July 3, 2005 Romans 9:1-5
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
Freedom Fighting in the 21st Century
Here’s a history quiz for you - what exactly happened on July 4th? It was the date that the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, announcing the separation of the 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. I wonder how many people even KNOW this? The 4th of July has ended up being a reason to spend money, drink beer and blow up things. The purpose of it is so that we take some time to appreciate our freedom, our country, our heritage and our history. I wonder how much the history of our Independence has been lost over time?
Luther had a high regard for history. He said, “history is nothing else than an indication, recollection, and monument of divine works and judgments, showing how God maintains, governs, hinders, advances, punishes, and honors men, according as each one has deserved good and evil. And although there are many who do not recognize and regard God, yet they must take warning from history.” This is why the Bible is plum full of history - otherwise known as HIS story. History helps us to appreciate what we’ve got, understand what’s going on, and perhaps make better decisions in the future. I’ve found in my life that the more I experience history the more I seem to appreciate it.
This can happen when it comes to our spiritual history as well. We can learn a lot from the history of our faith. If you don’t know why Luther broke off from the Catholic Church - if you’ve never read the Augsburg Confession or the Formula of Concord or the Large Catechism - you’re missing some really important lessons from history. In reading these things you would grow to have an appreciation for the Gospel of Jesus - how we Lutherans are truly set apart from any other even Christian organization with our Law and Gospel approach of Scriptures. This is not something to brag about. But the more we study it, the more we will then grow to appreciate it, understand it, believe it, and grow in our fellowship in Christ. If we learn more history, perhaps we will not be apt to repeat some mistakes that were made in our past.
The reason I bring up this idea of HISTORY is because in today’s text Paul talks a lot about history - the history of his race - the Jews. His appreciation of this history is not so much with the physical side - they didn’t have so much to be proud of there - but of their SPIRITUAL history. He mentions five points of history that he appreciated when it came to his race of Jews.
First of all, he fondly recalls that they were adopted as sons. There’s a popular mantra that is spoken within the Christian airwaves which state that “we are all children of God.” They use this creation to infer that we have an innate goodness in us that God just has to love because He created us. The Scriptures, however, state in Romans 3:12 “All have turned away, they have together become worthless;” Genesis 8:21 says that “every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.” 1 John 5:19 also says, “the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” Man is special in that he has reason and he has a will, but even these are only like idling motors, with nothing but anger towards God. (Romans 8:7) In today’s text, even Paul recognized that even though the JEWS were created by God - they still needed to be ADOPTED as God’s sons. This means that they were NOT NATURAL sons of God. As a result of the Fall, they also were under the family of Satan. The miracle is in the fact that God in His mercy chose Abraham out of all the people of the devil’s world to be the forerunner to Christ. (Joshua 24:2) He chose to ADOPT the Jews and make them His special people. This made Paul - a Jew - feel special - that God chose to ADOPT them.
Since God had adopted them, He decided to treat them special - like His own special children. When the Israelites went through the desert - a pillar of fire accompanied them by night, and a pillar of cloud by day. This fire reflected the glory of the LORD. Whenever the Israelites were in trouble, God came to the rescue. The glory of the LORD was seen at the splitting of the Red Sea and the Jordan River, the fall of Jericho, the strength of Samson, the building of the temple, Gideon’s victory, and so many other ways. All of these acts of glory happened through the Jews. All the nations around them recognized it. Their history was full of these glorious things happening. Paul loved to see how God let his glory shine through the way He treated the Jews.
Thirdly, Paul loved the way that God established his covenants through the Jews. The way that God established the Law at Mt. Sinai - with the fire and thunder - and shouted down the Ten Commandments on His people - that was an awesome thing. God let everyone know that He was a HOLY God who demanded PERFECTION through His law covenants - the moral, ceremonial, and civil laws. He was not a God to be trifled with. He was also a God of order and unbelievable morality.
The most important covenant that came through the Jews however was the promise that God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3:
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Since God had stressed His demand for perfection in the law covenant, the Jews also were to have a great appreciation for the gospel covenant. Through this promise to Abraham the Jews knew that God would send His Savior to die for their sins. The sacrifices prescribed in the law were done as precursors to this wonderful sacrifice that Jesus would one day make on the cross. What is more - as Paul finally points out - this Savior would actually come from THEIR bloodline! God actually has Jewish blood running through Him! What an awesome thing - that God would honor their race and become one of them!
