Year A Proper 7

In the past several weeks, our epistle lessons have been working through the Pauls letter to the Romans. The Grace of God towards us is one of the significant themes, at least in the past few weeks and chapters. God’s grace, his unmerited favor towards us, is shown by the fact that while we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us in order that we might be reconciled to God. Before Christ, we were dead in our sins, suffering from a terminal disease brought on by the sin of Adam, but because of what Christ has done for us we are raised to new life in him. Grace, free grace, reconciled us to God.

There are numerous stories, numerous explanations of grace. Charles Spurgeon, an English preacher, author, and editor in the 1800’s has an interesting note on grace. He said:
Someone asked me once, “Why do you. say free grace? Of course, if it is grace, it’s free.” “Oh, well!” I replied, “I do so to make assurance doubly sure.” We will always call it, not only grace, but free grace, to make it clear that God gives his grace freely to sinners,—the undeserving and ungodly. He gives it without any condition. If, in one place, he says that he requires repentance, in another place he promises it; if he demands faith at one moment, he bestows it at another. So grace is always God’s free gift, and that suits a man who has not a penny in his pocket.
Spurgeon continues: I have walked—as I dare—say some of you have—by the goldsmiths’ and jewellers’ shops in the Palais Royal at Paris, and seen the vast amount of wealth that is exhibited there; and many of you have gone along the great streets of our city, and seen perfect mines of wealth displayed, and you have said to yourself,” Ah! I cannot purchase any of these things, because there is a little ticket hanging down below with certain pounds marked on it, and I cannot afford to buy them. It is all I can do to get bread and cheese for those who are at home, so I must leave these luxuries to others.” But if I should ever pass by a goldsmith’s shop, and see a ticket bearing the words, “Free gift!” I should be willing to take a few things at that price. I am glad that you smile at that expression, because those are my Master’s terms. He has treasures worth more than the most glorious jeweller’s shop ever contained, and they are all free gifts to all who trust him. I dare not laugh at you, but I shall have to blame and condemn you, if eternal life be God’s free gift, and yet you will not say, “I will take it, and have it for ever.” You would like to take jewellery for nothing, but you will not accept everlasting life mad pardon for nothing by simply trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ[1].

Our New Testament reading today begins in the middle of a thought, and is of course referring to Adam. Adam was an antitype, a forerunner in a sense, of Christ, alike but different. There are several parallels between Adam and Christ, as we shall see; the difference between the two is that in Christ God’s grace is made known to us. The words “grace” and “gift” occur something like seven times in the first three verses. While the result of Adam’s sin was death, judgment and condemnation, the result of Christ is justification and the overwhelming grace of God. It is truly amazing that ‘the accumulated sins and guilt of all the ages should be answered by God’s free gift, this miracle of miracles, utterly beyond human comprehension.”[2] Christ not only “cancels the effects of Adam’s sin, he enables those who have received the ‘abundant provision of grace’ and the ‘gift of righteousness’ not just to experience life but to ‘reign in life.’”[3]

In the last couple of verses, we see the parallels between Adam and Christ. First
of all, Adam committed a trespass by his disobedience, resulting in death, and Christ, by his obedience, committed righteousness. Adam turned away from God, and Christ turned towards God. Finally, Adam’s disobedience led to condemnation, and Christ’s righteous obedience resulted in justification and life. Adam’s sin made people sinners; Christ enabled our goodness and obedience. We are made righteous in God’s eyes, because of Christ’s free gift of sacrifice.
All that Paul says is designed to impress the wondrous nature of grace and the reality of Christ’s saving work. Grace is more powerful than sin. It is God’s remedy for sin, the free gift of his love. Sin is a tyrant, but grace sets men free. Sin separates from God, but grace reconciles men to God. Salvation by grace, therefore, is God’s response to the need of sinful men. The creative wisdom, compassionate mercy, and eternal purpose of God, all brought to focus in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, have achieved salvation from sin.[4]

This is the great good news of the gospel, the good news of Jesus, and as a result we should be like the prophet Jeremiah in our Old Testament lesson, compelled to shout the good news, burning with a fire in our bones. John Wesley once said, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” That’s what happened to Jeremiah, and that’s what happened to the disciples.

