SERMON “Thanks Be to God” Romans 7.14-25
Our Lord, hear our prayer. As we shelter under your protecting wings, nurture us and teach us to hear your Word. Amen.
“I’m old enough to know better but too young to resist.” Maybe you’ve tried saying this to someone. Or maybe you’ve tried telling it to yourself. We usually think of a statement like that when we’re found out, when our treachery is exposed. Maybe it was something little, a humorous prank. Or maybe it was something that brought harm to someone. Old enough to know better. Yes, no doubt about it. Too young to resist? I’m completely unconvinced.
Do we know how we are supposed to live? Has our Lord shown us through Scripture and also usually through the example of others in our society, what is appropriate? We know it’s bad to hurt people. We hardly need anyone to tell us that. We know that there’s nobody who likes to be dishonored and humiliated. No question about that. And you don’t have to be around Christianity for long to get the idea that God is God, that he has a holy standard, and that we don’t live up to that standard. God’s Law is quite clear. We know plenty to convict ourselves and anyone else. We do know how we’re supposed to live. As one 19th century humorist put it, “I’m not so bothered by the things in the Bible that I don’t understand as I am by the things I do understand.” We know how we’re supposed to live.
So do you really want to do good? This is the question that parents often end up asking their children. I’ve been thinking about that question a lot lately. It’s one that I’ve been known to ask my children. But it’s really not a very fair question. What was the apostle Paul’s answer to the question? Yes, he wanted to do what was right. Yet he had another answer at the same time. No, he really didn’t want to do what was right, because he went ahead and did what was wrong. In the world of biblical counseling we have a name for what we end up doing. It’s called “blame shifting.” You know how blame shifting works. If you’ve forgotten, watch the little children for a while. They aren’t quite as sophisticated about it as adults are. “Why is your sister’s hair blue?” “Ralph made me do it.” “Really? How did he make you do it?” “Well, he made me do it. He wanted me to color it blue so I did.” We can bring this to a more adult level. So why didn’t you show your husband the credit card bill? Who made you hide what you were doing? We know what’s right and on one level we want to do what’s right but we go ahead and do what’s wrong, don’t we? We make up all sorts of explanations and try to excuse ourselves, but at the end of the day sin is still sin and we know that we have done what we did and we were aware of it. Nobody made me treat my wife badly. Nobody made me snap at my daughter when she asked me a question. I can do all those things all by myself. I know what’s right, and I do want to live a life pleasing to the Lord, but I’m not wholehearted. I show it all the time, sometimes in little ways, sometimes in big ways. But I’m double-minded. And so is everyone else in this room.
What if I’m doing pretty well, though? Remember the opening of Luther’s Small Catechism? What does the First Commandment mean? We should fear, love and trust in God above all things. How do we violate this First Commandment when we act in obedience to God? What about when we do something good and kind? It’s all well and good until we realize we did something good. What do we do then? That’s when we start patting ourselves on the back. That’s when we start trusting in ourselves, loving ourselves, giving ourselves the glory rather than giving God the glory. Yes, even our good works are sinful once we examine the attitude we have. We are wretched indeed. We’re cursed. We have fallen in Adam, our father, whose sin infects all that we do.
It’s just at this low point, when we realize that we are in sin, that we can start seeing Jesus as the one who is full of righteousness. It’s at that point that we, like Paul, can turn around and say, “Thanks be to God!” It is in and through Jesus that we see God’s righteousness fulfilled. Jesus is the one who tells us again and again what is pleasing to God the Father. Jesus is the one who lives that life which is pleasing to the Father. And he lives it on our behalf, without our doing anything, without our being able to reform ourselves. Jesus lives a life of perfect righteousness and then he says it is the life he gives to us. Jesus Christ credits his own righteousness to us, forgiving us in the waters of baptism, washing us with repentance, granting us forgiveness because he has borne the penalty for our sin, feeding our faith with his body broken for us and his blood shed for us. Jesus delivers all the good that we need. Jesus delivers all the grace there is for us in eternity. It’s Jesus who has risen from the dead so we can know that we will rise. It’s Jesus who gives us the foretaste of the feast to come in eternity. It’s Jesus to whom all glory belongs. It’s Jesus who gives us good deeds to do and shows us they are done on his behalf, so he is the one who receives the glory. It’s Jesus who shows us that he has caught us in our sin, that he knows all about it, that it put him to death, and that he has forgiven us. It’s our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who forgives us again and again and again. It’s Jesus who loved us when we were yet sinners, including today, and has provided the cure for sin through his death.
Are we wretched? Yes. Are we blessed? Yes. Thanks be to God! Let’s rise to pray.
Our God, you who have delivered your forgiveness and grace to us, remind us of that grace from day to day. Drown us daily as we remember that we are buried with you in baptism. Raise us daily to newness of life as we repent of our sin and receive your forgiveness. As we eat and drink, let us remember your body, the bread of life, broken for us; your blood shed for us, for the remission of sins. Nurture us in this most precious faith, in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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