History Is Happening Right Before Our Eyes

by Pastor Ed Evans

With all we see going on in America today, those of my generation decry the college crowd with buttercup brains and butterfly hearts, and wonder about the future of America as they come of age. 

I submit we are watching, in our own time, the disintegration akin to that of the Roman Empire. Same criminal graft, same selfish guilt, same meltdown of male and female roles, same paucity of discipline in the military armed forces. Our enemies simply bide their time. If you read Revelations in your Bible, you will see that America is not there when Christ returns. We are watching the reason.

Of course, for those who already have a relationship with Jesus Christ, this is all the more reason to constantly share the Good News of Jesus Christ at every opportunity, For 2nd Timothy 4:3 tells us, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions..." Oh wait, it's here and once again we see it happening right now, don't we. History continues to ramble on right before our eyes. Ethical and moral walls fall, "understood" rules of behavior crumble before social depravity and ravenous hungers of strange types.

Everything of which the prophets of old warned us is coming into being as mankind reveres and fawns before the fleshly creation, rather than the Creator. Right before our eyes. With all the modern advances and such industrial wisdom and intelligence being displayed for the betterment of mankind, who would have thought the moral and ethical ground upon which society stands would begin to disintegrate so easily, and so soon. Who would have thought it. God did. And He told us so.

There is a remedy, an answer, and we've known it all along. But then, the truth of 2nd Tiothy 4:3 is in motion, and the axe is falling.

The Peaceful Kingdom

by Pastor Ed Evans

TEXT: Isaiah 11:1-9

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;

and a little child shall lead them.

7 The cow and the bear shall graze;

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,

and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD

as the waters cover the sea.

This text from the book of Isaiah is so amazing, maybe we should get to know the Prophet Isaiah better – that is, all three of him. Bible scholars tell us there were three Isaiahs.

The book of Isaiah is named for Isaiah ben Amoz, who prophesied in the middle of the eighth century, B.C., about the time of the Assyrian invasion of Israel and Judah. Scholars tell us that Isaiah ben Amoz wrote Chapters 1 – 39, but the book of Isaiah contains two more collections of prophecy after his death.

The anonymous author of Chapters 40-55 lived nearly 200 years later, during the Babylonian Exile. He was prophesying an end to the Exile, and a marvelous homecoming of the exiles to Jerusalem. This author is called “Second Isaiah”.

Chapters 55-66 are attributed to another source, known as “Third Isaiah”. This author wrote about the end of the Exile and looked forward to the restoration of Jerusalem.

You will note that the title of our Study Book is “The Sovereignty of God”. When you hear the word “sovereignty”, what images come to mind? Maybe a ruling authority figure, like a president or prime minister? A monarch or a dictator?

The word “sovereignty” implies power. Someone who is sovereign over us has the authority and power to rule over us. If you go looking for synonyms in your Thesaurus, you’ll find supreme, dominant, absolute, superior. These all indicate that a sovereign has great power to demand compliance if not obedience to his or her will. Now, we know that earthly sovereigns vary a great deal in how they exercise their power. Some are dictatorial and demand absolute obedience from those they rule. Others, like an elected president or a prime minister, have checks and balances on their power.

So if we are going to talk about God’s sovereignty, a related question is what kind of subjects are we called to be? In today’s text, we see a hoped-for sovereign who will usher in a peaceful kingdom in which harmony and security reign. Traditional enemies in the animal kingdom will coexist in peace according to this vision. Even the most vulnerable of human beings – babies and toddlers – will not need to fear danger in this kingdom. Our challenge will be – how do we live into this vision?

So let’s start at the first verse of Chapter 11 and see what we can learn.

You see the start of those first verses are very different from most of what you will find in Isaiah. While most of the prophetic writings of Isaiah ben Amoz concern God’s judgment on Israel and other nations, these first passages are one of hope for the future.

The image here is of a tree stump, likely connected to the previous verses in Chapter 10 that describe God’s judgment against Assyria, where the Assyrians are about to be “cut down and laid low.” Out of the stump of Jessie will come a “shoot,” a future ruler who will restore Israel’s fortunes and establish God’s reign.

Any gardeners here? If so, you know that if you cut down a tree or a large bush, after some time you get a “green shoot”. The roots are still alive and growing.

In this case the Jessie that is the stump was King David’s father, and the “shoot” would be a Davidic monarchy.

In verse 2 we find out that the hoped-for monarch is described as endowed with the Lord’s Spirit. The characteristics of this ruler are listed as: wisdom, understanding, planning or counsel, strength or might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.

As a young Christian it used to bother me when I read about “fear of the Lord.” How did God’s love for me fit with me being afraid of Him. But the “fear of the Lord” as used here does not mean to be afraid of God, but rather to live with a deep and profound respect toward God. The words “reverence” and “awe” are good synonyms for “fear of the Lord.”

The “fear of the Lord” theme continues into the third verse and expands upon it. This coming ruler’s fear of the Lord will not be mere duty but will be his “delight.” The word “delight” as used here can be translated “to take pleasure in.” The fear of the Lord will be at the heart of this ruler’s relationship with God and will be a joy rather than a burden. This ruler will not judge by superficial appearances or by words alone.

As a matter of fact, this ruler will issue judgments based on righteousness and equity. The poor and the meek will receive justice based not on their status or their bank account but on their relationship with God. Wouldn’t that be a different type of legal system?

As we read on, graphic verses of prophesy, metaphors and poetry describe the differences in justice, contrasting the treatment of the poor and meek with that of the wicked.

By verse 6 through verse 8, Isaiah begins describing the “peaceful kingdom”, where traditional enemies actually dwell in harmony. These verses read like the restoration of God’s divine purpose for creation; the Garden of Eden.

You remember the Garden of Eden, that’s where God introduced Adam to Eve. And after Adam and Eve had talked, Adam was almost overcome. He said, “God, she’s beautiful! Why did you make her so beautiful?” God said, “So you would like her, Adam.” And Adam said, “Yeah, but she ain’t exactly a genius, God.” And God said, “That’s so she would like you, Adam.”

