Sermon for
July 3, 2005
7th Sunday after Pentecost
“If You Have the Will, God Has the Way ”
Romans 7:15-25a
Paul says, “You know, I do not
understand my own actions. For I do not do what I
want, but I do the very thing I hate…I can will what is right, but I
cannot do it.” Romans
7:15, 19
Do you know what Paul is talking
about? Have you ever had the experience of knowing
what is the right thing to do but ending up doing exactly the wrong thing?
Have you ever had a conversation with yourself saying, “Look, I
know I shouldn’t eat this, but it sure tastes good!”?
or “Now, I know that’s not good for me but, oh, just this once!”?
Have you ever known the experience deep down in your soul that the
only thing you really ought to say is “I’m sorry” but all that seems to
come out of your mouth is “Get out of my face!”? Do
you ever speak before reflecting on what you are about to say?
Has your mouth ever run ahead of your brain? or
your heart? Have you ever acted in a manner that, if
you saw anyone else behave that way, you would consider that behavior
racist or sexist or somehow totally inappropriate? Do
you sometimes feel that something takes you over, almost pushes you
stumbling right into the exact opposite of the good you intended?
Well, I know what that feels like…and I believe you do too.
Now, we’re not all bad, we know
that—some of the time, maybe even most of the time, we do the good we want
to do. But there are those other times, aren’t there?
Yes, I believe you know and I know exactly what Paul is talking
about when he says, “I do not understand my own actions.”
Why is that? You
weren’t made this way, you know. In the beginning, way
back in the Garden of Eden when God made human beings, God and humanity
willed one will—the relationship between God and humanity was so intimate
that our will and the will of God were one and we not only willed what was
right but we did the right and good things spontaneously out of the life
created by the image of God in us. You were created in
the image of God—that image of God in you gives you the will and the way
to do what is right right now.
But humanity, you remember (and
painfully experience every day), fell down. As
humanity began to try out this experiment called life we began to flex our
own creative muscles just as God intended. But the
more proficient at creating for ourselves we became the less dependent
upon God we became. As our self-dependence grew more
confident we slowly began to declare our independence from God.
And you know what happens…the more you depend upon yourself alone,
the image of God in which you were created gets shoved aside, ignored,
displaced, and God is not longer the center of your life.
What we forgot, and what you and I keep forgetting, is that if God
is not the center then everything else, all kinds of inappropriate things,
compete for you. All the things the culture has to
offer, then, demands to be the center of your life.
Make no mistake about it, if you don’t center your life on God, you will
center your life on something else. When you center
your life on something else you are separated from God.
Separated from God—that’s a definition
in the Christian vocabulary. Do you know what word in the Christian
vocabulary is defined as “separation from God”? That
word is sin. It is the Christian understanding
of life that if God does not live at the very center of your life then sin
lives there. If you don’t totally belong to God then
you are sold lock, stock, and barrel, to sin. Paul
knew this very well. He knew it is this “sin that
dwells within me”
(Romans
7:20b)
that keeps him from doing the good
that he wants so much to do.
So there it is.
This little war goes on in you all the time. It is a
war reflective of the struggle in creation. I don’t
think the movie “Star Wars” is too far off when it portrays life as a
struggle between the forces of good and that, which goes against good.
That’s the problem with our world today. It
wouldn’t be so bad maybe if this little war was just fought in our own
personal lives and only in our relatively small circle of relationships.
But it doesn’t work that way. Sin, once it has
a foothold anywhere, has a life of its own and permeates all of creation.
It shows up everywhere—from school violence to terrorism.
So Paul speaks for you, I know he
speaks for me, when he says,
I do not
understand my own actions. For I do not do what I
want, but
I do the very thing I hate…I can will what is right but I
cannot do it.
Out of sheer and utter despair Paul cries out
Wretched man that I am! Who will
rescue me from this body of death?
And, face it, sometimes you know exactly what he’s talking about.
But Paul answers his own question:
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
That’s why Jesus says,
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying
heavy
burdens, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
You see, on the cross Jesus took sin on. On the cross sin
fought the forces of good in Christ until it killed him. And you know
what? When Jesus died, sin thought it had finally won! Sin really
enjoyed its victory…for 3 whole days. On the 3rd day sin was
defeated once and for all in the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is over, brothers and sisters. There may still be skirmishes in life,
to be sure, but the war is already won. There are signs of that victory
everywhere.
--Some of you have grown in faith and you actually do more of
the
good you want by the grace of God. THAT’S A SIGN.
--Over 200 years ago tomorrow a band of colonialists
declared
their independence of tyranny and established a nation of the
people, by the people, and for the people.
THAT’S A SIGN.
--Over 40 years ago this
nation Enacted legislation that granted those
same rights and freedoms to everybody regardless of their race,
thereby including those whose civil rights were not originally
guaranteed before. THAT’S A SIGN.
--Over 15 years ago a
wall came down in
Berlin ,
Germany
, which
had stood for over 40 years. THAT’S A SIGN.
--Over 10 years ago the policy of
apartheid was abolished in
South
Africa
. THAT’S A SIGN.
Oh, the skirmishes still go on—the battles are sometimes fierce but the
war is over. Good has won!
That image of God in which you were
created is still there. That’s why you even try to
will what is right—the fact that you know what is right and try to do it
at all is because of that image of God that is still in you, cajoling you,
nudging you, convicting you, loving you. So you have
the will; you want to do what is right. And I have
very good news for you today. If you have the will,
God has the way.
At this altar today God makes a way
through this sacrament of our Lord Jesus Christ. When
you eat this bread and drink of this cup today, God gives you the grace
that restores little by little the image of God in you to the very center
of your life again. At his table today Jesus can give
you the way to do the right thing you want. Jesus can
cleanse your soul of all the things the culture has filled you with and
restore your intimate relationship with God. By this
sacrament of grace all you have to do is come to the table.
It’s all here for you. You just have to come.
If you have the will, God has the way.
If you have the will (and you do, a gift of God), God has the way (another
gift of God).
As you come today, pray with Paul,
I do not understand my own actions.
For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…I can
will what is right, but I cannot do it…Who will rescue me?… Thanks be to
God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
