I think it is
safe for me to assume that you all want to be good people. You may have to work hard at it, and what
hard work it is! A good person is an
upstanding citizen who works hard and tries to contribute to the community -
more than he or she takes from it. It’s
likely that you have a job, or if you’re retired, you did have a career that
you worked at for years and years. You
try to live with integrity, being good, sincere, and honest. You don’t abuse other people. You don’t abuse
drugs or alcohol. You try to make
decisions that are good and healthy. You
respect and follow the laws. Well, maybe
you don’t follow every law every time.
You might ignore the 30 mile per hour speed limit signs on Lynaugh Road,
unless of course you see a police officer parked by the side of the road. Then you obey the signs. But even so, you are a safe driver. While you may go 30 you know very well that
it’s a neighborhood and it isn’t safe to travel at Thru-Way speeds on it.
If you’re an
environmentally conscious person you may try to make purchases that support
sustainability. You own a hybrid car, or
the most fuel efficient car out there. You
pay a premium for electricity to support renewable energy resources.
Or maybe you
choose American made goods over those from other nations, believing that is the
best way to support fairness and integrity.
If you’re a good
person you try to keep your house or home in good order – relatively clean and
tidy. You keep things in good repair and
in a way that your home is not lowering other home values in the area.
If you’re a good
person and you have kids, you know you have a big responsibility on your
hands. You want your kids to grow up to
be well rounded. You want them to have a
good shot at life, which is ever so complicated. You want them to grow up to be good people
too. But kids’ lives are super
busy. How much is too much? And in the midst of all of it, there is their
faith development. What priorities do you
set when there is the inevitable conflict between faith and activities
schedules? And if faith is the key to
their development, how do you not have it come off as second place when you put
something else above faith development?
Some good people
are in the “sandwich generation.” Not
only do they have kids, they also have parents to take care of. That’s another big complication.
Or maybe you’re
retired and a senior citizen and you’re depending on your grown children for
some things. You don’t want to be a
burden on them, but you don’t want to take unnecessary risks.
Saying you want
to be a good person sounds so simple.
Living out being a good person is not so easy!
And is being what
our society calls a good person really being a good person? You may remember me saying this before. We all sin all the time. Our sins are just things that are socially
acceptable, even socially commended.
When I sit back and reflect on the American way of life since World War
II I realize it is so consumptive it is appalling. We consume far too much energy and material
goods in our lifestyles to be healthy and sustainable – healthy and sustainable
for the planet’s environment, and our bodies as individuals. Yet over-consumption is part and parcel of
being “a good person.” You can’t meet
all the social obligations of being a good person and at the same time live a
lifestyle that is truly healthy and sustainable.
In the gospel
reading Jesus was talking to some Pharisees.
We chortle at their ignorance of their own history when they say, “We
are descendants of Abraham. We’ve never
been slaves to anyone.” As if! We’ve just read the Exodus story. Their history as a nation starts in
slavery! Plus they’ve been conquered and
basically enslaved by just about every major empire that ever dominated the
Middle East. In the days of Jesus they
may be technically not enslaved but they have little in the way of freedom and
self-rule under the Romans.
We laugh at them,
but then realize that we too aren’t technically enslaved by anyone. But how much freedom do we really have? Isn’t “being a good person” basically a life
of enslavement to sin? Oh how social
expectations can crush us!
Times have changed,
but I think being a good person in Jesus’ day was pretty complicated too.
When I think of
the trap most of us live in St. Paul’s words in Romans 7:22-25 come to mind,
“For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members
another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin
that dwells in my members. Wretched man
that I am! Who will rescue me from this
body of death? Thanks be to God through
Jesus Christ our Lord?”
I think we first
have to recognize the tension we live in, and we have to acknowledge that the
state of our lives in one in which sin has entangled us. There is absolutely nothing wrong with
wanting to be a good person! But being a
good person in our culture’s eyes will exhaust and kill you – and you’ll do a
lot of damage besides!
I don’t think we
should ever lull ourselves into thinking that it is all okay. Then we’re just as blind as the Pharisees
unable to see our own failings. We
should certainly always feel the tension.
We should resist all that harms us, others, and the world. But let’s also learn from Jesus’ words. “If you continue in my word, you are truly my
disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Here is the good
news. While God does not like seeing his
creation or humans hurting, God’s love is bigger than any trap sin sets for us. God’s ability to fix things is greater than
our ability to break things. God’s
strength is stronger than any fortress that can ever be built.
We can be freed from
the slavery of being a good person. We
are free from all that would bind us to sin.
I don’t think in this lifetime we’ll ever fully escape the conflict. St. Paul certainly didn’t. But he did know the answer. “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus
Christ!” It is Christ who rescues us
ultimately and surely.
Our next hymn,
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty affirms that.
And perhaps even more so, our final hymn, A Mighty Fortress proclaims
it.
Think again about
the slavery of being a good person and what it would cost you if you truly
bucked up against the pressures of our sin-filled culture, then hear these
excerpts mixing verses 3 and 4:
Though hordes of devils fill the land
All threat’ning to devour us,
We tremble not, unmoved we stand;
They cannot overpower us.
Were they to take our house,
Goods, honor, child, or spouse,
Though life be wretched away,
They cannot win the day.
The kingdom’s ours forever!
Do you hear the
defiance and confidence of Luther’s words?
They are words that empower us for the battle.
Election day is
coming up. Forget what each side is
saying. From the perspective of faith,
both sides are lying and being deceptive.
Both will not hear the truth of God’s will. Both what to tell you to follow their party
line and all will be okay. Not so. No one dares to speak the truth of the hard
work, the discipline, and the sacrifice necessary to truly bring about God’s
kingdom. I’d like to hear the Lord’s
Prayer start off a stump speech sometime.
And then have the candidate lay out his or her strategy to bring that
prayer’s words into reality. Do you see
how far from truth we are?
It is Reformation Sunday, and we
realize that our lives, our culture, remains in need of massive reform –
constant reform – because sin is constantly attacking; often in clever ways,
seeking to enslave us.
May the truth of God make us really
free, and may it protect us in the battle that rages around us. May it encourage us to face what we need to
face and handle the consequences when we do it.
And may Jesus our Lord, the champion fighter, win the day so that we may
rejoice.
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