A Life of Discipline: Lent week 3
March 7, 2010
Intro:
The season of Lent can sometimes feel like the opposite of the season of Advent, don’t you think? Advent, our preparation for Christmas, seems to be full of excitement and anticipation and joy and merriness, as we prepare to gather around the warm baby Jesus in the warm candlelight of the immaculately clean, warm stable… And Lent, our preparation for Easter, seems to be full of remorse and sacrifice and hard work and repentance, as we prepare to gather around the harsh cross, the bloody Jesus, and the desperation of the disciples’, and be confronted with the difficult truth that Jesus went through all that because of my sin. Hmmm, is it any wonder then that we prefer, enjoy, put more effort, and look more forward to Christmas? Today I want to suggest that this is in large part because we’ve significantly misunderstood what it actually means to be saved.
What then does it mean to “be saved”?
So let’s start today with this question: what does it mean to “be saved”? Perhaps we back that up and ask “from what do we need to be saved?” (invite response).
A Better Question:
When I suggest that we’ve significantly misunderstood the nature of salvation, it is because I think we tend to stick salvation in the past or project it into the future, with little application to the now. True: our salvation is rooted in an historical event in the past, in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Also True: our salvation will only be fully realized in the future at death and at the second coming of Jesus. We believe that Jesus died for our sins in the past, saving us from some future punishment for our sins. But what about the now, the present, the moments that make up our lives day in and day out? What does salvation mean in the present?
I think perhaps a better question than “from what do we need to be saved?” is this: “for what are we saved?” Perhaps another way to phrase this difference is to recognize that when Jesus talked about His mission, He did not say “I have come to save you from the penalty of your sins so you can go to heaven when you die.” Again, those are true statements, but they weren’t the heart of Jesus’ message. The Good News is not that Jesus died on the cross. Does that sound like a blasphemous statement? I believe it! The Good News is not that Jesus died, the Good News is that Jesus died and rose again!! The emphasis of much of Christianity today is two days off of what it is supposed to be – we are stuck in Good Friday, with only a nod to Resurrection Sunday. We see the grand story of our faith climaxing with the death of Jesus on the cross, with the Resurrection as the dénouement, rather than seeing the cross as the moment of great tension resolved in glorious, incredible victory at the empty tomb, with the climax being our daily experience of this same power. When we emphasize the cross over the empty tomb, we emphasize death over life, and then stay focussed on death instead of life, on sin instead of forgiveness, on the past and future instead of the present.
So What Did Jesus Say?
With that as introduction, let us turn to Scripture and see what Jesus had to say for Himself about why He came, and what He taught. Luke 4 says, “16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” 20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
Where is the idea of sin, the cross, forgiveness, and eternity in heaven there? It is there, but you’ll have to look closely… Maybe another Scripture will help: John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” In the broader context of that verse, where Jesus compares Himself to a good shepherd that knows his sheep, the sheep know his voice and follow, there is the idea of death, “11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” So in this passage also we have the idea of sacrifice, but as with Luke 4 what is the main emphasis? What is the point of Jesus’ ministry to the poor, the captives, the blind, the oppressed, and the “sheep”? Answering this gets us closer to understanding the nature of salvation. Any thoughts?
Salvation is for Life:
What this all really comes down to can, I think, be summarized in one word: life. I don’t mean “life” is some sort of negative, dreary, monotonous way, but rather life in the way Jesus used it in John 10:10, or the way God uses it in the creation narrative in Genesis 2, “7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” I mean “life” in the fullest, broadest, most vibrant sense of the word. And this, I believe 100%, is for the “now”. Why is the empty tomb a better focus than the cross? Because life triumphs over death, death is defeated and loses its sting, and then the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Life – is poured out upon us so that we can live now.
Again, let’s go to Scripture, this time one that is a little longer. I want to read from Romans 6, because it makes this point more clear and helps us bridge back into our discussion this Lenten season about the Spiritual Disciplines (remember those? Have you been wondering yet how all this talk about the cross and salvation relates to the Spiritual Disciplines??).
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
Vss. 1-4: The past and the present
From the first paragraph, we see the focus on the death of Jesus and how we share in this death through baptism which re-enacts death and burial (that is why when we baptize we put people into the water, it symbolizes being laid to rest in a tomb), and then celebrates resurrection (again re-enacted in baptism by the raising up out of the water). Why? What are we saved for, to return to my earlier question? “now we also may live new lives.” Notice what it does not say: “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we can look forward to heaven”. It isn’t about the future, it is about how we live now.
