Plot:
Something is wrong with the world, and we all know it. You might be a Republican, a Democrat, a socialist, agnostic, atheist, a Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian...you might be occupying Wall Street or just sitting at home on Facebook...but you know that there is something desperately wrong with this situation. And, like any good Republican, Democrat, socialist, agnostic, atheist, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian...occupier of Wall Street or Facebook, you have an answer.
Check that...you have THE answer. Republicans want less government, Democrats want more, socialists want everyone’s stuff, atheists blame it on God and religion, and the Occupiers of Wall Street? Maybe they do not have an answer.
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The question is...”What’s wrong?” “How did it get so bad?”
The simple answer to that question is...”You”. “Me”.
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You know that we, as individuals, are sinners, right? That is what the Bible, the book that many in this room word would undeniably agree are the very words of God...that’s what it says. Romans 3:23...anyone know it?
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Anger, bitterness, greed, envy, pride, lust, murder, theft, covetousness, adultery, worshiping false Gods, being careless with God’s name...did I leave anyone out?
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And then, you and I get together, and become “we”. “We” sin.
Anger, bitterness, greed, envy, pride, lust, murder, theft, covetousness, adultery, worshiping false Gods, being careless with God’s name, but we add a few. Legalism. Judgment. Fear.
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Finally, there is a whole bunch of people, just like you, and just like me. And those whole bunches of people are all over the world. So it’s no longer me who is this terrible person, falling short of God’s glory, but there is a whole group of us. But, it’s not just the group, it is everyone. All over the world.
Anger, bitterness, greed, envy, pride, lust, murder, theft, covetousness, adultery, worshiping false Gods, being careless with God’s name. Legalism. Judgment. Fear. And...we add a few. Invading other nations. Oppressing people. Not caring for the poor, the homeless, the fatherless.
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Question 2: “What do we do about the answer? What do we do about sin?”
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That too, is a simple answer. Several, actually.
We cover them up, we hide them.
We create rules and laws so people won’t do them. Which is dumb, because we all sin. So, since we’ve broken the rules, we just get better at hiding them until we have whole groups of people hiding their sin from one another while at the same time we look perfect on the outside
Because we are so fearful of being found out.
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The REAL answer to the question “What do we do about sin?” is in two parts.
Part one is: ”Nothing.”
Because you cannot fix it. People will abuse the law in two ways:
They will break it. That’s how Bernie Madoff made his millions.
They will use it. “The law says I can have an abortion, get divorced, sue my neighbor...so I will.” And that one puts us Christians in a real pinch, because many of us are real “law and order” types. We appeal to the law to solve a sin problem.
In Galatians, Paul writes that the law only brings a curse. It only condemns us.
Part two, is of course...anyone know??
“Jesus.” The perfect Sunday school answer.
God sent Jesus to pay for our sin. This is what Christian believe. Like the hymn says, “Jesus paid it all! All to him I owe, sin had left left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”
It is here, that we find our main text for the day- 2 Corinthians 5: 21, God made Jesus, who was perfect and without sin, God made Jesus sin itself for us, that we might become God’s righteousness.
Jesus makes us right with God. We are righteous because of what He did. God looks at the believer and justifies Him. Because He is good. Because He is just. He does for us what we cannot. And now...the third and final question.
Problem:
Question 3: “So what?” “We go to heaven, and...that’s it? That was the point?”
Let’s read God’s Word:
2 Peter 2:9- “that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness.”
1 Peter 2:24- “that you may live for righteousness.”
Galatians 5:6- “faith working though love”
Galatians 5:24- “through love serve one another”
Galatians 6:2- “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the Law of Christ”
Climax:
Ancient Context: In the book of Galatians- Paul was addressing the gospel of law/tradition versus the gospel of grace/peace
Galatians 1 dealt with people teaching a false gospel- the gospel of the people pleasers
Galatians 2 dealt with the gospel of law, people who talked about grace and peace, but actually lived out the gospel of rules and regulations
Galatians 3 talked about living by faith, and not according to those laws.