One more Garden of Eden story ….. It seems Eve and their first son were standing outside the Garden one day. The little boy was looking at the gate across the Garden entrance, and the angels guarding it. And he asked his mother, Eve, “What is that, Mommy?” Eve replied that they used to live there. “Why don’t we live there now, Mommy, it looks beautiful.” Eve said, “Oh, it is beautiful, my son, but your Father ate us out of house and home.” (But you won't find either of those two stories in the Bible.)

Okay now, two words that highlight this narrative of the kingdom of peace are “harmony” and “security. We’ve all seen images on TV of the cheetah or the lion chasing down an antelope or a gazelle. Natural enemies. If it’s an antelope at the watering hole when the big cat appears, you’ll see that antelope break and run for all its worth.

After I retired from the Marine Corps and joined the Woodmen of the World life insurance sales team in Indiana, they used to tell a story about lions and gazelles. The story was that somewhere on the Serengeti Plain a lion woke up each morning knowing that if it was going to eat that day, it had to be faster than the fastest gazelle out there. And somewhere on that Plain a gazelle awoke knowing that if it was going to stay alive that day it had to be faster than the fastest lion out there. But the moral of that story was that whether you were a lion or a gazelle, you better wake up running. No pressure, right?

We do live in a violent society. Each evening the TV newscast right here in Nashville is evidence of that. But by verse 9, the peaceable kingdom our lesson talks about has begun to take hold. No harm or destruction will exist in the reign of this new monarch. The “holy mountain” is not a specific mountain such as Mount Sinai, but it is a metaphorical mountain where God is fully present, such as the Jewish Temple.

Isaiah 2:2 mentions this “holy mountain,” where it is called “the mountain of the Lord’s house.” Isaiah uses the image of the Lord’s mountain throughout his prophecies to refer to the Temple in Jerusalem where God’s people believed God’s presence dwelt.

Now, this transformed kingdom of peace can occur because everyone will have “full knowledge of the Lord.” This knowledge is not simply knowing the laws of the Mosaic covenant but it’s more along the lines of Jeremiah 31:33, which described God’s law, or “Instructions,” being written “within” humans and engraved “on their hearts.” What we are referring to as “knowledge of the Lord” is a relationship of knowing and being known by God.

As I mentioned at the beginning, when we focus on the question of what kind of sovereignty does God exercise, related to that question is what kind of subjects are we called to be?

Because you see, we are not on the outside looking in – as if we were watching some TV program, or like the ancient Romans sitting safely outside the arena watching the combatants, down in the arena. We ARE the combatants in the arena, you and I. We ARE participants in the divine life of the Holy Trinity. Life is going on all around us, and we are God’s part of it. But what part do we play in God’s peaceful kingdom?

Well, let us lay the groundwork for that answer by considering the qualities WE would look for in an ideal ruler. What traits would you want to see? We have an election coming up, so without naming names, what traits are important in a candidate for President? (Honesty, responsibility, intelligence, compassion, skill, and knowledge?) In today’s scripture, verses 2 – 5, we find the prophet Isaiah has listed the qualities of the hoped-for ruler: wisdom, understanding, planning, strength, knowledge, fear of the Lord, true discernment, righteousness and equity.

It’s no wonder the writers of the New Testament Gospels saw this description of the ideal ruler fulfilled in Jesus Christ; seeing Isaiah 11:2-9 as a messianic prophesy describing the coming Messiah and the kingdom He would usher in.

As we’ve noted before, the human propensity for violence is well-documented. Our human history is filled with wars, conflicts, and disputes of all kinds. Job, chapter 5, verse 7 tells us that “…man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” However, since no one person can control history, we need to focus on our daily lives and ask, “How can I live less violently?” What if we were to teach students in school about the merits of ethics and morals, about the sources of violence, such as fear, anger, power, and stereotyping, and how to respond positively with communication, understanding, affirmation, and forgiveness, putting emphasis on creative conflict transformation.

You see, violence is not always physical conflict. Myself and others met with Congressman Jim Cooper last week about other issues, and he shared his own concerns. He talked about conflict at the Federal, State and local level in politics; said he had never seen such polarization.

Many people today still believe that our nation was founded upon the principle of separation of church and state, even though there is nothing in either the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights about it. But they give the church little credit for problem solving. But in fact the Church, Christianity is an “alternatives to violence program” in its own way. It holds up this vision of Isaiah 11:1-9 as how the world should and could be with God’s presence. This is a vision toward which we are called to live. But how do we translate this ideal vision of a peaceful kingdom into everyday life?

Well, I have three suggestions for you to consider.

First, we can become aware of how we overtly and indirectly use or encourage violence in our own lives. Self-awareness is always the first step to change. We should look carefully at ourselves and ask, “When am I tempted to use violent actions or words to resolve a conflict?” Think about it.

Second, we can become aware of the feelings that might lead to aggressive words or action. Feelings such as “fear of the other”, anger, inadequacy, powerlessness, or jealousy can lead to violence. But they don’t have to. We don’t have to act on our feelings. Someone has pointed out that we don’t have to attend every fight to which we’re invited. If we can’t control our feelings, we can release our anger on an inanimate object such as a pillow or a mattress rather than on another person.

And third, we can overcome our tendency to violence with forgiveness and love. As 1st John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.” Since fear is at the heart of many violent urges, love can show us a different way to deal with conflict. The way of love leads to a desire for peace, harmony and security.

Here in Nashville, Tennessee, Dodson Chapel United Methodist Church has had on their sign for the past month the message: “Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can drive out hate.”

When guided by the love we see revealed in Jesus Christ, we no longer need to use violent means to achieve who we want to be, where we want to be, and what we want to be.

Singer Todd Rundgren released a song in 1997 titled “Love is the Answer,” and part of the lyrics cried out: “Light of the world, shine on me. Love is the answer. Shine on us all, set us free. Love is the answer.”

I submit that people like you and I know that love is the answer, and someone needs to tell the rest of the world, so we can live into that peaceful kingdom. Tell the world. Love is the answer. Amen?

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“Holy God, You have drawn us into the divine family through Your Son. May Your peaceful kingdom be expressed in our lives, made eloquent by the love of Christ; in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen."

Born in a Barn? Close the Door to Evil!

By Pastor Ed Evans

As America draws closer to the November 8^th Presidential election, many forces for and against the two leading candidates are becoming more active, more accusatory, more divisive.