Vss. 5-11: Our new orientation towards sin
In this second paragraph, Paul unpacks the new orientation we have towards sin. There is an act in the past, “our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ” (vs. 6a), which creates a new reality in the present, “we are no longer slaves to sin… we were set free from the power of sin” (vs. 6b-7). This, I submit to you, is getting us closer to a true understanding of salvation – we are freed from the power of sin over our lives so that we can live the kind of lives God originally intended and deeply desires us to live in the now. See how that differs from “forgiven from my sins so that I can go to heaven when I die”? They are not dissimilar, but I suggest that the difference is actually quite substantial especially in terms of the practical outworking of our lives, which is where the next paragraph takes us.
Vss. 12-14: How we live:
In these next verses the “theology” translates into life. So if I’ve lost you, rejoin us now! Paul has explained all that Jesus has done, now comes our part. “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.” The Spiritual Disciplines, as we have talked about the last two weeks, are the practices that develop and train and strengthen our ability to obey this command. And what I want you to notice most is the emphasis in these verses on this entire idea that salvation is about life – power to live the most full, most vibrant, most exciting, most engaging, most purposeful, most significant life possible. Verse 14 highlights this powerfully – notice again what Paul does not say – “Sin is no longer your master, so you’re safe now for eternity…”. That is not the point – the point is that because of what Jesus did, we now can live “under the freedom”.
The Role of the Disciplines:
Are you following me thus far? Salvation is not primarily about going to heaven when we die, though that is true. Salvation is primarily about our ability to live now. About the truth that sin is no longer our master, so we are now free to choose to live in ways that get us closer and closer to the perfect life for which God originally designed us. Our part is to practice the disciplines that equip us to be and to live in freedom from the destructiveness of sin in our lives.
We’ve been working hard, perhaps I can suggest an analogy. We all know that in order for our bodies to live they need fuel, which comes in the form of food. If we don’t eat, we die. As a result, much of our existence even now when we don’t have to grow or raise livestock revolves around getting food, preparing food, and eating food. That takes work. It takes effort. It takes time and planning and coordination. And the results can be incredibly pleasing and creative and beautiful, along with providing the basic fuel for our lives. Now, all of our work does not fuel our bodies, the food fuels our bodies, but the work on our part is essential in order for our bodies to receive the fuel they need. This is true also with the Spiritual Disciplines. We have to work, we have to expend effort, we have to invest time, so that God can nurture and fuel and strengthen us and so then we can enjoy life. Our work isn’t the fuel, but it is essential for us to be able to receive the fuel.
The analogy brings us to a point of reference for our spiritual health. What have you been feeding your soul? A steady diet of television, video games, facebook, escapist novels, nothing but work? These will not strengthen your soul. These will not bring you the deep and vibrant life Jesus came that you might participate in and experience. Those things are not evils, but I do think that for most of us our lives are out of balance. Dessert is good, sometimes the most enjoyable even, but if that is all we eat we will not be healthy. We need the discipline to eat properly spiritually as well as physically, again so that we can live.
Here again is a list of disciplines (Dallas Willard’s list from “The Spirit of the Disciplines”): Disciplines of Abstinence include: solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy, and sacrifice; Disciplines of Engagement include study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession, and submission. How do these free us to live? How do they provide good “fuel” for our lives? I think I can demonstrate how any one of those bring life if we engage it, so you pick anyone on the list and I’ll try and show you – go ahead, shout it out…
Conclusion:
So my point this morning is actually quite simple: we have been saved so that we can live. It is rooted in the past, we will know it fully in the future, but the point is that salvation is for life right now. And the way we enter in and experience that life is through the practices of the Christian life, the disciplines. God does not generally act like a can of “Ensure”, where all we have to do is swallow and we’ll have all the nutrients we need. Nor is God an IV solution, or a little pill we can take once a week. It takes effort to nourish our spiritual lives, just like it takes effort to nourish our physical lives and keep them healthy. And there is actually a stronger correlation between the two – body and spirit – than we think, but we’ll save that discussion for next week.
For this week, I want to repeat and extend last week’s challenge – engage one of these spiritual disciplines every day, and I believe you’ll start to notice an improvement in the health of your life holistically, you’ll win the battles with sin, and you’ll see some glimpses of the “life to the full” which Jesus said He came to give.