In our gospel, Jesus warns of persecution and trials on account of Jesus, as a testimony to governors and kings, and the Gentiles. But Jesus also promises that in trials he will be with his disciples, giving them the words to say, the Spirit of the Father speaking through them. Opposition will come, from outside powers but also from within the family. . “Moses had warned the people that even if one’s own brother or sister or wife or closest friend tries to beguile a person into idolatry, this person was to be stoned.”[5] While Jesus’ disciples have the honor and privilege of knowing Christ and carrying his message, they will also be the subjects of hatred and persecution. But Jesus also promises that all those who endure, those who are faithful, will be saved. The Spirit will provide the resources to withstand difficulties.

Jesus also says that the student, the disciple, is like his teacher, the servant like his master. The trials he experiences will be theirs as well. But he repeatedly tells his followers not to be afraid, and gives three reasons for their confidence. 1. The truth about Jesus and his ministry will be revealed, and the religious leadership will be exposed as false. 2. Their eternal destiny is secure. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. These words are a call to courage in the face of persecution and opposition. 3.,His disciples should not be afraid because God is in charge, watching over them in every single detail, even to the number of the hairs on their head. God is in control—do not be afraid.
The ultimate test of a disciple’s commitment to Jesus comes when opposition arises. When the disciple is able to stand firm and acknowledge Christ, he will please the Father, but denial of Christ as Lord and God results in rejection by the Father.
When we, today, catch on fire for the Lord, we will face opposition and even persecution. That seems practically irrelevant for us here today, but persecution happens every day. Wilkins writes of:

Oswaldo (Wally) Magdangal, a Filipino pastor whose house church in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, grew too noticeable for the authorities, was arrested for blaspheming Islam. Shari’ah law requires beheading for ‘apostates’—those who renounce Islam. Religious police tortured every part of Magdangal’s body, trying to force him to renounce his faith, and he was beaten throughout 210 minutes of mocking interrogation. During that time no Friday passed without at least one execution in the public square, and Pastor Wally was sentenced to be executed on Friday, December 25th, 1992. But through the combined efforts of Western human rights organizations and his close friends in the Saudi government, God miraculously intervened and Pastor Wally was deported; he is now president of Christians in Crisis, an advocacy based group based in Sacramento, California. His goal is to wake up the church to the real persecution that Christians around the world experience every day.[6]

I subscribe to the Voice of the Martyrs and receive an email every week as a call to pray for dozens of similar situations, and there are dozens of websites devoted to the persecuted church.

But persecution doesn’t only happen in the on the opposite side of the globe. Our country is becoming increasingly secular, and “Christians are discouraged from denouncing practices condemned in Scripture. . . In the name of ‘freedom of religion’ many of the normal practices of faith once enjoyed—such as public prayers or even displays of a manger scene at Christmas, have been stripped away. The agenda of much public policy seems more like freedom from religion, and the consequences for those who decry this, secularist public policy will grow increasingly harsh.”[7]
And yet, we must speak boldly in order to promote the Gospel of Christ. I challenge you to be aware of these injustices, to fight for religious freedoms, to pray for the persecuted church at home and abroad. Catch on fire, burn, get involved, and pray. Pastor Wally’s Christians in Crisis website says that “Prayer is the least, yet the most we can do for them.”
This prayer is adapted from A Prayer Book for Sailors and Soldiers (1941) Let’s pray together:

O blessed Lord, who yourself underwent the pain and suffering of the Cross; Uphold, we beseech you, with your promised gift of strength all those of our brothers and sisters who are suffering for their faith in you. Grant that in the midst of all persecutions they may hold fast by this faith, and that from their stedfastness your Church may grow in grace and we ourselves in perseverance, to the honour of your Name, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit are one God, world without end. Amen.
[1] http://preceptaustin.org/romans_516-17.htm
[2] Cranfield, The Epistle to the Romans, 286; quoted in Moo, Douglas The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 183.
[3] Moo, Douglas. 184.
[4] Allen, Clifton J. the Gospel According to Paul: A Study of the Letter to the Romans, p. 66.
[5] Wilkins, Michael J. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew, 393.
[6] Wilkins 407
[7] Ibid, 407.