Among the voting population there are those who say they will vote for Hillary Clinton, those who say they will vote for Donald Trump, and those who say they cannot vote for either so they will vote for one of the several lesser known candidates.

You, as an American voter, have every right to vote for whom you wish. I and many others have and most probably would again, fight to guarantee you that right. In the same spirit that it has been said that the U.S. Constitution is fit only for governing a God-fearing people -- yes, I am aware not all Americans are going to be God-fearing people – the action of performing as a responsible voter rests only with those concerned, as I am at this critical juncture in our nation's history, with the future of our nation.

Any due diligence applied, any critical thinking, will reveal that only Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump have a reasonable chance at becoming President. I am not nearly as concerned about what Trump says as I am about what Clinton has not only done, but promises to do once imbued with the power of the Oval Office. There can be no compromise, there is no alternative choice. The nation-saving choice rests in keeping evil out of the Oval Office, away from the power of the Presidency, completely away from the nuclear football, or codes. Evil must also not be allowed to pack the Supreme Court over the next eight years; must be kept from continuing to strip the U.S. military of not only new weaponry but also necessary maintenance programs (F-18s are "falling out of the air" due to lack of required maintenance); cease coming up with more PC social experiments in our military that merely degrade the most effective military in the world; stop teaching the next generation that how to make more money is better than learning productive ethics and morals.

As with the rest of life that I have lived and observed in my 75 years on this earth, I have no doubt about the sovereignty of Almighty God; God will do what God intends to do. And while His Son's Sermon on the Mount provides excellent guidance for how we should live into His vision, at no time does God instruct us to open the doors for evil. But as with most everything else, opening those doors or closing them is an individual choice. Choose well. The future of your children and my grandchildren depend upon keeping evil out.  I urge you not to allow them to be caught on the wrong side of evil.

Strangeness in a Strange World

Seems to be a strange wave of anti-voting going on. I keep running into posts by people who claim they are not voting for Hillary, and by not voting at all, they claim that will be a vote for Trump. It's nonsense, of course. Doesn't work that way. But that is their story and they are sticking to it, along with the claims Hillary will never be convicted of anything. Like they thought she was royalty.
I have to believe this is all coming from the Democrat's traditional bag of dirty tricks. Otherwise, why the sudden surge of "not voting is a vote for Trump"?
One poster brushed aside all logical arguments ending with a graphic which declared: "The only people I owe my loyalty to are those who never made me question their's." This was my response:
"...owe loyalty...? That would include all those wonderful young men who paid with their lives and futures for your freedom and mine. I know many of their names firsthand, some who died on the four battlefields on which I served, while I survived. And I owe them and their surviving families a better America, which is why I will not roll over and go along to get along. Trump has been helping and assisting military veterans long before he began running for President. Hillary has consistently disrespected and demeaned military members, not to mention the now available email evidence of her deadly involvement in the death of the Benghazi four. If you are free, if you are in this nation speaking English, having access to all the hopes and dreams of any other American, then you owe posterity the same diligence of purpose in protecting freedom that those who came before you sacrificed to provide to you and your family. "Opting out", like the bended knee before royalty, is not the American way.

Life is a Contest

By Pastor Ed Evans

               Life is a contest; sink or swim, succeed or fail, be rewarded or lose out.

               If you are not aborted, you have a chance.  If you are born in America, you have a chance.  If you are born to loving, supportive parents, you have a chance.  Not everyone is.

               At least in our day and age we no longer have to be on the lookout for saber-toothed tigers, deadly raptors and other dinosaurs.   Today most of our dangers come instead from mankind and its machinations.  So yes, sometimes staying alive is a contest that requires focus and concentration.

               The world has been watching the 31^st Olympics this past week, and rarely has focus and concentration been more on display.  31-year-old Michael Phelps winning 22 Olympic medals; Simone Manuel celebrated as the first black person to win an Olympic swimming gold medal, followed by a host of exciting stories of Olympic medal wins.

Unlike the other competition that has dominated the world-wide news media this past year – no, not the American political campaigns – the war against terrorism, we have witnessed many poignant moments where battling teams switched in an instant from intense competitors to hugging, hand-shaking congratulatory fans of the winners.

               Maybe it’s just the sports environment that encourages such clean, healthy competition without the base, go-for-the-jugular attacks.  No revenge, no vengeance.  As veteran volleyball champ Kerry Walsh Jennings and her partner battled the Italians for the gold medal, the TV cameras zoomed in on Walsh Jennings left hand, where she had written the word “JOY” to remind her why she played so hard to win.  Competition, yes, but not for blood.  And winners were congratulated and celebrated, not plotted against sniped at.

               Sports does seem to bring out the best in human beings.

               A Little League baseball game comes to mind, where the boys from Warner Robbins, Ga., defeated a team of young boys from Japan.  Even as the winners jumped about with back-slapping congratulations, they noticed that the Japanese boys had broken down in tears.  Without a word the victory celebration stopped and the winning team moved to console the losers.

               Said pitcher Kendall Scott, “I just hated to see them cry, and I just wanted to let them know that I care.  Youthful sportsmanship at its best.

               Some may remember a similar moment that was caught on video at a Special Olympics race a few years ago.  As the mentally and physically challenged children raced down their lanes, one boy stumbled and went down.  One girl stopped, turned around and went back to help him.  The others, as they approached the finish line, stopped, turned and went back to boy being helped to his feet.  All together, they crossed the finished line, winners all.

               Heartwarming moments all, but pointing out that sports – even at its best – is an imperfect metaphor for Christianity.  For in sports, someone always loses.  But when someone is won to Christ, the only loser is Satan.

               The difference is that for Christians, true teamwork is not about defeating someone, it’s about making them part of the team, God’s own team.

