JUSTIFIED BY FAITH MEANS WHAT?

Galatians 2: 15-21

When I was a child, my father sat me down along withmy sister and told us he thought it was time that we started getting anallowance. I think our hearts leapt for joy! We had heard about other kidsgetting an allowance, many for doing nothing! Some got many dollars from thehand of their fathers. So we waited for the rest of the story: dad produced asingle-spaced type written page; it was typed on his manual typewriter. On thepaper were our daily jobs,  everyday we had to make our bed and make our rooms “ship shape” (Dad’s Navyterminology) We then had to take turns walking the dog, feeding the dog,setting the table, clearing the table, taking out the trash, and a variety ofother chores. Our happy idea of an allowance was shrinking! Then he produced acarbon copy of the type written page for each of us and we saw the bottom line:for all the chores done correctly and without complaining, we got the amount of45 cents a week! But, in addition to that, if he ever asked me to produce ahandkerchief from my pocket and I couldn’t, a nickel came out of that week’sallowance! (I guess I was wiping my nose on my sleeve too much!)  The debate that parents have eventoday, is whether children should be given money just so they’ll have it, orwhether it should be given because they have earned it, or whether money shouldbe given at all. Most parents chose to make a child earn money, since when theygo into the world, few will get to live off of someone else.  It is good to teach children that moneydoes not grow on trees; it is good to teach them that they will have to earnwhat they have, in spite of the game shows, contestant shows, and lotteriesthat hold up the enticing idea that you can plan to win money instead ofearning it. With parents over the years in America and other countriesinstilling the value of hard work, it is understandable why some people don’taccept gifts easily. Yet a gift is at the heart of Christian salvation.

Hard-working Christians have trouble wrapping theirmind around sentences in our Bibles like this: “By grace you have been savedthrough your faith, as a gift, and not by your works, that any one of youshould boast.” Hear those words again: by grace (the unearned gift of God) youhave been saved (delivered from sin and eternal death) through your faith(belief that Christ paid the high cost for us on the cross); it’s a gift,not a bill; so we cannot be proud that we paid for it; we can only be humblethat it is offered to us, and if we accept it, it can change our lives. Thosewho do that can spend their lives saying “Thank you Jesus!”  Thepassage I just read has been addressed in countless books about the faith, intracts that are handed out to seekers and unbelievers, and in our Book ofConfessions. In that book the idea of salvation as gift appears in almost everydocument, particularly the Westminster Confession of Faith, the LargerCatechism (for preachers), the Shorter Catechism (for new members), and TheSecond Helvetic Confession (a product of Swiss and German Protestantism). Itappears in all those documents because most of us grew up having to earn ourallowance, earn our pay check, and earn our accolades. Few of us get ready todepart from a delicious meal in a restaurant, ready to pay the bill, and findout that another diner not at your table has already paid your waiter in full.  Most of us go through life believingthat there is “No free lunch.” Who hasn’t seen ads for free theme park ticketsor airline tickets or vacation trips, only to read the small print and find itsays you must sit through a four hour sales presentation in return?  So as we hear the Apostle Paul’s words,read from Romans and Galatians and elsewhere, we rub our eyes with disbelief;we look for footnotes that say we will pay in the end. But instead … we findthat through amazing grace and steadfast love, God pays the price. God, the onewho did not let the world get totally annihilated at the flood, but offered it asecond chance, has picked up the tab. We get a Savior who sweats blood in thegarden, asking for his planned demise to change if possible; yet he stillfollows his Father’s will, with all of the pain and brutality of that path. Wefind that God in Christ and God in Heaven absorb our pain, take the nails, andpay the price not so that we arespoiled, but so that we might be thankful.  Yes the world has usearn money, earn pins, and earn awards; God says: “I want a relationship withyou; and I want your devotion.”Jesus went about teaching us this different way of thinking and got introuble when he taught it. His parables made poor business sense but greatheaven sense. In one, a manager pays a worker the same amount for one hour ashe pays others for eight; in another a shepherd leaves 99 sheep unguarded whilehe goes out and spends his time looking for one that’s lost; and in another aman had a vineyard, leased it out to tenants who beat up two servants who weresent to collect the rent. Instead of calling a collection agency, the owner ofthe vineyard (who the readers finally figure out is God) sends his only son to collect the payment, and the son get murdered inthe process. What kind of God does that? The answer is the one who pursues ustirelessly, loves us completely and forgives us graciously.  God saves us because, unlike thepurchase of items which enough money will buy, there isn’t enough money in theworld that will buy our salvation. It is too precious for one, and it is notfor sale for another. We are incapable of saving ourselves. God and only Godhas paid for and provided the way to salvation. And who needs salvation today?The persons stepping forward to profess their faith today do; the older manfacing his own mortality because of chest pains does; so does the woman who isoverwhelmed with personal issues; and so do the youth and college aged studentswho struggle with the peer pressures of  making grades, finding work, and avoiding temptations.  How about the long time member who hasgiven thousands of dollars to church because she loves the Lord? Yes, even sheneeds it, because salvation cannot be bought by us or others. The church mayclose without people tithing, but salvation is unchanged: you can’t pay for agift.

Today we are justified (presented before God just asif we had not sinned) by faith (which means we believe that the cross of Christis the one and only payment that is enough to bridge the gap between sinfulnessand forgiveness, between earth and heaven, and between God and us. Your salvationhas no small print; but it doeshave a God who desperately loves you, and a Lord who wants to be given controlof your life.  If God is yourco-pilot today, (as some bumper stickers suggest) then it is time to changeseats! Let the giver of the giftreceive your gratitude and your trust, because it is God’s amazing grace thatsaves you and saves me.

LET US PRAY: Dear Holy One: our world operates in sucha “pay as you go” and “earn what you have” way that we may have troubleaccepting the keys to a new vehicle called salvation. Reassure us that it isours not with fine print, but with love. We will give our tithes and offeringsnot to pay for our salvation, butto thank and honor you for it.  Inthe name of Jesus who hung on Calvary’s cross out of great love for the world,and out of great devotion to his Father. Amen.

Jeffrey A. SumnerJune 13, 2010