From Guilt into Grace
Paul is in a bit of a theological struggle here.
“I do not understand my own actions,” he writes, “for I do not do what I want, but the very thing that I hate.”
“For I do not do the good that I want – but the evil that I do not want is what I do…”
How many of us can relate to Paul’s struggle?
When we know the good course of action. When we know what is good, what is expected of us, what God wants to see from us…
And then we turn around and do the exact opposite of that.
It’s why we pray every single week, some of us every day, that God lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil… because temptation is difficult. We can’t escape it alone. And we sometimes can’t escape it, even with our best intentions and most fervent prayers.
We all know what it’s like to do things we regret. We all have our vices - the things that tempt us more than others… the things that make us say “yes,” when we ought to say “no.”
Sin is part of our very nature. It’s not just the temptations and the things we do that we know are wrong that we do anyway. It’s part of our very existence.
Paul knows this as he writes of his struggle – that he does the very thing he hates, even as he knows it’s upsetting to God, and neglects the things he loves, even as he knows those things would be pleasing to God. So he’s in this tug-of-war between intent and action; between the satisfactions of the here-and-now, and those of his everlasting soul. And measured up by our actions, and by what God’s law is – none of us can ever merit a desirable judgment.
Held up against God’s law, we are helpless in the face of it. The law is too great and we are too weak, and so if the law were our only source of judgment, we would all be crucified and damned.
Our bodies are mortal, our flesh is weak, our wills tremble, and our feet stumble. This is the way of our lives.
Yet we have hope. We have hope because God has decided in his love and mercy to show us grace. Grace which we do not deserve. Yet is given to us anyway out of God’s own love for us.
It is the same grace that we might show a disobedient pet or an unruly child. A grace borne out of love and compassion, and with a desire that we should do better.
Yesterday our country celebrated its Independence Day. For many of us, our celebrations were probably a little bit muted compared to previous years. With smaller gatherings… with shorter trips… with fewer festivities… The national mood and the still-present danger of COVID probably dampered many of our usual plans for this weekend.
But it does give us an opportunity, as we use this weekend to celebrate our freedom, to ask – what is that freedom?
And we know all the slogans – “Don’t Tread on Me,” “No Taxation without Representation,” “Live Free or Die.”
But as Christians, yearning to live good and faithful lives – even as our natures sometimes betray us to temptation and sins – as Christians, we have a very distinct concept of freedom.
We know that freedom doesn’t mean, “I can do whatever I want, whenever I want.” Especially what “whatever I want” causes harm to others.
It doesn’t mean that we’re free of responsibilities or obligations to our neighbors, our fellow citizens, and the other people all over the world whom God has put us into covenant with.
Freedom isn’t a license to harm others, to flout laws and mores, and say that “I am sovereign – there is no man, system, or government over me.”
Instead we know that freedom is a give-and-take. That even as we exercise our own choices and embrace our own desires, that each choice we make comes with consequences and responsibilities. And that we can choose things that bring us closer to God… or drive us further away from God.
Will we exercise our freedom to pray every day?
Will we use our liberty to treat other people with decency and dignity?
Will we take advantage of the opportunities that are put in front of us to study God’s Word, take Christ’s teachings to heart, and make the world a little bit better for the people who come after us?
As citizens, we have no law forcing us to pray – we are free to pray or not pray as we wish. But as Christians, we have the instruction to pray written on our hearts, and exercising that is a different kind of freedom.
As citizens, we can choose to turn a blind eye to the sick, to walk past the poor, to alienate the stranger, the prisoner, the outcast. But as Christians, part of God’s law is to care for the sick, to lift up the poor, and to welcome the stranger and remember the prisoner. It’s a different kind of freedom.
As citizens, we are largely free to do as we like. We can marry or not marry, have children or not have children, look for work in fields that interest us and use our abilities and passions well. We don’t have mandatory military service, community service, or social work that we all have to do. We’re not even required to vote. Basically, as long as we render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and pay our taxes, there’s not a lot that’s required from us. As citizens.
But as Christians. We are free in Christ, receiving blessings and grace and mercy and love of God’s own will. And that comes with obligations and responsibilities. That we sometimes find it hard to live up to. And that’s what Paul’s struggling with.