Hope Is A Thing With Feathers -- That Keeps Us Afloat

Pastor Ed Evans

Romans 5:1-11
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Emily Dickinson’s collection of poems includes one titled “Hope is the Thing With Feathers”:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest sea -
Yet - never - in extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

If you read that alongside Paul’s words in Romans 5:1-8 – where he mentions “hope” three times – You might be struck by the irony.
On the one hand the image of the unwavering resilience and startling strength of a fragile, feathery creature, and on the other hand, we might see ourselves, so easily undermined and weakened by the realities of suffering and sin.
With your experience in life, you might have noticed that remarkably, humankind, for all its outward show of self-assurance, strength, and superiority, is a terribly fragile thing, prone to shatter under the weight of even the slightest burden – much more like that we might expect of a tiny bird.
However, the poet’s bird – hope – is nothing like it looks. Though it appears to the observer but a “thing with feathers,” hope, says Emily Dickinson, is never thwarted and requires not even a “crumb” to endure. It is strong and self-assured. It never stops singing, no matter what.

Does anyone still watch the news, anymore? I almost hate to watch the local and network news. When I was a boy the news media was the watchdog of government; now they are the lapdog. When I was a boy the news media gave you news, not gossip; gave you news of how people were building up their communities, taking care one another; not statistics and lurid videos of murder, rape and robbery. Watching the news, you would think that is all that goes on.
And if it isn’t happening here, they’ll find a ghastly murder or rape in Bombay or Timbuktu, and share that. If it bleeds it leads, that seems to be their motto.
When someone calls them on this practice, they answer in defense that people today are scared, they are concerned, and they need to know what is going on.
Well, it is true, sin abounds. But does it abound more than in Noah’s time, or Jeremiah’s time? Is sin and evil and Satan’s activity any worse than it ever was?
You see, I contend that the abundance of sin, of evil and of Satan in the world isn’t the problem. They have always been here. I believe the real problem isn’t that we are in the midst of this storm of evil, the problem is we have forgotten whose we are.
Let me share with you three verses from the back end of Romans, Chapter 5. The scripture for today is at the front end of Romans, and doesn’t get into how Christ’s sacrificial love overcomes the reign of sin and death, how yes there is universal condemnation, but it is overcome by universal grace.
Romans 5:19-21 reads: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Let me tell you a story from my childhood right here. If I’ve told it before, I apologize, but it fits so well here. I grew up with my grandparents in a little town in California called Mariposa. It’s right at the mouth of Yosemite National Park. Mariposa was an old gold-mining town full of played-out placer miners and old cowboys. My grandfather worked for the U.S. Forestry Service and my idea of fun at age five was going to forest fires, feeding the chickens, collecting the eggs, and throwing the ball back and forth with Wally, the teen-age son of my grandfather’s boss.
Now in Mariposa, they had a brand new high school built right next to the elementary school where I was in the first grade. And one day they announced that a magician was going to put on a show at the high school’s new auditorium. We had to bring to school a quarter, 25 cents, to attend that show.
When you’re in first grade in those days you’re sort of floating through life, so I’m not sure if we couldn’t afford that 25 cents, which was very likely, or I just forgot to ask for it. But came the show day, everybody else in class marched to the auditorium and I was told I had to go home. Home was a five mile hike out of town.
Well, I was heart-broken at this rejection. And as I walked past the high school toward the forestry camp, tears streamed down my little face. And who should see me but Wally. He ran over and asked me what was wrong. Between sobs I told him. Wally took me by the arm, walked me down to the auditorium and paid my 25 cents to his buddy who was taking money at the door. Can you even imagine how happy and redeemed I felt?!
And every time I read about the sacrificial love of Christ, about the grace of God that saves me, I feel just as full of joy as I felt that day when Wally paid my way. I just want to jump up and click my heels and shout “HALLELUJAH!”
In our text, verse 10 says, “If we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son while we were still enemies, now that we have been reconciled, how much more certain is it that we will be saved by His life?”
Friends, He loved us before we even knew Him.
As I mentioned before, our real problem is often that we forget to whom we belong. As children of the King, we often have unopened gifts – gifts of peace, grace and hope. We stand about and wring our hands, we worry when instead we should be praying, and the gifts that will be the answer to our difficulties – peace, grace, and hope – are waiting right there for us.
Ever watch one of those scary movies where the hero is about to go go down into the basement, or open that garage door, and in your heart you are saying “Don’t go in the basement! Don’t open that door!”
In my imagination, I can see us moping about in anger and frustration over issues we are not equipped to solve, and off-stage the angels are watching us saying, “Open the gifts! Open the gifts! Open the gifts!” – because peace, grace, and hope are waiting for you there.
So let’s talk about peace, grace, and hope for a minute.
Swiss theologian Karl Barth wrote, “Peace with God is … effected by a God-given transformation … through which the proper relation between the Creator and the creature is re-established, and by means of which also the only true and proper love towards God is brought into being … Peace is declared when imprisoned truth is set at liberty and when the righteousness of God is made manifest.”
Augustine is credited with saying, “The truth is like a lion. You don't have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself.”
But too often, we whom God has blessed with liberty and freedom don’t turn truth loose, and we invite the wrath of God when we do that. In Paul’s first chapter to the Romans, verse 1:18, we read “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” Instead of setting the truth of God free, we hold it in unrighteousness. That means we know the truth, but we don’t care. We know what goes on in Las Vegas, but we don’t care and they brag that the city’s nickname is “Sin City.”
People know that alcohol degrades our driving ability with the first drink, but we don’t care. We drink it, we drive, and so far this year Tennessee has 542 dead people from highway accidents; 61 more than this time last year; 151 of those killed, torn from their families, were alcohol-related.
We know what sin is, but too many of us don’t care. We hold the truth in unrighteousness.
God is a just God. We are without excuse. We hold the truth in unrighteousness and invite the wrath of God.
But this lesson is about hope, isn’t it; about peace, grace, and hope. In a word the peace Paul is talking about is reconciliation. Not just the reconciling of the individual to God, but the complete and permanent reconciliation of the whole world to its sovereign Lord.
Where Paul speaks of grace, imagine a great hall, into which we have all been invited and made welcome. It is as we stand together in this great hall that Jesus grants us unrestricted access to the presence of Almighty God. We have not earned or deserved this special privilege, but we receive it, nonetheless. Just as Wally bought my way in, Jesus has bought our way in with his sacrificial love.
What Paul seems to have in mind here is a relocation of humanity’s relationship to God. This relocation happens here and now, making whatever human experience is in the present (even if it is suffering) capable of standing firm.
As regards hope, a good way to understand the content of the hope Paul i8s talking about here is to recall descriptions of God’s glory in the Hebrew scriptures. For example, in Exodus 40, verse 35, it reads, “Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”
When Isaiah describes his great vision in Isaiah 6, verse 3, and sees the Lord on His throne, he hears the two winged creatures shouting to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; / the whole earth is full of His glory.”
And then the prophet Ezekiel, in one of his visions, saw “the Lord’s glory” as it “rose from above the winged creatures and moved toward the temple’s threshold. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory.” (Ezekiel 10:4)
With these in mind, then, we are now able to hope in the all-encompassing, fully indwelling presence of Almighty God, the kind that left Moses with a glow on his face. That is the hope that is ours, made possible by Jesus, Moreover, we should be so confident in that hope, so overwhelmed with joy that we actually want to boast about it. The boasting Paul refers to here is more akin to what the prophet Jeremiah said in his ninth chapter, verses 23-24: “Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know Me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.”
I might note that the NIV uses the word “rejoice” instead of “boast”, perhaps since that word as we use it and understand it today reeks of self-advertisement; something we generally find distasteful.
And while we’re talking about individual words, what about the word translated “enemies” in verse 10? “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son…” Do you think it is too strong to call us “enemies” before we knew Christ?
If you do think “enemies” is too strong a word, let me share with you two other instances of the use of that word –
From Psalm 58:3 – “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.”
And from Ephesians 2:12 – “That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world…”
Let me ask you some questions to consider in the hope of drawing out some of your experiences with peace, grace, and hope. For example, what words would you use to describe how you have experienced the “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” that Paul talks about in verse one?
[Peace for most people in Paul’s day would have meant “pax Romana”, a tenuous civil order secured by imperial rule. But for Paul “peace” would have meant an inward assurance of our worth and God’s love. It doesn’t always mean the absence of trouble or hardship.]
Secondly, is it possible you have seen evidence of God’s grace in your life? How did it manifest itself? What did it mean to you? Think about that for a moment.
[God’s glory is grounded in God’s faithful love for all things and has always existed. It is this all-encompassing, never-failing character of divine glory that invites our certain hope that God will bring to pass the divine purpose for all creation.]
Now, as we read in today’s scripture, Paul’s perspective on suffering and the hardships of life is that they are part of the human condition; but through Jesus own suffering and death, human suffering is transformed into a channel through which God’s love flows to redeem that very suffering. Paul recommends rejoicing in our suffering and hardships, and expressing utter confidence in God’s love.
Has Paul’s chain – of trouble followed by endurance followed by character-building followed by hope -- shown to be true in your experience? What do you think?
In closing I would note that Paul is emphasizing to his Roman readers, and down through the centuries to you and I, that the death of Jesus establishes that God has a radical love that is given before we know to ask for it – while we were still weak – and in spite of the fact that we do not deserve it – while we were still sinners. Amazing -- that is what John Newton calls it in his famous song from 1st Chronicles 17, “Amazing Grace.”
We close with prayer: “God of peace, grace, and hope, grant us what we need to endure our problems and trouble with faith. Let our character be in tune with Yours. Let us never lose hope of Your glory; in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

