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Text: Romans 9:1-5
W 12th
Sunday after Pentecost All
the Advantages In the name
of him who is God over all, dear friends in Christ: Among everyone’s perpetual favorites are
those heart-warming stories we hear from time to time of a person who is
somehow underprivileged, handicapped, poor, or similarly disadvantaged, who
then overcomes what are seemingly insurmountable obstacles through hard work
and determination, and who then through various trials and tribulations
triumphs in the end. We like a story
like that, be it the rags to riches story of a famous businessperson, or of an
athlete with a prosthetic limb, or of a high school drop out who goes on to win
the Nobel Prize. The people who do such things
become heroes of sorts; people like Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, and Lance
Armstrong, to name but a few. Their
stories will always be popular because they inspire us – that, and
because in the course of this world, stories like theirs happen so very
rarely. Usually, of course, those who
start with serious disadvantages never make it to the top. That’s not to say that they didn’t “succeed” (whatever
that means), it’s just that their lives went pretty much as you would expect
given the circumstances, so there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about
them. No, the best stories are the ones
with the widest gap between how bad a person had it at first, and how far he or
she went despite their disadvantages. But if
those are the kind of stories that most inspire us, then the kind that have the
most potential to disappoint us are the unfortunately far more frequently
occurring ones on the opposite end of the spectrum. I’m talking about the stories in which
someone has all the advantages, everything seems to be going just peachy for
them, and then, through some foolish mistake, character flaw, or error of
judgment he or she loses it all. These
are the much more familiar stories of naturally gifted athletes who forfeit
promising careers because of steroid use, criminal conduct, or because they’re
found betting on games; the stories of wonderfully talented musicians and
actors who ruin their lives with illicit drugs; and in the field of the
church’s ministry, the stories of knowledgeable and compelling preachers who
become involved in moral scandals and so lose their call to publicly proclaim
God’s Word. These are the kinds of
stories that make us shake our heads and think, “What a terrible tragedy. What a waste.” Well, with all this having been said, it’s at this point I should tell you that if you were hoping to hear something really uplifting and inspiring this morning, you’re going to be disappointed, because it’s the second kind of story that Paul is talking about in this morning’s Epistle lesson. Specifically he’s writing about his deep concern for his fellow Jewish countrymen, and the genuine anguish he feels in his heart on account of their nearly universal failure to follow their faith through to its divinely ordained fulfillment in Jesus Christ. “They had
all of the advantages”, Paul says, “Of all the races and nations on the entire
earth, God chose them alone, and he set them aside to be his very special
people – his own adopted children. To
them he gave the glorious visible manifestations of his divine presence: the pillar of fire at night and the cloud
that covered them by day as they marched through the desert during the exodus;
and then the abiding glory of the Shekinah (sheh KYE
nah), that mysterious divine brilliance that hovered above the Ark of the
Covenant and by which the Lord showed himself in the Temple. To the Jews God gave the covenant of
circumcision to keep as a sign of his promise to Abraham, that through him and
his descendants all nations on earth would be blessed. To them he gave his holy commandments at And writing
about their failure to receive for themselves the great salvation that the Lord
had been working through them to reveal to the world, Paul says that it pains
his heart so much that if it would do any good, he would sacrifice himself for
them. That is to say, that if by his own
damnation to hell he could save them, he would do it. Now that’s pretty strong statement – a
statement that he would probably revoke if he were actually given the
opportunity to try it for a while – but certainly it conveys the depth of his
sorrow for his people who had rejected the Lord. It simply broke his heart to know that people
who had been given so much could throw it all away and reject it; so much so
that Paul could suggest offering himself in their place. Of course, it wasn’t really an option for
Paul—nor would it have been helpful, for One far greater than Paul, the Lord Jesus,
God’s own Son, had already suffered damnation – the wrath of God against
the sin of all mankind – precisely to save them. There was nothing Paul could add to that all
sufficient sacrifice by sacrificing himself.
By rejecting Christ, the Jews forfeited every advantage they had been
given and their one and only hope for salvation. And in the passages that follow
this short portion of his Epistle to the Romans, Paul goes on to say that the
Jews’ rejection of Christ was not due to a failure of the Word of God, nor was
it a failure of the advantages they had received. No, Paul writes, their advantages are very
good things; and that the Word of God is still working in the world, still
changing hearts and making converts and bringing people – mostly people who
didn’t start life with all the advantages – into the kingdom of God and to
eternal life through faith in Christ.
And so it remained Paul’s prayer (not to mention the goal of a large
part of his ministry) that the Lord would use his Word and Spirit to break down
the stubborn resistance in the hearts of the Jewish people so that they would
turn to Jesus and be saved. We pray the
same thing today, recognizing that on the whole the Lord has yet to answer this
prayer to the fullness we might desire; but nevertheless giving thanks to God
for each and every sinner, Jew or Gentile, who comes to a knowledge of the
saving truth in the Lord Jesus. But I think
the most important thing for us to focus in on here is how these words of Paul
serve as a sharp warning for us. The
Jewish people in Paul’s day had all the advantages. But advantages are only helpful if they are
taken advantage of. They are only useful if they are used for the purposes for which they were intended. That’s where the majority of the Jews went
wrong. On one hand, they took their
special advantages for granted; never really appreciating the great gifts they
had been given. And the sad fact is that
for most people, the more you have that you aren’t grateful for, the more you
have to lose. On the other hand, their
advantages became a source of sinful pride for them. They imagined that their special place in
God’s heart was due to their own superior qualities as a people rather than
what it was: the free gift of God’s
grace. They were, in a word, spoiled. And this is
the danger to us. I suspect that most of
us are not really aware
of the great gift we have in the confessional Christian heritage that we are a
part of. There is the tendency to think
that a church is a church is a church, and that one branch or denomination is
just as good as any other. I know that
it offends some people, but the fact is that that’s not true. We have the
advantage of being part of a church where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is clearly
proclaimed. The message that God gave
his Son to die for the sins of the world and that whoever believes and trusts
in him will not be condemned, is the chief cornerstone of our confession and
always the first priority. That message
is not concealed beneath layers of obscure ritual, it’s not clouded by prayers
to Mary or to saints, nor is it lost altogether with the addition of the
message: “and because Jesus did die for
you, here’s what you must do.” Whenever
someone adds your part to the Gospel,
the Gospel becomes Law and loses its effectiveness. Faith shifts from trusting in “what God has
done for me” to “what I have done for God”.
