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Romans – The Puzzle of Freedom

Romans 7:12-25

July 3, 2005

 

1. We’re inching our way forward through Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. As much attention as he has given to the Law of Moses up to this point, it’s apparent the Law was a problem to the early Christians. This was the problem: Should new Gentile converts be expected to obey every point of the Law which the Jewish Christians tried to obey? Or should they only obey the Law of Love that Jesus gave: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind, and all your strength, love your neighbor, and love yourself. How would you answer that question? If you were a Jewish Christian, you’d probably say you had to obey all 613 of those Laws of Moses before you could be made right with God; but if you were a Gentile Christian, you’d probably object to all those laws, and say in Christ Jesus you were free. A puzzle it was during those early years. And a puzzle it remains even today. Should we obey every command in the Bible? Is that what saves us from our sin? We say we believe that God is eternal and unchanging. It logically flows, then, that we should live by all of God’s words recorded in the Bible. Which means we should obey all laws in the first five books of the Bible, because they would carry the same weight as the Law of Love that Jesus gave. Right? After all, they’re all in the Bible.

2. There is an Open Letter to Dr. Laura making its way across the world-wide web, and is a good example of the puzzle which the Law of Moses creates for everyone who chains themselves to it. The author asks Dr. Laura several puzzling questions. One of the questions: "When I burn a bull, sacrificing it on the altar, I know it creates a pleasing odor to the Lord. (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They complain that the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?" Good question! Here’s another one: " I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?" One more: "Leviticus 11:6-8 says touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean. May I still play football if I wear gloves?" It’s no wonder that Paul spent so much time addressing this issue!

3. What’s our answer? It’s a puzzle, that much is clear, so let’s treat it as a puzzle! You’ve all worked puzzles, haven’t you? You know the first thing you do when you have a puzzle is to turn all the pieces up. When some are up and some are down, the picture is pretty obscure. So one thing we can do is dis-obscure Paul’s words, clarify them, read the same verses in different words. Once again, Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase called The Message is a big help: "What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I cannot be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. But I need something more! For I know the Law but still cannot keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I cannot do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set thing right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different." That paraphrase helps me "turn the pieces right-side up"; I hope it helps you, too.

4. So now that we have all the pieces of our puzzle right side up, the next step in working a jigsaw puzzle is to ferret out all the edge pieces; those pieces that will form the frame. Which of the Laws of Moses should form the framework for our lives as Christians? Even though we say that God is eternal and unchanging, does that mean our frame has 613 pieces? I don’t think so. Remember God’s words through the prophet Isaiah (43:19): "Look! I am doing a new thing!" [That, by the way, is what is unchanging about God – God is always doing something new!] And, of course, we know that the most incredible New Thing God did came in human form and went by the name of Jesus. So, as Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, we have been freed from the Law of Moses. Jesus’ Law of Love should be the framework around the picture of our lives. Here it is: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. . . You shall love your neighbor . . . You shall love yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31) It’s not that the Law of Moses is bad, is sin, it’s that the Law of Moses cannot in and of itself save us from sin. So, if we’re freed from the Law of Moses, freed to live life loving God and neighbor and self, what do we do? How do we live?

5. Or, put another way, how do we fill in the middle of our puzzle? That is precisely the puzzle Paul faced. He had the edge pieces all in place, the frame around his life was in good shape. But for him it was like his puzzle box had pieces to several different puzzles, and the pieces that actually went inside his frame were not always the ones he put there. He gets so frustrated that he ends up crying, "Who will help me? Is there no one who can do anything for me?"And fortunately for US he answers his own question immediately – "Thank God, Jesus Christ can save us, and does save us."

6. That’s kinda like our lives, isn’t it? So many puzzles to solve. What are we to do? And how should we do it? And when should we do it, once we’ve figured out the what and the how? That’s our question, too, isn’t it? Who will help us? We obviously cannot save ourselves. Just as Paul’s question is our question, so Paul’s answer is our answer. We fall back on Jesus. Remember the six keys to being an effective disciple? Heart for Jesus alone, a mind transformed by God’s word, arms for love, knees for prayer, a voice for speaking the Good News, and a spirit of a servant and a steward. Sure, we’re going to make mistakes, do things completely wrong, but on this weekend when we remember the freedom we know as Americans, we must also remember, and give thanks to God, for the freedom we know in Christ Jesus. As we gather around this Table, let us give thanks that we don’t have to try to obey 613 laws in order to be saved from our sin! Christ Jesus is our freedom!

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