The Darker, Sterner Days of America's Tomorrows

The Darker, Sterner Days of America's Tomorrows

by Pastor Ed Evans

Many of us, whether supporters of Donald Trump, cautious admirers, or die-hard non-supporters, have been watching the TV coverage of the Republican National Convention.  As one who has spent more than 50 years dealing with the American and international news media, I have perhaps paid attention to different aspects of that coverage than have others, and I find great disappointment.

CBS in particular has done a wretched, deliberately I suspect, wretched job.  At a high point in the early convention CBS broke for a several days old interview with Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton.  Here they are promoting gavel-to-gavel coverage of a Republican convention and they switch to a Democratic opponent who is castigating and savaging her opponent, Republican Donald Trump. 

I was so disgusted I switched to C-Span and there I stayed.  Even-handed coverage.

But it was when I switched that I believe I discovered the reason CBS went to a Hillary Clinton interview.  For at the convention, at that very point, conventioneers were hearing from the former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, former LtGen. Michael Flynn, on the disastrous amount of damage Hillary Clinton had done with her injudicious handling of her email and classified documents on an unofficial email system she had set up for herself.  And it is disastrous.  For not only are our classified secrets now in the hands of our enemies and detractors, but so are her private emails.  This sets her up for a monumental amount of blackmail, if our enemies wish.  How can one operate in the Oval Office on behalf of America under those circumstances?

So much of the past four years under the Obama administration needs to be corrected.  Operating outside the bounds of Constitutional authority, without Congress holding his feet to the fire, President Obama and his administration have created racial, economic, and national security havoc.  Even the social assistance program dubbed “Obamacare”, intended to meet the needs of so many people, is coming apart and leaving those who need it most in economic and medical jeopardy.  There is so much that needs to be corrected.

And so it is with a cautiously hopeful heart that many Americans, politically affiliated or not, are watching the events play out at the Republican National Convention, placing Donald Trump and Governor Pence in the spotlight of history.  All the while the CBS reporters go on camera discussing the size of the hall, the empty seats, seeking out delegates who will have a targeted bad word to say about Trump.  CBS has studiously abandoned their responsibility to the American people to provide all the facts unfettered with personal agendas.  The CBS reportage team embarrassed themselves when they went onto the Convention floor seeking the Convientioneers’ comments about the similarities between Melania Trump’s speech and an old one of First Lady Michelle Obama.  Responded the delegates on the floor: “We don’t care.”

All of this sadness has sent my mind reeling back to another era, when world leaders were world leaders and the rest of us were glad of it.  And Winston Churchill, he who once termed himself merely the lion given the gift of being the British nation’s roar in victory over World War II, Churchill appeared at the Harrow boys’ school in England to give a speech.  The words still ring out with the bronze bell sound of freedom and dedication to that freedom, today.

A sermon illustration from Pastor Lee Eclov of Vernon Hills, Illinois, best recalls the event, as follows.