Paul is acutely aware of the sense that there are things that God expects of him – of us – that he sometimes falls short of. That he sometimes does not do the things that he loves to do – the things that are pleasing to God; and instead does the very things that he hates – the things that disappoint God.
Because it’s often very hard to shake those two competing notions of freedom – the first, that it’s a free country and I can do what I want. And the second, that I am free in Christ, and am called to live in his service.
Doing what I want, and doing what God wants, are often two very, very different things.
So when we talk about freedom this weekend, I would ask you to use the freedoms that we have as citizens, to observe the freedoms that we have as Christians.
You are free to pray or not to pray. But God seeks our love and our companionship, which we offer through our prayers. So our freedom in Christ says yes, we should remember to pray and bring God our cares and concerns and offer our thanks.
You are free to care for your neighbor or not care – that’s your right as a citizen. But as Christians, we all know that we are to love our neighbors. So I’d ask you to pick up the phone and check on the people – your family, your friends, your actual physical neighbors, and your fellow church members – check on the people whom God has put you in covenant with, and who could use a friendly ear from time to time.
And be free in Christ. Be free in the gifts of God’s Holy Word, in the fruit of his blessings in your lives, and free in the means of grace and the opportunities to show our understanding of that grace, and our gratitude for it.
We are blessed to be free in our country. Yet also called to be free in Jesus Christ. That comes with many blessings, opportunities, and responsibilities, which can sometimes be a struggle for us. Yet we live in the constant assurance of God’s endless grace and eternal love. Amen.
Let us pray.
Gracious God, for the many blessings and bountiful providence of this land, we give you our thanks. As we celebrate the freedoms we readily enjoy, we remember also our responsibilities. We know that the fruits of liberty are not readily available to all people, so we pray for the poor, the prisoner, the marginalized, and the oppressed. We know that we often embrace our freedoms, without recognizing the obligations that come with them. We look to you to guide us in our lives, to help us to act out of love and not selfishness. Lead us into your grace, by the light of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
Paul is in a bit of a theological struggle here.
“I do not understand my own actions,” he writes, “for I do not do what I want, but the very thing that I hate.”
“For I do not do the good that I want – but the evil that I do not want is what I do…”
How many of us can relate to Paul’s struggle?
When we know the good course of action. When we know what is good, what is expected of us, what God wants to see from us…
And then we turn around and do the exact opposite of that.
It’s why we pray every single week, some of us every day, that God lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil… because temptation is difficult. We can’t escape it alone. And we sometimes can’t escape it, even with our best intentions and most fervent prayers.
We all know what it’s like to do things we regret. We all have our vices - the things that tempt us more than others… the things that make us say “yes,” when we ought to say “no.”
Sin is part of our very nature. It’s not just the temptations and the things we do that we know are wrong that we do anyway. It’s part of our very existence.
Paul knows this as he writes of his struggle – that he does the very thing he hates, even as he knows it’s upsetting to God, and neglects the things he loves, even as he knows those things would be pleasing to God. So he’s in this tug-of-war between intent and action; between the satisfactions of the here-and-now, and those of his everlasting soul. And measured up by our actions, and by what God’s law is – none of us can ever merit a desirable judgment.
Held up against God’s law, we are helpless in the face of it. The law is too great and we are too weak, and so if the law were our only source of judgment, we would all be crucified and damned.
Our bodies are mortal, our flesh is weak, our wills tremble, and our feet stumble. This is the way of our lives.
Yet we have hope. We have hope because God has decided in his love and mercy to show us grace. Grace which we do not deserve. Yet is given to us anyway out of God’s own love for us.
It is the same grace that we might show a disobedient pet or an unruly child. A grace borne out of love and compassion, and with a desire that we should do better.
Yesterday our country celebrated its Independence Day. For many of us, our celebrations were probably a little bit muted compared to previous years. With smaller gatherings… with shorter trips… with fewer festivities… The national mood and the still-present danger of COVID probably dampered many of our usual plans for this weekend.
But it does give us an opportunity, as we use this weekend to celebrate our freedom, to ask – what is that freedom?
