Bethany Bullet - August 5, 2014
In November
of 2000 one of the closest presidential elections took place in our
country. On election night, news outlets
across the nation filled their election maps with blue states and with red
states. Early on, the state of Florida
was declared blue, only later to be taken out of the blue column and become
undecided. Hours later it was declared
red. As the night went on it looked like
it might flop again as the margin narrowed. Eventually a mandatory recount was
declared. The election was too close to
call.
I’m not here
to dive into the political struggle that resulted in the American public
becoming familiar with counties in South Florida and the term “hanging chad”
but what I do know is that an election is dirty business.
The Apostle
Paul dives into the dirty business of election in Romans
chapter 9. If you have your Bibles
or your electronic devices, open to the ninth chapter of Romans…or click HERE
and let’s get into this dirty business of election.
Winston
Churchill once said, “Some men change
their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the
sake of their party.”
This may be
an apt description of Saint Paul. As
Saul the Pharisee and student of Gamaliel, he changed his principles for the
sake of his party you could say as he looked on approvingly as the stones were
hurled at Stephen. His principles came
into question as he sought the destruction of the followers of the Way and the
disciples of Jesus.
On the road
to Damascus, his party (if you will) was changed. Jesus met him on the road and changed his
heart and set him on a path that would bring the message of salvation to
countless people in the world and throughout history.
Now in
Romans chapter 9 he grieves for those in his former party.
From Romans
9 starting at verse 1, “As a Christian,
I’m telling you the truth. I’m not lying. The Holy Spirit, along with my own
thoughts, supports me in this. 2 I have deep sorrow and endless
heartache. 3 I wish I could be condemned and cut off from
Christ for the sake of others who, like me, are Jewish by birth. 4 They
are Israelites, God’s adopted children. They have the Lord’s glory, the
pledges, Moses’ Teachings, the true worship, and the promises. 5 The
Messiah is descended from their ancestors according to his human nature. The
Messiah is God over everything, forever blessed. Amen.” (Romans 9:1-5)
Paul grieves
for his fellow Israelites. He even
wishes that he could change places with them if it meant that they would know
Jesus. Paul goes on to describe the
advantages that God gave them. They had
everything but somehow managed to mess it all up. Many began to see themselves as entitled to
God’s grace because of who they were and they soon lost sight of the true
election of God.
Thomas
Jefferson wrote, “Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on
offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.”
Jefferson
was talking about election to political office but he could very well be
describing what happened to God’s elect, his chosen people.
Paul
continues, “6 Now it is not as though
God’s word has failed. Clearly, not everyone descended from Israel is part of
Israel 7 or a descendant of Abraham. However, as Scripture
says, “Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name.” 8 This
means that children born by natural descent from Abraham are not necessarily
God’s children. Instead, children born by the promise are considered Abraham’s
descendants.9 For example, this is what the promise said, “I
will come back at the right time, and Sarah will have a son.”
(Romans 9:6-9)
It’s not
that God had failed in His dealings with His Old Testament people. It is a false assumption that God tried to
get His people on track with a plan that did not find success in the temple or
the sacrificial system. But Paul sets up
the theology of election going back to Abraham and Isaac.
When Abraham
was 75, God promised to make him into a great nation. Ten years later he still had no
children. In an ill-advised attempt to
help God fulfill His promise, Sarah suggested he take her Egyptian servant as a
substitute wife.
But this was
not God’s plan.
British
writer, and political publicist Ernest
Benn once wrote, “Politics is the
art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it
incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.”
An apt
description of the plan of Sarah and Abraham and perhaps the M.O. of most of us
in this room as well. We cannot force
God’s election.