On top of all this, Paul also loved to read through the stories of the patriarchs - the forerunners of Christ. He could think of Jacob - who wrestled with God and earned the name of Israel. He could think of Abraham, who believed God’s promise of a Savior and was blessed with a child at a hundred years old! He could think of David, who fought mighty battles, or Josiah, who restored the book of the Law! These different forerunners of Christ made him be happy to be called a Jew - even though the Romans and every other race at his time couldn’t stand the Jews. As Paul studied HIS story in the history of the Old Testament - he truly appreciated all these things about his heritage.
On the 4th of July, our country wants us to be proud to be called an American - proud of our heritage and history. As we examine this history, we are then to rejoice in the battle that won our freedom - and celebrate. We have many freedoms that we can be happy for and rejoice in. Imagine if we lived in Iran or Syria or China for example. Do you think we would have the freedom to worship in a tax free building like this? Do you think that we would have the freedom to protest or to choose what jobs we want? We enjoy so many gifts here in America - and we have been so blessed - there are MANY reasons to rejoice and thank God for our country.
Yet this freedom is always incomplete. It is always limited in some way. Our country still has thousands of laws to abide by - how fast you drive, how you build a house, how many taxes you have to pay. Our “freedom” has led to terrible and disgusting things being allowed on the television and the Internet and even in our schools. As America cries for the “freedoms” of abortion, mercy killing, same sex marriage, adultery, divorce, and so many other vices, it seems that our Democracy is not the answer to all of the “evils” in the world. I also feel guilty because I realize that we can’t wash our hands of what has happened in America. When our children know the lyrics to Brittany Spears better than A Mighty Fortress, we reflect our allegiances. When we pay more for our entertainment than to our Lord, we show our patriotism. We silently contribute to our society every time we say NOTHING about what is being taught at our schools or being allowed at the abortion clinic in Wichita. We are covered with guilt in the way we are not responding to our society or even going along with it. Our history is not something that we can completely rejoice in.
There once was a young man who was being ridiculed by his advisor - being told he was doing everything wrong. Finally, in desperation he asked the advisor, “can’t you find anything positive to say about me?” The advisor responded, “you were baptized.” The boy took that as a slap in the face. Yet really, could any of us say any more? What do any of us have to take pride in? What could Paul really brag about with the Jews? All they had done as a race was to betray their Messiah and reject God throughout history. We may be tempted to think that our resume will say we were great fathers, that we freed the prisoners from Iraq, that we fed the poor, were faithful church attenders or that we were decent children. Yet we need to remember what Jesus said to us. Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” Even if we do “everything” we are told to do, even if we do perform good things in this world, in comparison with what God really demands, we are still unworthy servants.
When we really look at it, what else do we have to brag before God - but what He has done with us? At our baptism God took Satan’s name off of us, and said to the devil, “I am now repossessing these creatures of mine. I am now adopting this as MY child - wiping his sins away - and calling him my SON and my DAUGHTER! I am freeing this child from your grips!” Since God gave us faith through His gift of the Holy Spirit working through the Word, we can now look back two thousand years and take pride in “our” history and our camaraderie with Christ. We can say, “I was a perfect child, because Jesus was a perfect child.” We can look at a cross and say, “I already paid for my sins, because I already died on the cross and went through hell.” We can say, “I rose from the dead,” because Jesus rose for us. Even when we do live somewhat respectable Christian lives - we remember what Paul said in Ephesians 2:10, that these good works were “prepared in advance” for us to do. When we “do” what God asks us to do - we can still only give credit to God’s Holy Spirit who gives us the power to do these things through faith. These are things that God wants us to rejoice in - what HE has done for us and in us and through us.
So if we connect this to the 4th of July, the most wonderful freedom we have - is not that of being Americans - is not our freedom from an oppressive British government - or our freedom to speak or worship. The most wonderful freedom we have is when at the resurrection God signed Jesus’ Declaration of Independence of “it is finished.” Christian freedom means that when Jesus comes in the clouds and with the voice of the archangel on Judgment Day - we can look this Judge in the eye on Judgment Day and say, “you can’t send me to hell Jesus, because you already suffered my hell.” When the prosecuting attorney tries to bring up my history, we can say to the devil, “your accusations and threats don’t scare me. I have this acquittal in my hands. I know I’ve been pardoned! I’ve been baptized, Satan, and you don’t own me anymore. I believe in Jesus. You can accuse me all you want, but those sins were washed away. You can go to hell and stay there!” Knowing our history gives us a tremendous appreciation for our freedom. Even if there’s NOTHING to like in you - your laugh, your personality, your hairdo, or your clothes - you may be a complete loser in the eyes of the world - but nobody can take away your history in Christ. You were baptized. You were declared not guilty by Jesus. Therefore, you are free from hell. You are free from Satan. Nobody can take that declaration of freedom away from you.
