Second Sunday in Lent (2007): "Luther Throws a Rope"

Second Sunday in Lent (2007): "Luther Throws a Rope"
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27;
Philippians 3:17-4:1;
Luke 13:31-35
Preached on March 4th, 2007, by the Rev. Preston Parsons

I spoke last week about temptation and sin. We pretty much agreed that we are in captivity to many of our sins, we sin before we even know we've sinned, and that we give in to temptation a lot of the time. I do hope, though, that you remember a couple of other things from last Sunday: that temptation is not the same as sin; that we ought to call on the name of the Lord, not because calling on him saves us, but because Jesus is the one who saves us by his crucifixion and his resurrection.

If you weren't here, don't worry. I am going to build a little on what I said last week, but this is an expedition you can join at any time.

I hope to continue focusing on Lent, and continue to bring us face to face with our sin, because it is only by coming face to face with our sin that we will know what to repent of, and repentance is one of the things that the church asks us to do as we prepare for holy week. But let’s think of this as a kind of dangerous adventure, searching deep and dark caves: except that the cave is us, as persons, and as a people. Let’s do some spiritual spelunking.

***

Sin is real, right? We do the wrong thing. We know this. We don’t live into the wholeness that God desires for us. But my question for you all today, is whether we sin, but whether we should be afraid of sin.

***

I actually wish we talked about sin more. As a church we are beginning to talk about it less, to the point where some would take the confession right out of the regular Sunday service.

I'm willing to do that, by the way, but only on the condition that you all regularly line up outside my door for confession. Either that, or you could assure me that you all have spiritual friendships where your wrongdoings were all on the table on a regular basis. We need partners in this expedition below the earth, friends to rely on, someone to hold tight to the rope. Friends who can speak of God’s mercy directly into our particular sins.

Now I’m getting a little anxious, and I wonder if all this talk about sin is feeling somewhat oppressive. Yes? No?

I agree! Sin is fearsome and oppressive, yet at the same time nothing to be feared.

***

In 1519 Martin Luther was coming to terms with Paul's letter to the Romans, and he was struggling with what it meant to call God righteous. Luther had been taught that God's righteousness meant that God judges us harshly, because we are incorrigible sinners, and that God's justice demands satisfaction.

Luther's teachers were right, but only half right: yes, we are incorrigible sinners; and yes, God is just and righteous. As the monks of the desert said it, we are in captivity to our sin.

But Luther, reading Romans and badgering St. Paul, made a discovery that would shake all of Europe, and eventually change Christianity all over the world: Luther discovered that God's justice is about our condemnation. God’s righteousness is something that he gives to us through faith. God, instead of judging us as unrighteous because of our sin, clothes us with his righteousness, and saves us from our sin. Not though retributive justice, not through the justice that condemns, but by a merciful justice we receive as a gift through faith.

Luther, from his tower, throws down a rope; but this rope doesn’t lift us out of the earth. It allows us to go even deeper down into the cave.

This is tremendously important to remember in Lent. We can have a genuine sense of our sinfulness, we can easily answer the question, "The temptation that I give in to is . . . " We can do this while we celebrate the overwhelming joy through God's promise revealed to us in the crucifixion and the resurrection.

We can even be explorers, spiritual spelunkers, exploring deeply into our faults and sins, (as Christians exploring even more deeply than anyone else) because there is no risk in discovering what lies beneath. There is only more opportunity to discover just what God saves us from, because we can repent of it all, knowing that it is God's property always to have mercy.

Attach rope to your belts, and explore your caves; put the helmet on, pass the rope to your friend; embark on a discovery of the deep, dark, and unknown places of your heart, knowing and being sure of God's mercy and forgiveness, knowing that there is nothing you will discover that will not be covered by God’s mercy.

***

Luther wrote that this reading of Romans, helped him understand all of scripture anew. Luther saw salvation by grace through faith all over the New and Old Testament. And I've been thinking about our movie for this Thursday, "Luther," so I’ve got Luther on the brain. What do you think popped out at me when I read Genesis this week?

"And [Abraham] believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness."

God has made a terrific promise to Abraham, that he will have offspring, and that Abraham will have as many descendents as there are stars in the sky. A pretty awesome promise to make to an old man married to an old woman!

But nevertheless, "[Abraham] believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness."

Abraham was not reckoned as righteous for any other reason than that he believed God's promise.

But did this make Abraham's life of faith all sweet milk and honey?

The psalmist seems to be on some kind of spiritual high. He writes about not being afraid, about being confident in God, and about the goodness of God. Should Abraham feel this way?

Some people do have this response in faith. Some have the confidence to say that if God has made his promise to us, and I believe the promise, what is there to be afraid of? Nothing, right?

This confidence is something to be attentive to, because the Psalmist is right! God keeps his promise; Christ is resurrected; there is nothing to be afraid of, even if my mother and my father forsake me the Lord will take me up; God will protect me from all enemies, because God is good, because God is gracious.

We can hold this to be true, that God is good and will protect us from our enemies, we can, like Abraham, receive the gift of faith, and the LORD will reckon it to us as righteousness.

We can be spiritual spelunkers, trusting that there is nothing we will find in the darkest caves of our soul, nothing we will find out about ourselves that God cannot forgive, because this is God's promise: Abraham, and us as well, are good in the eyes of God by his overwhelming gift, though our faith.

But Genesis captures another part of the Christian life. All is not sweet milk and honey for Abraham, at least not yet. Just after Abraham is declared righteous by his belief, we read that "a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon [Abraham]."

"A deep and terrifying darkness descended upon [Abraham]."

The Psalmist writes: Don't be afraid. But for righteous Abraham, "a deep and terrifying darkness descends.”

When you get to discovering the depths of those caves, and you discover what sins lie deep beneath the surface of your life, I'm not going to promise that you won't be
downright stunned and blinded fight or flight afraid.

A deep and terrifying darkness descends.

Do you need to be afraid? NO! God is good.

Will you be afraid? Absolutely. Sin is terrifying.

Yet- the holy and living God invades this earth in bondage to sin and breaks us free. The good news is, despite what you find in the caves of your soul, the holy and living God invades this earth in bondage to sin and breaks us free, shining a light over all of this.

***

Jesus calls out to you: "How often have I desired to gather you together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings." Jesus, facing his fate in Jerusalem, (we’re gonna crucify him, right) in the abundance of his grace and mercy, nevertheless calls out to us, "how often have I desired to gather you together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings."

Find your rest, your shelter at the end of the day; God keeps his promise.

Repent; and you are forgiven! God is good. God sets free this earth in bondage to sin. Find your shelter, he is inviting you and I, find your shelter under the wings of the Holy One.