There is a widespread myth about a famous short speech supposedly delivered by Winston Churchill. Most versions go something like the one I found in a Christian book:

There's this famous story about Sir Winston Churchill, who near the end of his distinguished career was asked to return and speak at his old school, Harrow (where as a boy he'd almost flunked out)…

The great day finally arrived, and after the school's fanfare and acclamation Sir Winston stood to his feet, acknowledged the introduction, and gave the following address, which is quoted in full: 'Young men, never give up. Never give up! Never give up!! Never, never, never-never-never-never!'"

According to Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, the speech was not delivered near the end of Churchill's career (he died in 1965), but on October 29, 1941. And he wasn't Sir Winston till 1953. And what he really said was, "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."

In addition, this familiar speech was not 29 words long, but rather two pages. The famous quote was neither at the beginning nor the end, but hidden away in a long paragraph recounting Great Britain's progress during the first 10 months of World War II. The full speech reads:

Almost a year has passed since I came down here at your Head Master's kind invitation in order to cheer myself and cheer the hearts of a few of my friends by singing some of our own songs. The 10 months that have passed have seen very terrible catastrophic events in the world—ups and downs, misfortunes—but can anyone sitting here this afternoon, this October afternoon, not feel deeply thankful for what has happened in the time that has passed and for the very great improvement in the position of our country and of our home? Why, when I was here last time we were quite alone, desperately alone, and we had been so for five or six months. We were poorly armed. We are not so poorly armed today; but then we were very poorly armed. We had the unmeasured menace of the enemy and their air attack still beating upon us, and you yourselves had had experience of this attack; and I expect you are beginning to feel impatient that there has been this long lull with nothing particular turning up!

But we must learn to be equally good at what is short and sharp and what is long and tough. It is generally said that the British are often better at the last. They do not expect to move from crisis to crisis; they do not always expect that each day will bring up some noble chance of war; but when they very slowly make up their minds that the thing has to be done and the job put through and finished, then, even if it takes months—if it takes years—they do it.

Eclov, in his remembrance of the event, goes on to say, “Another lesson I think we may take ….. is that appearances are often very deceptive, and as Kipling well says, we must "…meet with Triumph and Disaster. And treat those two impostors just the same."

God alone knows how the November election will turn out.  Many of us hope Trump will be the victor and he will keep his promises to America to lead this nation back to greatness, out of a mire of ethical, moral, economic and legal bad decisions.  Out of the darkness, into the sunlight, without failure or obfuscation.  Against that we must never give in.  Never, never, never.

Behind Every Blade of Grass -- An American

By Pastor Ed Evans

          Righteous anger and indignation has its limits, and at some point caring people must speak up -- or explode.  We’ve seen some explosions recently, AKA violence.

          I just watched the CBS Evening news for July 11^th, 2016, and the limit has been reached in this quarter.  

          This essay will probably lose me friends, but what I am about to say cries out to be said, and I see no one else saying it.  If you need to defriend me, cross me off your Christmas card list, tell others “I told you so,” go for it.  In the greater scheme of things I, and my opinions, are of little importance.  I would wish that those with more importance, greater audiences, and more power to impact American society and our cultural ethics would speak up about these issues.  But I’m not seeing it, so while I am only one, I am one American.  I am one proud to be an American, honored that I had the opportunity, on four battlefields, to defend the freedoms of this nation; honored that my wife and I have launched four adult sons and one adult daughter into the American nation who have no desire to do harm to others, who believe in integrity and personal responsibility.

          The righteous anger and indignation of which I speak has been building for some time.  It is partly borne of watching elected officials fawn like schoolchildren seeking favors, avoiding responsible action, indulging in petulant finger-pointing when they should be leading the way to seeking and supporting real answers to real problems affecting real people.  That is why they were elected.  Instead they chain dance behind their chosen political party, engage in smearing the efforts and candidates from opposing political parties, merely muddying the water and driving away creative solutions.

          What finally drove me to set down in black and white the indignation I am feeling was the CBS Evening news coverage showing testimony by the Director of the FBI and “explanations” by Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton about the FBI Director’s decision not to recommend prosecution regarding her use of unprotected, unofficial emails while Secretary of State.  It does not seem to matter that people of lesser social rank, who also mishandled classified information, regardless of intent, have lost their jobs, been fined, and have been jailed.

          It should not be lost on us that Hillary Clinton initially claimed her emails had not included any classified information.  This was proven to be a lie when the FBI Director disclosed her emails included 23,035 pieces of classified information, data which we can safely assume is now in the hands of other nations to America’s disadvantage.  And if that were not bad enough, the same people now have access to all those emails between Hillary Clinton and others, which should provide a rich field for blackmail on a national and international scale of the candidate should she become President.

          But my real question is why are we even still discussing this?

          We know from Congressional hearings the part this woman, and others, played in the horrible abandonment and deaths of four Americans in Benghazi.  Beyond that, the Internet has been alive with a long list of deaths, legal infractions, and scandalous peccadillos that makes the Clinton family look like a ripe target for RICO charges of organized gang activity.

          As an American, as a military veteran and patriot, as a father, a husband, and an ordained minister of Jesus Christ, I strenuously object to being played for a fool, object to the supposition I cannot discern good and evil, truth and lie for what they are; object beyond measure to the criminal treatment besieging my beloved country.

          Nevertheless, the offensive political atmosphere is only a portion of my complaint about the current attempt to dumb down this nation and malign the integrity of its citizens.  Alphabetically, my complaints would run the gamut from abortion as the murder of disenfranchised infants – if Black Lives truly Matter, they need to begin at the abortion clinics! – to blatant lies by America’s political elite, to foolhardy economics being approved at the highest levels of government to support nations foreign to our interests, build Islam mosques, and purchase weapons for other nations which will one day be turned on us, as history has shown. 

          This is what I want:

          All those who consider yourselves a member of a race before you consider yourselves Americans -- stand down.  The equality spoken of in the U.S. Constitution (14^th Amendment) and all ten amendments of the Bill of Rights means everyone has the opportunity to be equal.  No one is more equal than anyone else.  If you don’t feel you have equal opportunities, then work to change that.  Violence is not the answer.  Stomping your food and demanding others give you what you will not work for to attain for yourself, won’t work.