Paul
continues, “10 The same thing happened
to Rebekah. Rebekah became pregnant by our ancestor Isaac. 11 Before
the children had been born or had done anything good or bad, Rebekah was told
that the older child would serve the younger one. This was said to Rebekah so
that God’s plan would remain a matter of his choice, 12 a
choice based on God’s call and not on anything people do. 13 The
Scriptures say, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.” (Romans
9:10-13)
In looking
at the case of Isaac and Ishmael, it would be very easy for someone to reason
as follows: Of course God wouldn’t choose Ishmael. He didn’t have the right mother. He was born of an Egyptian slave girl. Isaac had the advantage of being born of
Sarah the patriarch’s real wife.
To take away
the possibility of seeing merit in the life and actions of an individual as the
basis of God’s election, Paul now turns to the case of Jacob and Esau. God’s dealing with them makes it plain that his
election comes about “not on anything people do” but on God’s divine election.
Moving a bit
beyond the appointed text for this morning going to Romans 9 verse 14 and
following, “14 What can we say—that
God is unfair? That’s unthinkable! 15 For example, God said to
Moses, “I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want
to.” 16 Therefore, God’s choice does not depend on a person’s
desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” (Romans 9:14-16)
In the dirty
business of election it is inevitable to ask “Is God being unfair?” Is it fair for God to condemn people in some
far off land who have never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel or given the
same advantages as we have.
We need to
remember that the Bible only ever speaks of an election to salvation. It never speaks of double election, where
some are designated from eternity for condemnation and others for salvation.
The real
conundrum here is, ‘Why should God be merciful to anyone?’ After all, punishing an evildoer is simple
justice.
Keep in
mind, in the first three chapters of Romans, Paul established without a doubt
that by nature all are under God’s wrath and deserve His punishment. “For all have
sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
That makes
sense; that we can understand. What we
can’t comprehend is why God should still be merciful to such sinners. But that is exactly who God is, and what He
does.
To our minds
who desire everything to be fair, grace does not make sense. It doesn’t make sense that the almighty God
who created the universe took on flesh in the person of Jesus.
It doesn’t
make sense that Jesus, who lived a perfect life was sentenced to die on the
cross.
It doesn’t
make sense that God would love me, a poor and miserable sinner so much to take
the punishment I deserve.
This is the
dirty business of election. Why would
God desire a dirty, no good, rotten person like me to be with him in heaven?
The
contemporary Christian Song “Who am I?” by casting crowns struggles with this
same thing. The opening lines of the
song go like this:
Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart?
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done.
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are.
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart?
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done.
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are.
Click HERE
to watch the full video of the song here.
(If you are unable to open the
link, copy/paste this into your browser to watch the video:
It doesn’t
make sense, but that is what happened.
God has loved you from eternity, desires to have a relationship with
you. He cares about you, desires to take
away your hurts and call you by name.
You have
been elected to be God’s child not because of what you have done, but because
of who you are, a child of God. God
desires to clean up the mess of sin and He sent Jesus to die for you.
It might not
make sense, but your election as God’s child has its culmination at the
cross. Your election is not too close to
call but it was a landslide victory by Jesus, it calls you close to a Savior
who died and rose for you, and wants to be with you forever.
Luther once
wrote, “If you want to dispute about eternal
election, begin with the wounds of Christ, and it will cease.”
In another
place Luther wrote, “Our election is not based on worthiness
and merit on our part. If it rested on
such a foundation, the devil could make it uncertain and overthrow it at any
moment. It rests in God’s hand and is
based on His mercy, which is unwavering and eternal…When your sin and
unworthiness assail you and the thought occurs to you that you are not elected
by God…hold to the promise of the Gospel.
This will teach you that Christ, God’s son, came into the world in order
to bless all the nations on earth, to redeem them from sin and death, to
justify and to save them. This he has
done at God’s command and in accordance with the gracious will of God”
The dirty
business of election finds an answer on the cross of Calvary where the dirty
sins that defile you are taken away, where you are washed whiter than snow, and
where you are called close to Jesus.
Let us pray…
Create in me a clean heart oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from your presence
And take not your Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of your salvation
And renew a right sprit within me. Amen!
-Pastor
Seth Moorman
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