This emphasis we have on keeping the Gospel pure makes us, I’m sad to
say, fairly unique. We have the
advantage of being part of a church where the authority of God’s Word is held
inviolate. That too makes us fairly
unique. Most mainline protestant
denominations sold out the authority of the Bible long ago. It has become for them an ancient document
that has some good religious ideas scattered here and there among its various
myths and legends. They imagine it’s up
to them to separate the wheat from the chaff, and so they sit in judgment of
God’s Word rather than let God’s Word judge them. We have the
advantage of being part of a church in which the study of doctrine is taken seriously. It stems from our belief in the authority of
God’s Word. Because we believe that if
God spoke to us about something, whatever it was he said must be both true and
important. And because of that, we would
do well to listen carefully. This is why
too that our pastors and teachers are among the most thoroughly educated of
Christian clergy, and why our requirements for Confirmation are so high
compared to others. We believe that God
spoke the truth and that the truth is
important to know. In many other places
they consider truth to be relative,
or they think that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Instead of “yes or no” and “black and white”,
it’s always “maybe” and “shades of gray”.
And because there’s nothing that’s for sure, there’s no reason to worry
about doctrine. When all is said and
done, the only thing that matters for sure is “how you feel about it in your
heart”. And thus the heart of sinful man
is elevated above God’s word and reigns supreme. We have the advantage of being
part of a church that has clear and articulate confessions.
They are written down for us in the Book of Concord, a book that in no
way replaces the Bible for us, but rather that states clearly what we understand
and believe the Bible says about various topics. This ensures among us a greater uniformity of
faith. If you walk into ten different of
our churches, because we all hold the same confession, you can be reasonably
sure that you will hear the same truths proclaimed. We have the advantage of being
part of a church in which the Sacraments are rightly administered.
We believe the promises of God that he has connected to the
Sacraments. When the Bible says that
Baptism saves, that it washes away sin, and that it gives new birth, we say,
“Great! Let’s do it – and let’s believe
what God says about it.” When Christ
says, “This is my body given for you”, “This is my blood shed for the
forgiveness of your sins”, we don’t argue and ask, “How can this be?” Instead we say, “Wonderful! Thank you Lord Jesus.” We have the advantage of being
part of a church that uses and appreciates the rich and historic liturgy of the church that has been
passed down for the past two thousand years – though many parts of it are much
older. Thus, when we worship, we
participate in the accumulated experience of the whole church on earth – a
participation that transcends time and culture and helps us to understand that
we are citizens of a kingdom not of this world and not driven by popular
fads. Furthermore, we recognize that
form and worship styles convey a message in and of themselves, and that in our
churches it is important that we maintain a sense of holy awe because here our
God comes to meet with us. We have the advantage of being part
of a church that attempts to maintain a biblical balance between the authority
of the clergy and the laity. Our pastors
are not popes or bishops who rule the church with unquestioned authority. They are shepherds whose task it is to feed
and guide their flocks. Our people are
expected to judge their pastor’s doctrine, to ask questions, and to ensure that
what their pastors teach and say conforms to the Word of God. On the other hand, our pastors are not mere
hirelings. We understand that they are
called to serve by God through the church, and that their first priority is
faithfulness to the Lord rather than to the will of the congregation. They are to do and say what’s right according
to the Word even when it’s not popular. I could go on with the list of
advantages, but I think by now you get the idea. Listen:
every one of us hates it when we see some kid who had all the advantages
– a good, stable loving family; a solid Christian education, a thorough
spiritual development consisting of Baptism, Sunday school, regular church
attendance, Confirmation, and so on—all
those advantages, and who then becomes an adult and then never again
darkens the door of a church. We hate to
see someone who had all the advantages throw it all away. And yet, could it be that we ourselves are in
danger of throwing away our advantages because we don’t recognize or appreciate
what gifts of God’s grace we have been given, and how truly blessed we are? There are any number of movements
and pushes today to “dumb down” our church and its message. In the name of being more “visitor friendly”,
or more relevant to modern society, or more ecumenically minded, or doing
things in ways more businesslike and efficiently, whole congregations are
deliberately – even gleefully – throwing away the faithfulness to the Word, the
strong confessional stand on true doctrine, and the rich heritage that is ours
in the Lutheran Church. And the
temptation and enticements are always there for us to be seduced by these
movements. We have been given great
advantages. We didn’t deserve them. They are ours only by God’s infinite mercy to
us in Christ Jesus. But advantages that
we do not appreciate and properly use, we will lose. And we will lose them to our peril, as did
the Jews of Paul’s day. Let’s not make
that mistake. Instead, let’s make it our
goal to cherish the advantages we have been given, to learn more about them, to
zealously guard them, and above all, to take every advantage of them so that
we, with hearts full of gratitude to God, may be equipped to serve him and his
faithful and blessed children. In Jesus’
name. Amen. Soli Deo Gloria! |