And we know all the slogans – “Don’t Tread on Me,” “No Taxation without Representation,” “Live Free or Die.”
But as Christians, yearning to live good and faithful lives – even as our natures sometimes betray us to temptation and sins – as Christians, we have a very distinct concept of freedom.
We know that freedom doesn’t mean, “I can do whatever I want, whenever I want.” Especially what “whatever I want” causes harm to others.
It doesn’t mean that we’re free of responsibilities or obligations to our neighbors, our fellow citizens, and the other people all over the world whom God has put us into covenant with.
Freedom isn’t a license to harm others, to flout laws and mores, and say that “I am sovereign – there is no man, system, or government over me.”
Instead we know that freedom is a give-and-take. That even as we exercise our own choices and embrace our own desires, that each choice we make comes with consequences and responsibilities. And that we can choose things that bring us closer to God… or drive us further away from God.
Will we exercise our freedom to pray every day?
Will we use our liberty to treat other people with decency and dignity?
Will we take advantage of the opportunities that are put in front of us to study God’s Word, take Christ’s teachings to heart, and make the world a little bit better for the people who come after us?
As citizens, we have no law forcing us to pray – we are free to pray or not pray as we wish. But as Christians, we have the instruction to pray written on our hearts, and exercising that is a different kind of freedom.
As citizens, we can choose to turn a blind eye to the sick, to walk past the poor, to alienate the stranger, the prisoner, the outcast. But as Christians, part of God’s law is to care for the sick, to lift up the poor, and to welcome the stranger and remember the prisoner. It’s a different kind of freedom.
As citizens, we are largely free to do as we like. We can marry or not marry, have children or not have children, look for work in fields that interest us and use our abilities and passions well. We don’t have mandatory military service, community service, or social work that we all have to do. We’re not even required to vote. Basically, as long as we render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and pay our taxes, there’s not a lot that’s required from us. As citizens.
But as Christians. We are free in Christ, receiving blessings and grace and mercy and love of God’s own will. And that comes with obligations and responsibilities. That we sometimes find it hard to live up to. And that’s what Paul’s struggling with.
Paul is acutely aware of the sense that there are things that God expects of him – of us – that he sometimes falls short of. That he sometimes does not do the things that he loves to do – the things that are pleasing to God; and instead does the very things that he hates – the things that disappoint God.
Because it’s often very hard to shake those two competing notions of freedom – the first, that it’s a free country and I can do what I want. And the second, that I am free in Christ, and am called to live in his service.
Doing what I want, and doing what God wants, are often two very, very different things.
So when we talk about freedom this weekend, I would ask you to use the freedoms that we have as citizens, to observe the freedoms that we have as Christians.
You are free to pray or not to pray. But God seeks our love and our companionship, which we offer through our prayers. So our freedom in Christ says yes, we should remember to pray and bring God our cares and concerns and offer our thanks.
You are free to care for your neighbor or not care – that’s your right as a citizen. But as Christians, we all know that we are to love our neighbors. So I’d ask you to pick up the phone and check on the people – your family, your friends, your actual physical neighbors, and your fellow church members – check on the people whom God has put you in covenant with, and who could use a friendly ear from time to time.
And be free in Christ. Be free in the gifts of God’s Holy Word, in the fruit of his blessings in your lives, and free in the means of grace and the opportunities to show our understanding of that grace, and our gratitude for it.
We are blessed to be free in our country. Yet also called to be free in Jesus Christ. That comes with many blessings, opportunities, and responsibilities, which can sometimes be a struggle for us. Yet we live in the constant assurance of God’s endless grace and eternal love. Amen.
Let us pray.
Gracious God, for the many blessings and bountiful providence of this land, we give you our thanks. As we celebrate the freedoms we readily enjoy, we remember also our responsibilities. We know that the fruits of liberty are not readily available to all people, so we pray for the poor, the prisoner, the marginalized, and the oppressed. We know that we often embrace our freedoms, without recognizing the obligations that come with them. We look to you to guide us in our lives, to help us to act out of love and not selfishness. Lead us into your grace, by the light of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
