Romans 1:16-17 – “Yes, We Can!” – May 19, 2019

Click here for an audio recording of this sermon

It’s hard to know where to begin with Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, better known as Romans. On one hand, it is his most sophisticated articulation of his theology, written late in his ministry after refining his message with years of active missionary work. It also probably influenced the Protestant Reformation more than any other single book of the Bible with its emphasis on salvation by faith alone.

On the other hand, Romans can be a daunting read as Paul takes a deep dive into human sinfulness and the nuances of faith with somewhat esoteric arguments based on assumptions we might not have. Further, anyone who has been a victim of anti-gay teaching and preaching in the church may know that just a bit further on in this same first chapter of Romans, we find a passage that has been and is still used repeatedly to bludgeon, shame, and exclude LGBTQ people. And though we can accurately state that Paul did not have a modern understanding of sexual orientation or knowledge of same-gender romantic relationships that were based on love, it is also probably fair to say that even if he had that knowledge, he would have come to the same conclusions as he did. In fact, that particular passage from Romans 1 is one of the passages that led me in my own journey to conclude there are some things in the Bible that do not reflect God’s will for us today, but instead reflect the biases and prejudices of the flawed, sinful people God used to write the Bible. And though the line between the author’s prejudice and God’s will is not always clear, we as modern people of faith have the responsibility to try to figure out which is which.

Exodus 14 – God as Liberator – September 30, 2018

 

Biblical commentator Corey Driver writes that the Israelites must have been very confused as the events in this story unfolded. He summarizes the events this way:
“The Israelites were freed with gifts of gold and silver. (that is a part of the story we did not read, but it is correct).
And then they were pursued by an army.
And then Moses told them to be still and see what God would do.
And then God told them to stop standing still and move forward.
And then the pillar [of cloud and fire] that had been leading them moved behind them.
And then they walked through the depths of a sea on dry land.
And then the army pursued them.
And then the army was drowned.”

That is a good summary and he is correct that there are several points along the way that the Israelites must have wondered what God was doing and what could possibly happen next. Like I talked about last week with the question, “Is God with us in difficult times?” The answer is “Yes, God is with us, but God’s presence and leading may not look the way we expect it to look from moment to moment.”

Despite the confusion the Israelites may have experienced, this story, perhaps more than any other in the Bible is about how the Israelites and ultimately, all people move from slavery to freedom. And though all the ins and outs of the process of liberation may be confusing or even terrifying, the main point of the story is not confusing. The main point of the story is that as we seek to move from slavery to freedom, God will fight for us and if we remain steadfast in our quest for freedom, God will defeat those who or that which oppresses us. God desires liberation for us and will fight for us to help us achieve that goal. God is fundamentally a liberator.

Now you may be thinking, “Well that’s great, but I’m not a slave”. And it is true that we are not literal slaves, but let’s remember we can always look at a biblical text metaphorically. Because metaphorically or spiritually we are all slaves to something. Each of us is imprisoned by something. Dr. Williamson mentioned this when he was speaking about his ministry at Mercy Church in Little Rock and their attitude toward people who show up under the influence of drugs. Their philosophy is that such people are welcomed as long as they are not being disruptive. So, if a person is clearly drunk or high and they just need a place to come and sleep in a corner during worship that is fine, or if they are singing a bit more enthusiastically than the sober people in the service that is fine. The reason Mercy Church welcomes people under the influence is that they believe really all of us are addicted to something. Everyone is a slave to something. Some of us may have more socially acceptable addictions so we are allowed to function in the world and welcomed most anywhere despite being under the influence. But, we are no less addicted.

For instance, most of us are addicted to a standard of living that is not sustainable for our planet. Most of us think we need that standard of living in order to survive. Many of us are addicted to a diet that is not sustainable for the planet, either the amount of food we eat or the kinds of food we eat in large amounts. Some of us are addicted to drugs: alcohol, pot, cocaine, opioids, nicotine, caffeine, etc. Some are addicted to or enslaved by our smartphones, social media, or Netflix. Some are addicted to work. Some of us are addicted privilege. We are addicted to the privilege that is given by social institution of racism or sexism. Some are slaves to emotions, like resentment. There are many people who cannot make it through the morning without drinking heavily from a big bottle of resentments. Some of you are sneaking sips of resentment right now and my saying that caused you to take another sip. There are so many ways that we are not free. Everything I’ve mentioned has the power to control our thoughts and behaviors and has harmful consequences to us and to others. All these things keep us from being everything God calls us to be. We are all slaves to something.

