February 17, Second Sunday in Lent, Brotherhood/Sisterhood Week

Lesson: Genesis 12.1-4a; Romans 4.1-5, 13-17

Sermon Title: Faith and Works

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. All of human life is shaped by some story.

    1. Alasdair McIntyre offers an amusing story to show how particular events receive their meaning in the context of a story. (1)

    2. He imagines himself at a bus stop when a young man standing next to him says, "The Latin name of the common wild duck is histrionicus, histrionicus, histrionicus."

      1. One can understand the meaning of the sentence, but what on earth is the young man doing in uttering it in the first place?

      2. This particular action can be understood only if it is placed in a broader framework of meaning, a story that renders the saying comprehensible.

      3. Three stories could make this particular incident meaningful.

        1. First, the young man has mistaken the man standing next to him for another person he saw yesterday in the library who asked, "Do you by any chance know the Latin name of the common duck?"

        2. Or he has just come from a session with his psychotherapist who is helping him deal with his painful shyness. The psychotherapist urges him to talk to strangers. The young man asks, "What shall I say?" The psychotherapist says, "Oh, anything at all."

        3. Or he is a Soviet spy who has arranged to meet his contact at this bus stop. The code that will reveal his identity is the statement about the Latin name of the duck.

      4. The meaning of the encounter at the bus stop depends on which story shapes it.

      5. In fact, each story will give the event a different meaning.

    3. It is like that with our lives:

      1. Lesslie Newbigin in The Gospel in a Pluralist Society observes:

"The way we understand human life depends on what conception we have of the human story.

      1. "What is the real story of which my life story is a part?" (2)

  1. The true family name for the common wild duck is Anseriformes.

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MAIN BODY

  1. Where do you and I find ourselves in the story of Abraham?

    1. The Christian is the descendent of Abraham.

    2. Like all families there are

      1. Part of the family is dependent on name recognition and accomplishments.

      2. The other part of the family is dependent on the faith of the founder.

  2. Jesus spoke about those who believed him and those who believed in him.

    1. Jesus spoke to those who believed him:

      1. 31Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 33They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?" (John 8:31-33, NRSVA).

      2. They claimed to be the descendants of Abraham.

      3. Jesus response to their claim is telling.

34Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. 38I declare what I have seen in the Father's presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father." 39They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did, 40but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did, (John 8:34-40, NRSVA).

      1. These are those who sought to gain standing with God through what they were doing.

        1. A recent Marine Corps advertisement features a sword underneath the words,

          1. "Earned. Never Given."

          2. You can earn a sword.

        2. You can earn:

          1. A-Go-To-Church diploma and a Perfect attendance degree;

          2. A-Go-To-Church major with a minor in Giving and Tithing;

          3. A-Go-To-Church-and-Take-Sermon-Notes diploma;

          4. A Sunday School Teacher diploma;

          5. A Volunteer diploma;

          6. A Don't-Hurt-Nobody diploma;

          7. A Try-To-Be-Kind-To-Everyone diploma;

          8. A Good Husband/Good Wife diploma;

          9. An All-Around-Good-Person diploma.

        3. This may well serve the power and wisdom of earthly purposes.

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    1. There is a different word for those who believe in Jesus Christ.

27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise, (Galatians 3:27-29, NRSVA).

      1. It wasn't his admirable accomplishments that made Abraham a prime candidate for the job of Patriarch of the faith.

      2. "If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about -- but not before God," says Paul in verse 2.

      3. In other words, even Abraham's best work couldn't match the quality standard of holiness set by God.

      4. No human's accomplishments are impressive enough.

        1. Earlier in Romans, Paul puts it more clearly: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (3:23).

      5. Instead, it was faith itself that was Abraham's one and only true character builder.

      6. "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness" (4:3).

      7. It's belief in God's ability to save us because of love, rather than belief in our own ability to measure up, that makes us "righteous" before God.

      8. To put it in human resource terms, in God's world it's who you know (Jesus Christ) not what you do that counts toward eternal employment as a citizen of the kingdom.

      9. Truth is, we've got nothing to boast about except the fact that God cared enough about us to forgive us and provide salvation through Jesus Christ.

    1. In Romans 4:1-5, 13-17, Paul challenges us to come to terms with and humbly receive the power and wisdom that by God's own choosing, grace is always given.

      1. Never earned.

      2. A recent Marine Corps advertisement features a sword underneath the words,

          1. "Earned. Never Given."

          2. You can earn a sword.

        1. You can earn:

          1. A-Go-To-Church diploma and a Perfect attendance degree;

          2. A-Go-To-Church major with a minor in Giving and Tithing;

          3. A-Go-To-Church-and-Take-Sermon-Notes diploma;

          4. A Sunday School Teacher diploma;

          5. A Volunteer diploma;

          6. A Don't-Hurt-Nobody diploma;

          7. A Try-To-Be-Kind-To-Everyone diploma;

          8. A Good Husband/Good Wife diploma;

          9. An All-Around-Good-Person diploma.

      3. Your accomplishments may be good evidence that you're walking with God. If there were contrary evidence, you'd begin to wonder.

      4. But remember that none of this stuff has anything to do with why God calls us children of God.

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CONCLUSION:

  1. If we're truly being made righteous by faith, then our records should speak for themselves or, better, for Christ himself.

    1. What we believe, deep down, about ourselves and about God will determine our course of action and how we'll spend our time, our resources, our lives in relationship to the world around us.

    2. Eventually, our lives will be vindicated or vilified depending on what we believe and whether we live out that belief.

  2. Every student knows that you have to earn the grade that goes on your report card.

    1. The good news for us is that, through Christ, God credits us with righteousness even if we can't earn it.

    2. Faith, belief in God's love for us and confidence in God's saving grace, is the only qualification needed.

  3. All of human life is shaped by some story.

    1. Ours is the story of Abraham.

    2. How are we measuring up?

Amen

1. Alasdair McIntyre, After Virtue (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984),210.

2. Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 15.

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