You would think that Paul - having such a rich history to look back on - would have been as happy as a kid in a candy store. Yet in today’s text Paul says - I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. That word for “sorrow” means heaviness - it was a continual thing for him - an unceasing thing for him. What was the matter? He said, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” Even though his fellow countrymen had tried to kill him and hated him to death, Paul still was heavily burdened as he thought about how his very own physical brothers - the Jews - had rejected their own Brother - Jesus. Whereas he was walking around with the freedom of knowing his forgiveness and salvation, they had chosen the same old work righteousness of the law - and as a result of this rejection of Jesus they were all going to burn forever in hell. It was an absolute tragedy to Paul - to think of those who had all of these promises and all of these advantages to end up in hell. In the midst of his freedom, he felt a great sorrow over this.
As I was doing the sermon series on Jacob, I came across this really interesting quote from Luther - where he talks about the way that children bring about the same kind of sorrow in their parents. He writes,
there are very great and intense emotions that God has created in the whole nature of things and has implanted in parents toward their offspring. And if at any time their hearts are wounded by grief or sorrow on account of a misfortune suffered by their children, this is a very real plague and a poison for their lives. Therefore parents are easily killed, if not by the sword, then by sorrow and grief. I myself have seen that many very honorable parents were slain by godless children because of sadness of heart. Young people neither consider nor understand this. Luther’s works, vol. 5:163
Who of us doesn’t know somebody that is near and dear to us who doesn’t know Christ? Isn’t it especially sad to think about those who have been brought up with Christ, but who have then rejected Jesus and the forgiveness He brings? Imagine if your brother or sister was captured by Muslim extremists and help captive and tortured. You would pray for them and be extremely sorrowful. Isn’t it worse to know that some of your own friends our still locked up by Satan and their own sinful natures - especially knowing that Jesus already won the war? You can’t help but be depressed when you consider the fact that they will end up locked up forever in hell without Christ.
Paul’s love was so deep for his fellow Jews that he declared, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.” Imagine such a request! But what good would it have done? Jesus already had been cut off on the cross for the Jews. The problem wasn’t with the sacrifice or the mercy of God. The problem was with the hard heartedness of the Jews. They didn’t want the gift of Jesus, so even if Paul were to be cut off, it still wouldn’t make the Jews want a free salvation any more than before. They didn’t want to be saved by Paul’s works or Jesus’ works - but only their own. For that reason, they were damned.
As we celebrate this 4th of July, our country is in the middle of a war against terrorism and Muslim extremists. Under the banner of freedom and democracy our President has led us into a war in Iraq in the attempts to set up a democracy. He believes in the freedom of democracy so strongly that he is willing to fight and sacrifice lives for the spread of it. This fight has made some embarrassed of America and others proud. It has caused a battle over what is considered “patriotic.”
How can we be “patriotic Christians?” There’s a saying in America that goes “freedom is not free.” There is no doubt about it when it comes to Christianity. Your freedom in Christ was not free. Jesus had to use His blood, sweat and body to earn your freedom from His own wrath and from the devil and from your very self. Paul once said in Acts 20:24, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” His patriotism to Christ made him willing to die in order to spread this freedom in Christ. Are you willing to die for it? In order to spread this Freedom, we need to understand that our enemies go beyond this world into the very depths of hell itself with Satan fighting the battle. He will not let his world go without a fight.
Yet in order to win converts away from him - we don’t need to strap bombs to ourselves or force people into conversions. We don’t to invade any countries or set up governments. Paul said in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” That word for gospel is dunamis, it’s the same word we get dynamite from. Our dynamite is found in God’s Word. The only force we use is God’s love on the cross. That’s what Paul realized - and that’s what Paul did in his battle for “freedom.” This is the only dynamite we have to fight for freedom. Some won’t want to hear it. Some will want to sleep through it. They won’t join in our celebration - and they’ll hate us for it. But isn’t this worth dying to tell people about? Isn’t this worth risking our necks for? Without the Gospel, our fellow Americans - as free as they may think they are - will remain chained up by fear and hell and the devil. As you celebrate the 4th of July, don’t forget to celebrate the greatest forth of all - to go forth and make disciples all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything God has revealed to us in Christ . This is where our greatest freedom is found. Amen.