In Galatians 4, Paul talks about how easy it is to return to the law. Why? The law is comfortable. We know when we are being good because we have something to measure ourselves against.
Did I pray today? Check.
Did I read my Bible today? Check.
Contemporary Context
Well, that was then and this is now. “How are you living out the righteousness of God?”
Have you been made righteous through the sacrifice of Christ?
What is the proof?
How will others know that we have been?
It is by our fruit that we are known.
What is your fruit?
Did you love your spouse this morning?
Are you joyful? I do not mean “happy”, I mean “joyful”?
Are you at peace with those around you? With yourself? With God
How were you patient with people this week? When they messed up your order at the restaurant? When they didn’t floor it as soon as the light turned green?
Were you kind to the person that was waiting to be let out of a parking lot on Collins Rd this week?
Were you committed to people this week? When they told you they would take the garbage out, but did not?
How did you try to get your way this week? Did you ignore God and insist on going it alone?
Did you hand out grace this week when someone wronged you?
Or, are these are the things that we are known for?
The jerk that did not great his wife with “good morning.”
The grumbler.
The arguer.
The person that honks their horn the millisecond that the light changes
The one that watched as the car sits in the lot, just trying to get out of the gas station.
Resolution
Ancient
Galatians 5 teaches us that we have freedom, but that freedom should lead to growth, that we should love, that we should walk in the Spirit.
In Galatians 6, we are told to bear burdens, to be generous and to do good, and that the only thing that we should be proud of is the cross. The sacrifice of Jesus.
Contemporary
Point 1: we are made righteous by God through Christ.
My current class deals with the subject of “sanctification.” This is the concept that Christians are being made holy, set apart, becoming like Christ.
“Sanctification” is a funny thought. We see in scripture that we’ve “become God’s righteousness” but are we holy?
We read that that we are to “grow up into the fullness of Christ” in Ephesians 4:15, but we are quite content with just enough to get us in.
We are told “be holy as I am holy” in Leviticus 11:44, but that’s the Old Testament...when all the people had to do was keep a few rules
When we become a follower of Christ, we are the righteousness of God. But, there is a second way...
Point 2: we are the righteousness of God when we act like Jesus
Individually
When we love and serve in humility
When we make daily decisions to engage people where they are in life
When we accept them, when we love them
Small Group
When our groups love and serve in humility
Corporately
When our church loves and serves in humility
How will we know if we are succeeding?
I think that ministry will get messy. Because you cannot hope to grow the fruits of the Spirit without challenge, hardship, discouragement and disappointment.
A few weeks ago, our family went to KidMin, a children’s ministry conference. In one of the classes that I went to, the question was asked, “How do we deal with the brokenness, the mess of ministry that will be created?” The answer was simple:
The Gospel- love, mercy, grace, trust, faith, hope, service, humility.
The leadership team of Eastview just spent the last year and a half talking about “who we are” as a body. We discussed what God has for us...what He desires of us. And now, we have a choice. Will we do what God wants? It’s not about rules and regulations, about hymns or worship videos, t-shirts or ties, power or control.
“To be a community of people whose lives are conformed to the image of Christ, committed to sharing that image with the world.”
How do we get there?
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It starts with one person, being conformed to the image of God.
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Then the community, conformed to the image of God.
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And finally, the world, conforming to the image of God.
Over the past 5 or 6 weeks, Bill has been talking about “becoming like the Master.” Are you more like the Master today than you were 5 weeks ago? If not, what are you waiting for? (call the Elders forward)- they are available for prayer.
Call the worship team forward.
Over the next several weeks, Bill will be talking to us about what it means
“To be a community of people whose lives are conformed to the image of Christ, committed to sharing that image with the world.”
This is God’s dream for Eastview. Will you be part of it?