And if you don’t know what you are enslaved to, what is keeping you from being truly free as a child of God in this world, pray about it. Ask God to show you what is holding you back. Or talk to a friend and see if they can see something you can’t. It is not uncommon for addicts to be blind to their addiction.

So then, if we truly are addicted, the reality of addiction is that we will not be able to stop, to change, to be free on our own. Real addicts need God’s help to find freedom from their addictions.

The book Alcoholics Anonymous also known as the Big Book in AA, has a kind of long section about the difference between moderate drinkers, heavy drinkers, and real alcoholics. They welcome everyone to their program, anyone who wants to stop drinking, but the book says a real alcoholic or for our purposes, we could say a real addict, cannot stop drinking by their own willpower, they need God’s help to stop drinking. That’s why Alcoholics Anonymous is fundamentally a spiritual program helping their members find a vital spiritual experience with God for that is the only thing that leads to real recovery from addiction.

So then back to the main point of the Exodus passage, if we desire to move from slavery to freedom, God will fight for us just as God fought for the Israelites in their quest for freedom from slavery in Egypt, so will God fight for us. They did the work of walking away. God did the work of fighting their oppressor.

Let’s look at the text using the summary from the beginning of the sermon with this perspective.

“The Israelites were freed with gifts of gold and silver.” When we first choose to walk away from whatever is enslaving us, it may seem like it is going to be easy. Life if good. We have a new life and we see things we didn’t see before. If you have ever taken a break from your cell phone you might know how this feels.

“But then they were pursued by an army.” So, we quit whatever it is that imprisons us, we walk free and suddenly our oppressor is right behind us. Pursuing us. Inviting us back to prison. Or demanding we go back to prison. And it is not coming gently with a force we can defeat on our own. It comes with an army. And we for our part in this situation often thing just like the Israelites, we may immediately start thinking, “Hey slavery wasn’t so bad and freedom isn’t so great”. These are the words of the Israelites according to the text, “It would have been better for us to work for the Egyptians (notice how they are diminishing their slavery, they were not slaves, they were workers); It would have been better for us to work for the Egyptians, than to die here in the desert”. It is normal to see the army of our unhealthy dependency coming and think that maybe surrender is the best choice.

“But then Moses told them to be still and see what God would do.” In other words, don’t panic. Stay calm. There is army coming to re-enslave you. Breathe. Remember if this is a real addiction you can’t defeat it by the force of your will alone. You will need God. Connect to God. Turn your life over to God’s care and protection.

And then God told them to stop standing still and move forward. It is an almost hilarious reversal in the text Moses says, “Be still and see what God will do” Then God says, “Don’t just sit there, get up and move.” But, the direction they are told is critical. They are not told to go fight their oppressors head-on. God is not going to fight with them. God is going to fight for them. They are told to walk toward the sea. And it is dark now. They are told to turn away from that which oppressed them and walk into the unknown, darkness. Remember a couple weeks ago, I talked about faith being like walking through an Ikea in the pitch dark with nothing but a flashlight and black arrows on the floor. The path to freedom means we connect with God, listen for God’s directions, and continue moving away from that which enslaves you.

And then the miracle happens: the pillar that had been leading them moved behind them and the sea was split and then they walked through the depths of a sea on dry land and then the army pursued them followed and God fought the army and then the army was drowned.

God desires our liberation for anything holding back. God will fight for us in that cause. Freedom from whatever holds us back doesn’t mean we fight it head-on. And it does not mean we fight it alone. We have things we need to do. We need to walk ahead in faith. But, we can do that, because we know God is behind us, fighting the battle we could never fight ourselves.