20070603
Title: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Text: Romans 5:1-5
Thesis: The bell of justification tolls not for death… but for life!
Introduction
Over the centuries, bells have been used in every culture. Bells have been attached around the necks of free-roaming livestock so the herdsmen would know the whereabouts of their herds. A pet owner may attach a little tinker bell to the collar a pet for the same reason… or to give the local coyotes an unfair advantage. Bells have been attached to the harnesses of horses to warn pedestrians of their approach. In some places, cow bells are rung with great enthusiasm at sporting events. The stock exchange has an opening bell. Salvation Army Ringers ring for change at Christmas time... to the tune of ten million dollars a season. In medieval days, arriving guests rang the door bell to drive evil spirits away from the door before it was opened to receive the visitor.
Bell ringers have served as the clock for a village, much like the town whistle in some rural communities. When I lived in Winterset, Iowa the whistle blew at 7 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m.. I suppose it was about getting up and going to work, taking lunch, getting back to work after lunch, going home for supper at the end of the work day, and falling into bed so you could get up and do it all over again the next day.
On July 8, 1776 the Liberty Bells peeled out from the tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, calling the residents of the city to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
Today we use musical bells in our worship, we ring bells to announce service times, to celebrate weddings, and to mark the passing of the deceased.
In the 17th century, whenever the church bell tolled, the immediate question that came to mind was, “Who died?” “For whom is the bell ringing?”
It was during that period in England that John Donne wrote the poem, For Whom the Bell Tolls, in which he compared the washing away of a clod from the continent of Europe as diminishing to Europe as the death of a fellow human being is diminishing to human kind… he is saying we are all connected. So, when the bell tolls to mark the death of another person… it marks something of a death in all of us.
John Ortberg tells a story from the early years of their marriage. They sold their VW Beetle and bought a beautiful new mauve colored sofa.
From that day on, the number one rule of the house was, “Don’t sit on the sofa! Don’t play near the sofa! Don’t eat around the sofa! Don’t breath on the m sofa! Don’t even think about the sofa… for upon that day you will surely die!” They had three children: Laura was 4, Mallory was 2 and 1/2, and Johnny was 6 months. One day his wife discovered a stain on the sofa. She called the children and said, “Do you see that stain. That’s a red jelly stain and it is never going to come out for all eternity. Do you children know how long eternity is? It is how long we are going to sit here until someone tells me who put the jelly stain on the sofa, even if it takes all eternity.
Ortberg said they sat there for a long time and then Mallory cracked. She said, “Laura did it!” And Laura said, “No I didn’t!” And then it was silent for a long time. Ortberg said he knew they were not going to confess because they had never seen their mother so mad, ever. He said, “I knew that none of them was going to confess to putting that jelly stain on the mauve couch because, I was the one who put the red jelly stain on the couch, and I wasn’t saying a word.“
After telling the story Ortberg commented, “I guess in one way or another, we have all stained the sofa.” (“Why Serious Preachers Use Humor,” The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching, Zondervan, 2005)
I guess you could say, In one way or another, the bell has tolled for us all. The bell has announced our sin and spiritual death, but this morning, it also tolls to announce that we have been justified by faith.
I. We are justified by faith.
“Therefore being justified by faith….” Romans 5:1
Justification is the initiative of God providing the necessary means so that we may be treated as righteous and worthy of salvation.
A. One of the ways we can be justified is by being perfect… by never doing anything wrong. We can be declared perfect if we never make a mistake or commit an act of sin in thought, word, or deed. We may be said to be righteous if we keep all of the 10 Commandments, always love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And, love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
The way of perfection has not worked out well for any of us. Despite our best efforts the bible states in Romans 3:10 that there is no one who is righteous, “Not even one.”
In Romans 3:23 we read, For “all” have sinned and have come up short of God’s glorious standard.
It is a universal problem. All have sinned. In Isaiah 53 the Prophet likens us to sheep saying, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away from God’s path to go our own way…”
Bronco receiver David Kircus was charged with 2nd degree assault after an altercation on May 20th. Kircus denied starting the fight and offered to take a lie-detector test. Coach Shanahan reported that Kircus took and passed the polygraph test with “flying-colors.” (posted on cbs4denver.com, May 29, 2007) Shanahan remarked in the Denver Post that passing a lie-detector test does not prove innocence but passing one with flying-colors is a good indication that one is telling the truth.
There are all kinds of tests for proficiency and achievement. There diagnostic tests and there are tests to determine guilt or innocence like the polygraph or breathalyzer tests.
My assertion is that from the most unflappable, straight-faced liar in the room to the most sweet and saintly person in the room… we would all fail any polygraph, if we were to insist that we had never sinned. Failing a polygraph, with flying-colors” is also a good indication of guilt.
B. Another way to justified is to have God declare us righteous. Such a declaration is the only way any of us can ever be so.
The bible says that God declares us to be righteous.
Yet now God, in his gracious kindness “declares” us not guilty. He has done this through Jesus Christ who freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins… Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. Romans 3:24-25
In this text we see allusions from three metaphors to illustrate how God goes about making this declaration of righteousness.
1. The first allusion is to a court of law in which God simply declares the accused “not guilty.”
2. The second allusion uses the language of emancipation from slavery. It says God has “freed” us by taking away our sins.
3. The third allusion is to sacrificial practices in which Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for us… because Jesus became us, his death takes the place of our deaths.
It is the work of God and the word of God that perceives us as righteous and declares us to be so. It is the work of God and the word of God that frees us by taking away our sins. It is the work of God and the word of God that offers and receives Christ as the substitute sacrifice for our sins.
When I was growing up I heard the words, “Because I said so,” come from the lips of my mother and father on more than one occasion. It did not matter if what they said defied reason, it was so because they said so. If I asked, “Why?” They answered, “Because I said so!” If I asked, “How come?” The stock answer was, “Because I said so!”
We are justified by faith because God says so! And, because God says so, the bells also ring to announce that we now have peace with God.
II. We have peace with God.
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, because of what Christ has done for us. Romans 5”1
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could always get a do-over? Wouldn’t it be great if life was like a childhood game in which you could call a do-over and get another at bat? Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a do-over on that ballot cast? Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a do-over on that harshly spoken word to your spouse or your child? Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a do-over on that contract you signed? Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a do-over on that little unplanned indiscretion? Wouldn’t it be great if you could always turn back the clock and get a do-over so you never had to ever feel failure and guilt again?
In parenting, marriage, business relationships, neighboring, friendships… we do not get many if any do-overs. Usually what is done, is done. Usually what is said, is said. Usually, if there is ever going to be any peace following an alienating experience, it is because the offended person extends peace to the offender. Peace happens when one person absorbs the hurt and offers forgiveness and reconciliation in return.
In the story The Painted Veil, Dr. Walter Fane moves his new bride from London, England to China where he proceeds to neglect his new wife as he immerses himself in his work. In time she has an adulterous fling and in an attempt to punish her, he forces her to move with him to a remote village under the siege of a cholera outbreak. The story implies that in his bitterness, he hoped the cholera would kill his wife.
However, in time they begin to see each other in new ways and they fall deeply in love. In the last scene, the doctor is dying of cholera. He turns to his wife and he whispers, “Forgive me…” And she says to him, “Walter, there is nothing to forgive.” That is the way it is with God.
There is no hostility. There is no alienation. We come to God with our list of offenses and… God holds up his hand and says, “Hey, we’re okay! There is nothing to forgive! We are good!”
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