          If you have immigrated to this nation illegally, go home.  Go home and work to change your home country into what you want it to be, as Americans have done, shedding their blood, committing their lives, their fortunes and their futures to achieve what we have.  We did not do it so those not familiar with how we got here can come in and change America back to a third world banana republic.  “Illegal” means you committed a crime in sneaking in here.  You are welcome to come in legally, work for a season, and then return home.  If you want to stay here, go home and immigrate legally, as many others have done.

          If you have immigrated to this nation legally, something about this nation must have impressed you.  With all respect to your prior experiences, learn what it means to be an American, and be an American, not some hyphenated halfway American.  If you are not happy with America as your home, go home.  To all others, welcome aboard.  Glad you are here.

          Presidents, Congressmen, Senators, you need to re-read your oath of office, and note that you are accepting responsibility for the protection and betterment of the nation and its people.  There is nothing in the oath of office about your elected office being a career choice, about feathering your own nest and building a war chest for the next election, about decision-making being based upon the precepts of your political party, or about being re-elected.  We the People come first.  If that makes no sense to you, offends you, doesn’t work for you, turn the lights out and go home.  Demonstrate some self respect.

          Integrity, dedication, truthfulness must be restored to those in federal service, whether elected, appointed, or just hired.  The ship of state is continually running aground because of underhanded dealings, scams, chicanery, illegal and personal deals by those in public office.  When wrong-doing is uncovered, responsible people take action, and there are consequences, not cover-ups.

          The world remains an unsafe and often ugly place, and the state of a nation’s security forces is critical.  Using those armed forces as replacements for hard-fought diplomacy, as bargaining chips at budget time, and as social experiments to check-off political points is not only unbelievably foolish, but sets the nation at a risk level which may not be restored.  The world changes, opportunities change, the nature and power and intent of once-allies change.  The U.S. Military has a purpose.  Fund it properly, leave it alone, and get out of its way.

          Finally, while there is a coterie of those who would argue America’s Christian beginnings, nevertheless, our history and the intents of our forefathers rest upon the search for liberty to worship in freedom, and the early predominance was for the Christian religion.  Over our 240 years, Americans have learned to share that freedom perhaps beyond even what our forefathers envisioned.  As a people we make room for those who wish to worship within the framework of their upbringing, and according to their conscience.  That said, the unparalleled violence associated with the Islamic religion requires a closer look at what it is.  Islam, historically, is not a pure religion, but a religious oligarchy, that is, an organization forever seeking conquest through religion.  Under this organizational definition, borne out by the growth and conquest of Islam itself, Islam does not qualify as a “religion” meriting the protection of religion through the U.S. Constitution.  For acceptance of Islam within the United States means protection of a force seeking the overthrow of the government of the United States.  The adherents to Islam need to step back from their support of jihad, renounce violence and their religion’s stated purpose of conquest.  If that is not acceptable, Islam must be banned, as it was originally by the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act.. H.R.13342; Pub.L. 414;182 Stat.66, which in Section 212, Chapter 2, prohibits entry into America any immigrants belonging to an organization seeking the unlawful overthrow of the federal government of the United States by force, violence and other unconstitutional means.  Islam has already been banned in Japan, Angola, and China, and declared a non-religion in Italy.

          So the message is that if you come to America to live, whatever your skin color, original nationality or religion, come to be an American, not to change us to your ways.  Or, if you can’t or won’t do this, stay home.  Choice is yours.

          For the rest of you involved in un-American activities, knock it off, or leave.  If you don’t know what it means to be an American, find out and adjust.  Or leave.

          Face it, for those of us who were born here, grew up here, studied American history and civics, and have grandchildren and great-grandchildren to whom we want to bequeath this great country, we have nothing to lose and a nation to gain; a nation we love. 

          I close this with the words of two of America’s presidents.  First, George W. Bush: “"There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom." 

          And secondly, John F. Kennedy: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.  This much we pledge--and more.” 

Behind every blade of beautiful American grass, an American.

-eme-

We Are All Under Sin's Power

We're talking today about sin, and I’ve got so much to say about that, we may not get through it all today.  I don’t claim to be like the visiting Pastor who was invited to give a talk on sin.  The senior elder introduced him, giving him glowing bona fides, and brought the Pastor forward with the question, “Pastor, what do you have to tell us about sin?”  The Pastor approached the pulpit and replied, “I’m agin’ it!”  and sat down.

Well, I have just a little more than that to say about sin.

Scripture: Romans 3:9-20 - English Standard Version (ESV)

⁹ What then? Are we Jews^[a] any better off?  No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, ¹⁰ as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
¹³ “Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
¹⁴     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶     in their paths are ruin and misery,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.”
¹⁸     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

So before we go any further, we need to turn inward, to ourselves, and answer an important question.  Do we believe what the Bible tells us, about sin and salvation?  It’s like the story about Jack, who was a little too clumsy for his own good.

A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day, when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet. 
He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him, maybe lower a rope or something. 
HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? "HELP!" 
He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice: “Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?" 
"Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!" 
"I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?" 
"Yes, but who are you, and where are you? 
"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere." 
"The Lord? You mean, GOD?" 
"That's Me." 
"God, please help me! I promise if, you'll get me down from here, I'll stop sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve You for the rest of my life." 
"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's get you off from there; then we can talk." 
"Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully." 
"I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do." 
"Okay. Let go of the branch." 

"What?"

"I said, let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go." 
There was a long silence. 
Finally Jack yelled, "HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?" 

Of course we trust God ….. until we don’t.

Many years ago there was a famous Letter to the Editor in New York Times under the subject “What is wrong with the world today?” The best letter of all was also the shortest.  It read — “Dear Sir, I am. Yours faithfully, G. K. Chesterton.”

That devastating declaration showed a profound insight into man’s universal problem, and understanding it can teach us a deeply challenging lesson.  Experience tells me that throughout the Christian church there are problems, difficulties and frustrations that would begin to dissolve immediately if only some Christians would be honest enough to answer the question—“What’s wrong?” with the words “I am!” 

This is precisely Paul’s point in Romans 3:9-20. In this passage we are faced with the reality of our sin against God and other people. In short, we are the problem; I am the problem. Something I cannot escape; the apostle makes it clear—with a litany of Old Testament citations carrying the full authority of “thus says the Lord.” The passage as a whole stands as a fitting climax to this entire section which began in Chapter 1, verse 18. Paul says that human beings are sinners—all of us—and held accountable to God. Here we stand, guilty and convicted. The somber weight of this passage should not be missed.

