Christ at the
Center of Law and Grace
Psalm
119:97-105
Galatians
3:21-29
When I was growing up life seemed to be
governed by a lot of rules. “Look both
ways before you cross the street”. “Wash
your hands before supper”. “Don’t hit
your sister”. Often I would not
understand the reason for these laws and would demand an explanation. “Why
can’t I hit my sister? She yelled at me.”
Sometimes my parents would try to explain why, but sometimes after my 3
or 4 or 5 year old mind failed to grasp the reasons they told me, “Don’t hit
your sister because I said so, and if you do it again then you are going to get
a spanking or sent to your room or some other punishment they thought
appropriate.” Needless to say I preferred
the freedom of childhood to do whatever I wanted without restrictions.
They were right of course and I know it
was their hope that when I grew up I would look both ways before crossing the
street and wash my hands before supper and not hit my sister not because I
would be afraid they might send me to my room without supper but because it is
the right thing to do.
There is a difference between doing the
right thing because it is the right thing and doing the right thing because you
afraid of being arrested, or ridiculed, or judged for doing the wrong
thing. The first is based on love and
the second determined by fear.
The Bible tells us, “God is love. There is no fear in love. But perfect love
drives out fear, because fear has
to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”[1]
That’s
where today’s scripture is going. Before
we begin this journey let us pray:
Let
us pray:
God of history; we come to you as a
people troubled and divided; weary from endless debates on politic and
power. Scandal saps the spirit; and we nearly
surrender to a jaded cynicism which drive us away from our responsibility to
country and community.
Help us Lord to listen closely,
think clearly, speak fairly, respond lovingly.
Grant that we might have the courage of our convictions; but that our
convictions be always clothed in compassion. Bring us to Christ, our Prince of
Peace; (Isaiah 9:6) so that we might live as people of peace. In his name we pray. Amen.
Some say “rules are made to be
broken”; and others respond “without law there can be no order”. Without law we descend into anarchy; “where
everyone does that which is right in his own eyes”; where larger community
concerns are subsumed under the desires of an individual. (Judges 17:6) So, when Paul writes “all who rely on works
of the law are under a curse” (Galatians 3:10); those believers who had grown
up memorizing the Ten Commandments worry that Paul may tear them down off their
court-house walls, and throw them in the trash.
They wonder what shall be left to control the whims and desires of the
“flesh”. What will keep people from
lying and cheating and stealing and killing?
They don’t, for a moment, believe
that deep down we are all really good people; and that everyone really wants to
do the right thing all the time. They don’t believe that if we somehow finally
create a utopian society where every need for food and shelter and employment
is provided, people will finally stop hurting each other.
Sin for them, is a more profound reality
which permeates every fabric of their lives. People are going to do bad things
for all sorts of reasons. They saw it on the front pages of their newspapers,
and in the actions of their neighbors, and in their most honest moments - in
themselves. Sin they believed requires
restraint - and that is the purpose of the Law and commandments.
It’s why we have laws and police
officers and a justice system to enforce them. It is why we have armies to
protect when others threaten us for no other reason that our religion and
values are different from theirs. It’s
why we have borders and fences. It’s why we have the NSA and CIA and FBI. All
of these things may restrict freedom, but they promise or at least work for safety
and security. Ever since 9/11 our
leadership has been trying to find a balance between liberty and security.
Further, Paul’s opponents don’t even believe
we would know what the right thing is without the Law. Children are not born
with an instinctive moral code hardwired in their brains. They have to be taught by their parents and
their teachers and their country and most especially by their God. The Law is a teacher. It defines for us right
and wrong, good and evil. Some people say we should not try to legislate
morality, but every law ever written is an attempt to define the difference
between right and wrong, good and evil, moral and immoral. Every law ever codified is an expression and
expectation of what behavior is acceptable and what is not.
Sometimes we change these laws because
what we once thought to be wrong we now see as being alright. The people of Colorado for example have
determined that using marijuana is now O.K. A judge in Pennsylvania and in many
other states have decided that same-sex marriage is now legal. Legislatures and courts are constantly
tinkering with the law because values and beliefs change. We’re still trying to get it right.
The people to whom Paul was writing
believed that the Law is a teacher; and this teaching, came from God; and was
delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai. (Exodus 20) They believed this law is eternal
and unchanging and that God does not change his mind. God is the same yesterday, today, and
tomorrow. They did not believe we as frail, flawed, and faltering creatures
have the right to change or alter God’s law.
They did not believe we can pick and choose which ones to follow and
which are negotiable. Their view is
reflected in our Old Testament passage:
Oh, how I love thy law!
It is my meditation all
the day.
I have more understanding...
I hold back my feet from
every evil way,
in order to keep thy word.
Through thy precepts I
get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:97, 99,101-104
That’s why Paul’s apparent disregard
of the Law of Moses was to their way of thinking a heretical act which denied that
which God has given. Without the Law,
they believed we would have no understanding of what is good or what is evil,
nor would we have any inclination to do the good and avoid the evil. They
believed that Paul was not only throwing out the 10 commandments, but the whole
Old Testament as well. They believed
without the law there would be no order and everything we descend into anarchy
and chaos.
So, Paul responds in a sense by
agreeing with those who stand against him.
