Romans 10:8b-13
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
If I had a nickel for every time a person made a promise to me and didn’t keep it, I wouldn’t be rich, but I would have a lot of nickels. Sadly, we live in a time when a person’s word, alone, doesn’t really mean a whole lot. If the promise is not put in writing, signed and witnessed, it is not seen as carrying any weight. But we here, are the church; we’re different; you would think; but, honestly, even here at church we are not as committed to our promises as, you would think. The most important promises that we as individuals make in the church, baptismal promises are often forgotten by the child’s parents, before the parents are even out the church doors. And, confirmation promises are made by the youths often with only a modest intention of fulfilling them. Beyond these, many of us commit to support the church financially, based upon our income, but very often we let our commitment depend on whether we are in church on a particular Sunday or whether we want to purchase the newest and best toys. A promise, is not a promise anymore.
Our promises are all contingent upon convenience, our wants and our moods. This was not how God intended things to be, all the way back to the time of Moses God intended for his people to obey his Law and be faithful to God’s will and share their bounty. Jesus, in today’s Gospel demonstrates a commitment of the best kind as he remained faithful to the Lord God, even as he was hungry, alone and tempted by Satan. Jesus’ faithfulness, was true, he stood alone against the forces that rebelled against the will of God, not knowing what would become of him; not knowing that his example would become known to others. Jesus’ word was/is his bond, and we are the beneficiaries of his promises, even when our word is subject to the limits of our willingness to struggle and sometimes convenience. Jesus is so much better than we seem to be able to be; thank God. We do not deserve Jesus’ love, forgiveness and salvation and we never will. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” We, as Lutherans, speak of the gift of forgiveness and we argue that salvation comes through God’s grace, alone. With this understanding we take all the responsibility out of Christianity. The Apostle Paul is the champion of the phrase, we are justified by grace through faith, but Paul continually drawls us back to responsibilities and commitments and proper behavior for a member of the Body of Christ. Paul, reminds me of the main character from the Big Bang Theory, TV show. Sheldon Cooper, the stars of the show, might be described as socially inept though brilliant. Sheldon doesn’t see gifts as an expression of someone’s generosity and love, but as an obligation, so he doesn’t want them. In his mindset a gift received, requires a gift given in return. To punish a person for giving him a gift, he buys the person an even greater gift, imposing on the person a greater obligation. So, what does this have to do with Paul’s explanation of God’s forgiveness and salvation, given through Jesus? Even Paul, as hard as he tried not to do so, found a way to turn Jesus’ gifts into an obligation for all those who receive them.
Beyond the required belief and confession of faith, Christianity, for Paul, is challenging and carries with it a heavy burden. Jesus himself speaks of his followers, as having to pick up their crosses and follow him. Paul is bold to demand that we confess Jesus with our lips in order to be saved, though it contradicts his own message of Salvation by God’s grace alone. Paul is like a teacher, who cares for his class, and tells the class on the very first day of the school year that they have already received an “A” for the course? But, even if it is truly the intention of the teacher to give each of them an “A”, the teacher will likely withhold that information, so that the class will benefit from his teaching, otherwise what reason would the students have to attend, listen, study and do the work. Paul couldn’t help himself, even as he was saying that God’s grace is all that matters, he insisted that every one of those to whom he wrote, needed to fulfill their commitments and responsibilities of faith.
I stand with Paul in this inconsistency. And, in truth I do not fully understand how we can be forgiven and saved by Christ crucified, requiring of us nothing, yet needing to pick up our crosses to follow Jesus. The standard explanation is that, all that we do, we do in response to Jesus’ death and resurrection, but as soon as we make it a responsibility, a commitment, we are thinking a little like Sheldon Cooper, and turning our thankful response to the grace of God in Jesus, into an obligation. And Lent, does not make our understanding of this any easier, since we call upon each of the faithful to repent, to fast and to concentrate on Jesus’s sacrifice and suffering for us. Granted these are not required, but it is mostly expected. Obligation? Kind of.
Two or three times each week I am told by church members their reasons why they did not or could not attend a worship service or event and almost as often I am given explanations of why people give or don’t give. In each instance, I have to make it clear that they need to make their own decisions as best they can, that they are not obligated to attend or tithe though it is, for them, beneficial. That is not always what I want to say, but it is the right thing for me to say; I am not called to judge. We are, as hard as it may be for us to be such, a no excuses church. What we do is subject only to the judgment of our Lord, who has already promised to forgive us. All, I can say, is that I hope that all of you will, in thanksgiving to the love of God, in Jesus, want to do and commit to do, all that you can to support the ministry of Jesus Christ and share the love of Jesus with others; Jesus’ gifts are given to you freely and without obligation; what will you do?