But do not run to the peace and forgiveness of the gospel too quickly, lest you cheapen its message. First, take a good and prayerful look in the mirror of scripture and see if you are not in there. Then, look to God for mercy. Perhaps God will see fit to give us the same attitude we see in Copernicus, who wrote: “I do not ask for the grace thou didst give to St. Paul; nor can I dare ask for the grace which thou didst grant to St. Peter; but, the mercy which thou didst show to the Dying Robber, that mercy, show to me.”

If you and I, then, can come to see ourselves against the infinite holiness of God and His immutable law, then next week we may be eager to welcome the message of that week’s lesson of grace preached in Chapter 3:21-31.  This week, admitting ourselves drenched in the drek of sin, we will be so much happier next week to walk in the light of His forgiveness.

How many of you have visited a cavern, like the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, or the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico?  That’s “cavern”, not “tavern”, now.

As I prepared this lesson regarding the natural sinfulness of the human race, I felt as though I were descending deeper and deeper into the darkness of those underground caverns.  So before we get any deeper or darker into this lesson, let me put a bright candle into your hand.  And that would be Ephesians the second chapter, verses 4, 8 and 9: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved —  and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

And allow me to further put today’s lesson in context by reminding you of Hebrews 10, verses 4-6 which tells us, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.  “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.” 

The Law of Moses required that they make a good faith offering for their sins, but God took no pleasure in their offerings.  Those ritual offerings were for their benefit, not God’s.  It was to get them ready for God’s plan of salvation that involved the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Paul is making the point that while all are under the power of sin, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that drives God’s salvation of all human beings.

So let us light that candle, hold it high, and continue onward as we get inside these verses and seek understanding.

In Romans 3:9, Paul juxtaposes the Jew and the Gentile and asks the question, “So what then?”  Or in some translations it comes out “Are we better off?”  The Jew has the Law and the covenant with God, the Gentile has only his new knowledge of a God who loved him first.  But standing before God, Paul makes the point that neither is superior to the other.  The great equalizer, he says, is simply sin.

Now the Greek word Paul uses for “sin” here is the noun “hamartia”; uses it 50 times, seven times as a verb.  Paul uses it for an individual act, for sin as a state and quality, and for sin as an almost personified malignant power.  The origin of the word “hamartia”, and the reason I bring it up, comes from the language of hunting.  Specifically, to shoot an arrow, or to throw a spear or javelin, and miss the mark.  Sin is missing the mark of what it means to be human, to be created in God’s image. 

Like a soccer player who can’t make a goal.

The quarterback who can’t hit his receivers.

It’s like what you call a chicken at the North Pole – lost!

But sin is no laughing matter.  Sin is a failure to reach the high mark God has established for creation.  And for Paul, this failure is equally the condition of Jew and Gentile before a holy God.

Next we have a series of passages from the Old Testament strung together like links in a chain in support of Paul’s position on sin.  Some Bible commentators call this section in Romans a “catena”, the Latin word for “chain.”  Each of these links supports Paul’s teaching points.

What Paul is doing here – remember Paul is a learned Pharisee and very familiar with the Pharisaical obsession with keeping the Law – Paul is building what he believes to be an ironclad case against Jewish presumption, and in support of, the claim that Jew and Gentile are both under the power of sin. 

Now, I want to note that Steve in a previous class made a point of our Lesson book giving us background text, which I had not used.  And his point is a valid one.  The background text will help us put the lesson into context.  And in today’s lesson that is especially true, because you see, Paul got all his scripture quotes in the form of a previously compiled chain of excerpts from the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint.  The reason this matters is because it allowed Paul to emphasize the way a Greek version translated Hebrew text, or if he wanted to paraphrase or edit certain phrases himself for effect.

For example, Anthony Benton’s 1851 English translation shows that in Romans 3:10, Paul used a paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 7:21: “For there is not a righteous man in the earth, who will do good, and not sin.”

In Romans 31-12, Paul uses Psalm 14:2-3 – “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there were any that understood, or sought after God.  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become good for nothing, there is none that des good, no not one.  Their throat is an open se3pulchre; with their tones they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.”

And from Psalm 53:1-3 – “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God…. All the way down to …there is none that does good, there is not even one.”

From Psalm 10:7 – “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness and fraud….”

From Isaiah 59:7-8 – “And their feet run to wickedness, swift to shed blood….”

And finally we find in Romans 3:18 the gist of Psalm 36:1 – “The transgressor, that he may sin, says within himself, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.”  This is Paul using proven passages to make his point.

Now Paul, all through these excerpts uses an array of body parts: looks of the eyes, the throat, tongues, lips, mouth, feet, to show that sin is insidious, taking over the whole body, all human speech and action.  Paul’s use of body parts seems to make explicit the ways in which human beings express their powerlessness to resist sin in our speech and actions. 

We’ve all seen people saying things and doing things that are wrong, and cruel, and even inhuman, just like Paul did.  He was clearly speaking out of his experience, just like our own.  Highlighting some of the most “human” of scriptural voices, voices and experiences that Paul’s audience would have recognized and valued.  The difference between being trapped in sin and living in the freedom of God’s grace would have been clear to them.

Now, I’m not going to ask for any personal confessions of wrongdoing,

but let me ask you, how do we prove what Paul is saying about sin in our world?  In what ways have you seen evidence of sin’s power in our world today?

What evidence do you have that we are held in sin’s power?  Or has the Law – especially in terms of Biblical Law, like the Ten Commandments, for example – have they brought about the knowledge of sin for you?

The reason for asking these questions is to bring about some level of self-awareness.  For if we cannot recognize ourselves in Paul’s indictment, then we cannot be ready to receive Paul’s invitation, coming in just a few verses?  In the last paragraph of your study book, the writer says, “Yes, we live in a world where the power of sin is present and active.  Yet we do not have to live under that power.”  Then the question becomes, how are we to live, as Christians, in a world of those two affirmations – sin and salvation?

“Loving God, help us resist the power of sin.  Let us grow in our knowledge of You.  Let us reflect the love of Christ in all that we do; in Jesus’ name.  Amen.”