He wrote:
Now before faith came, we were confined
under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. So that the law was our custodian until
Christ came...”
Galatians 3:23
He says in effect, “You’re right,
the law does restrain our base instincts, and it does instruct us in paths of
righteousness.” It is the way in which
orderly societies are structured. Paul’s problem with this view is that he
believed the rules were un-equally enforced.
He saw the application of the law favor some people and work against
others. They may have had many laws but they often had no justice.
In a way our text for this morning
reflects the tension which tugs at the heart-strings of our nation today. It is echoes the argument between “grace” and “law”; between “truth” “consequences” It contrasts the value of
“forgive and forget”, “live and let live” with the justice
concepts of accountability of “crime and
punishment.”
Our current national political
debates often focus on this question of whether the “rules” are being fairly
and equally applied regardless of status or position. People on both sides are making the argument
that they are not. One side believes the
President is getting away with something because of his position; and the other
believes that he is being singled out because of his position.
This is the problem with life
entirely confined by the rules. Justice
as an over-all concept is easy - we all think we know what it means. We all believe in truth, justice, and the
American way; but justice in a particular application is hard; because there
are so many variables to consider; so that’s where we disagree. Justice, as
applied in a specific application can be a hit or miss proposition depending on
your perspective. Ask any of the lawyer
or judge and they’ll tell you this is so.
This is the point Paul makes. To think we are even capable of living solely
by the Law is an illusion. He writes
“there is no one who is righteous”, and “all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God.” (Romans 3:10, 3:23) If we
were all treated justly by God according to the Law, according to the rules; we
would all stand condemned; not one of us has lived a perfect life.
“Sometimes people say I just want to
get what I deserve, I only want to get what’s mine”, but if a video recording
of the worst moments in your life were to be played for all the world to see
you might change your demand for justice to a plea for grace. Could any one of us endure such a broadcast
without blushing? Some of you might be
more embarrassed than others; but all of us would want to edit that out and
remove that unthinking moment when we acted as if we thought no else would see;
would ever know. If we could we also would make embarrassing e-mails disappear.
But, those secret tapes can come back to
haunt you; and even the Bible says there will come a day when the book will be
opened up on you to reveal what you’ve done or haven’t done. (Revelation 20:12)
Fortunately, Paul wrote:
Now that faith has come, we are no
longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God.
Galatians 3:25
Our motivation for doing the right
thing changes. It is no longer driven by
fear. Righteousness is not our way of maintaining
our reputation, or staying out of jail; or for fleeing the wrath of God. We don’t
do the right things and avoid the wrong just to stay out of court or to stay in
God’s good graces. The motivation of
faith is now one which only seeks to please Christ. It is not a response of fear for Jesus said,
“God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world
might be saved through him.” (John 3:17) Christ is loose in our world and his
mission is salvation. So, righteousness now becomes a response of love and
gratitude for what Jesus has done, and is doing.
Children of God may “fear” God in
the sense that they look at God with awe and respect; but they also love God
because “God first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) This is the message we can bring to
a country and a church that is torn apart by division and strife.
How we as believers now live is not
determined by rules and regulations; but by the example shown to us through the
life of Jesus Christ. That is what Paul
means when he says, in Baptism “we put on Christ” - almost like a new suit. It
is our way of dressing for success.
Clothes may not make the man but they can influence the way we act. That’s why you will sometimes see a sign in
front of a restaurant on the boardwalk at the beach:
No shirt,
No shoes,
No service.
A friend of mine describe Putting on
Christ this way:
The follower of Christ always holds
conviction with compassion, because that is what Jesus did. All conviction without compassion quickly
reduces to the harsh judgmental posture of the Pharisees. All compassion without conviction reduces to
petty sentimentality. To the woman
caught in adultery Jesus said, “I do not condemn you. [Compassion], and then he
said, Go and sin no more. [Conviction] (ibid) (John 8:11)
How our country and our church
resolves this balance of compassion and conviction is really in God’s hands and
remains to be seen. Fortunately, we have
democratic and representative process which will use public forums to openly
debate and eventually resolve this question.
We need to keep in prayer those elected leaders whose responsibility it
is to resolves these issue. We need to
pray for them because this is a great burden of historical proportions.
As important as this question is;
even more significant will be the measure of honor and respect and restraint
which we ourselves bring to this dialog.
The Apostle Paul, after pointing out
how we all stand before God guilty of breaking His Law, offers God’s redemption
which comes not by “our own doing, but is a gift of God”. (Ephesians 2:8)
Therefore, he wrote:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one
in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28
Had Paul been aware, he may have
included “there is neither Democrat nor Republican”, there is neither
fundamentalist nor modernist, neither conservative nor liberal, neither
evangelical nor progressive. We are one in Christ Jesus.
The choices are before us. We can be
judgmental. We can be sentimental. We can settle for sound-bite theology; or
surrender to jaded cynicism.
Better still, we remember that we are one in
Christ Jesus. Better still, we respond
with conviction and compassion. Better
still, we remember, our mission is to help people believe that a risen Savior
is loose in this world, and he alone will get us through this mess, whatever
happens.”
Lord, we see the difficulties. Open our eyes to new possibilities for a
world which needs a risen Savior. Amen
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