian (I know we’ve heard that argument before); does that mean their “un-baptism” should be seen as baptism?” Bear in mind, Paul is not talking so much about the literal, external rite of baptism, the act of dunking or dipping or sprinkling. He is really talking about the internal, spiritual change that should be taking place within us. The external act should effect or reflect some change in us, internally, spiritually. If it hasn’t, or doesn’t, perhaps we have not yet come to understand or appreciate what it means or what is required of us when we say we are God’s chosen people. To not be changed by God’s grace is in effect to reject it. Grace brings with it some expectation or responsibility to be changed by it. Our “chosen-ness” as the people of God is a call to responsibility, not privilege.
Paul really has us on the ropes here. We can’t really avoid the conviction of his words. In as much that ignorance of the law is no excuse, what excuse could we possibly have for not obeying the Law or following the teachings of Christ since we claim to be God’s chosen people? It is one thing to be stopped for speeding when I do not know the speed limit and quite another when I do know it, but have simply disobeyed it. I am without excuse.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that one of the great principles of Presbyterianism is an understanding that “persons of good character and principle may differ.” I am reminded today of another principle of Presbyterianism that states, “Truth is in order to goodness” or “to know the truth is to do the truth”. We who know it are without excuse if we don’t do it. Knowledge of God or God’s ways, of God’s Kingdom design and purposes, lays on us the responsibility to begin building that new reality. Just as God’s Kingdom purposes became a reality in Jesus Christ, so they are intended to become a reality in us who call ourselves His people, the Church, the Body of Christ. We are called not simply to claim it or confess it or talk about, but to actually do it, to actually be a part of building God’s Kingdom, “on earth as it is in heaven”, both in our words/the confession of our faith, and in our actions, internally and externally, physically and spiritually. This is why our mission statement here at Tab clearly states that we are “called to demonstrate the Kingdom of God through worship, discipleship and outreach.”
This week I heard a phrase that I had never heard before. A pastor said, “Here is my sermon in a sentence”, so here it is, we may say, “We are Christians, followers of Jesus, God’s chosen people” and that we are, but the question is, when others hear us say those words what evidence do we give that we mean them?
“I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day.
I’d rather one should walk with me than merely show the way.
The eye’s a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing, but example’s always clear.
And best of all the preachers are the ones who live their creeds;
For to see the good in action is what everybody needs.
I can soon learn how to do it if you’ll let me see it done.
I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true,
But I’d rather get my lessons by observing what you do.
For I may misunderstand you and the high advice you give –
But there’s no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.”
Edgar Guest