Our women at church celebrated Women's Day today and I was the preacher. I always get nervous, but this time I felt calmer than usual and it was well received.
Not Righteous, but Redeemed
Romans 3:10
There is no one
righteous, not even one.
This chosen
verse for Women’s Day is a short one, but it carries a punch. I don’t know
about you, but I never like it when someone points out my flaws. I know as a
child, I never liked getting in trouble or getting caught doing something
wrong.
As the
youngest of six, I realized at an early age that if I watched what my sisters
and brother did to get in trouble and worked hard not to do the same things
then I could become the “good child” and didn’t get into trouble much. Thinking
back, I must have been at least nine years old when I thought I was doing a
pretty good job of being good, and though I hadn’t planned it, I also began to
judge others.
I remember
one day after getting home from Children’s Choir, I was telling my mom and one
sister about how disrespectful the other kids had been. At some point I said
something like, “I wish they could be more like me!” I still remember vividly
the look of shock and amusement they gave me. Finally my sister asked, “Do you
think you’re so perfect?” Now by that age I knew of course that I wasn’t
perfect, but somehow I thought I was doing a pretty good job of being a good
little girl and hoped my parents loved me a little more because of my efforts.
In the first
chapters of Romans Paul spent a fair amount of time talking to the Jews, trying
to convince them that their special relationship with God their Father should
not bring them to believe that they had a special privilege with God who had
chosen them, but instead that their special position should be a special
responsibility.
The Jews
didn’t have a good reputation among other Romans, mostly because the Roman
government gave them some privileges, such as not having to serve in the army.
For that reason, and the fact that the Jews were often arrogant and rude the
Gentiles didn’t like them very much. Paul tried to advise the Jews that they should
see their relationship with God as a special responsibility to bring honor and
glory to God, but instead their reputation gave God a bad name.
The Jews
didn’t think a verse like our theme “no one is righteous, not even one” was
talking about them. They thought it was referring to the Gentiles and were
probably not very happy when Paul accused them of taking advantage of God’s
kindness, patience, and willingness to forgive. They didn’t want to consider
the fact that they too were sinners.
We may not
be exactly like the Jews, at least I hope none of us take God’s love for
granted, but I think sometimes we might take his forgiveness for granted.
I remember
when I was a junior secondary student and one my teachers accused me of
cheating on a test. I was so embarrassed that I lied and said I hadn’t cheated.
But later, I went back to him and apologized and confessed that I he had been
right. I was so surprised when he didn’t seem to grant me forgiveness. Sure, he
heard my confession, but even though that was my first time, he still saw my
guilt. I guess I expected him to say, “ok, just don’t do it again!” but that
wasn’t the case. I still had to accept my punishment. Unlike God, he wasn’t
willing to forgive easily.
When I
compare how patient, kind and forgiving God is towards us, it’s quite amazing!
Under the Old Testament law people had to make different sin offerings[A1]
to God; animals or grains to be burnt, but the offerings had to be repeated
year in and year out. Yet when Jesus died for us he was the last sin offering
made. Now, God -- through Jesus -- sees us as pure and our offerings are no
longer because of our sin, but offerings of love, thankfulness, and praise.
Our verse
says “no one is righteous”. Chapter three goes on to say that we can understand
our sin because the law explains what we should and should not do. We can try
to follow the law-much like I tried to do as a child- If my sister got in
trouble for talking too long on the phone, then I didn’t do that. If my brother
got yelled at for tracking dirt in the house with his muddy shoes, then I made
sure my shoes were clean before entering the house. If my mom got mad when
someone didn’t come quickly when she called them, then I made sure I went
quickly when she called my name. Like me, the serious Jews could learn how to
follow the laws, but as the Bible points out elsewhere, no one could keep all
the Jewish laws, they were just too many.
That is why
God, after staying silent for four hundred years, finally decided to break the
silence in the most loving way he possibly could. He sent his own son Jesus to
be that last sin offering.
In the last
paragraphs of chapter three Paul explains that since we all fall short of being
completely good, we can only be redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ. In the
Living Bible, verse 24 reads, “God in his gracious kindness declares us not
guilty.” This is not the world’s justice, that only condemns the guilty sinner,
like my teacher condemned me, but Jesus’ justice looks at us just through His
love and sees not our guilt, like a child who keeps making mistakes, but He
sees just us, his perfect child. By ourselves we can never be righteous enough
to deserve God’s love, but through the cross we become like the unblemished sacrifice
that the Jews made, but now we only have to turn to God and accept his love and
forgiveness. It’s not what we do, but that we believe Jesus has already done it
for us.
When I was
younger and did something foolish or stupid I would often dwell on my mistakes
and it was like I heard voices in my head that said, “How could you do
something like that?” Or “What did you just say???” Finally I realized that
those voices were Satan trying to shame me into feeling bad or stupid. Now,
when I do something foolish or wrong I look to God and ask how I can make the
situation right or how he can help me figure out what step I should take next
so that I don’t just stay annoyed or frustrated, but with God’s help I can move
on. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t keep trying to do good by carrying out
God’s will, but it’s still not easy and it’s not what will save us.
Today I
don’t have to worry so much about making myself look righteous or good, I just
have to look for God’s loving and encouraging guidance because I want to honor
Him with my life. Now I can rest assured and have faith that His redeeming love
is all I need. It’s all any of us needs because left to our own efforts our
actions will never be enough to earn our way to heaven, it is only through His
redeeming love that we find the room he has prepared for us.
As Paul put
it, we are justified by grace and redeemed through faith. Grace and faith,
those are two words all Lutherans should be familiar with because it is this
passage in the end of chapter three that made the distinction for Luther and
shows us our good works will never be enough, but rather it is our faith in
Christ’s sacrificial love that redeems each of us. In the end, it is not our
own actions that make us right with God, rather it is the willingness to put
Him before all else in our lives. With God first in our lives, redemption is a
sure thing.
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