Ancient Promises: Redemption

The Rev. Dr. John Judson

May 15, 2011

 

 

 

I had become a criminal. At the age of six I was headed for the big house. In order to escape such a fate I was trying to remain as invisible as possible under my bed. The events that led to my descent into a life of crime were simple. I had followed my older brother and his friends to a home construction site down the block. There they had decided to take dirt clumps from a large pile beside a house under construction and throw them on the roof of the house. The winner would be the one that could throw the dirt clods the farthest. Not wanting to be left out I searched out the perfect clod, picked it up and heaved. You could hear the breaking glass for miles. Needless to say mine did not reach the roof. Instead it went right through one of the newly placed windows. Before the last shard had hit the ground we were all running. Within a half an hour there came a loud banging on our front door. As my mother opened the door a very angry man was outside shouting that whoever had done this was a criminal and was headed for jail. Now my mother being the Texan she was quietly, but very firmly explained that her son was not going to jail and that she would be happy to pay for any of the damages. After an extended angry exchange the man agreed to that solution and left. I think I waited under my bed until I was old enough to go to Middle School, but when I finally emerged not a word was said. It was as if my criminal record had been expunged and I was a free man.

 

Over the years as I reflected on that event it became for me the perfect analogy to the work of God in Jesus Christ. It became the perfect illustration for these words from the Apostle Paul. Let me take you through the connections. First Paul tells us that we are all dirt clod criminals. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Second God, being God, needs to insure that justice is done. One cannot break the law and sin without there being consequences…thus God is the angry man knocking on the door demanding that someone pay. Next we have the one who saves. Jesus, played by my mother, loves the sinner too much to allow them to pay the price. Fourth Jesus is willing to pay the penalty for the dirt clod throwers of this world by going to the cross…this is Jesus as the sacrifice of atonement. Finally once the price is paid we are redeemed and set free and we never have to worry about our sin again. Do you see the connections? Good, because now I want you to throw them out because ultimately they are not there. What Paul offers us, while looking like my story is in fact very, very different…and the differences matter because they impact how we see God and how we see ourselves.

 

What I would for us to do this morning is return to my story but change it according to Paul’s story so that we have a much fuller sense of what the Apostle is trying to tell us. So let’s begin. First God is not the angry man knocking at the door demanding justice and payment. We know this because Paul tells us that long before any of us become dirt clod throwers God had a plan to redeem us. Paul begins by reminding the Romans that God had long planned “a righteousness”, meaning a restoration of right relationships, “apart from the law”. In other words God was going to restore a right relationship with humanity not through making sure justice was done, but through Jesus Christ. And this plan, which Paul says was spoken of both in the Law and the Prophets, was the reason God passed over former sins and did not punish. So here is the first way to redraw my story. I throw the dirt clod; break the window, the man arrives at my door and says, “OK let’s roll out the plan to redeem this dirt clod throwing kid.”

 

The second way we need to change the story is that the man at the door who is not angry and the woman on the inside are not strangers who happen to meet and agree on the man’s plan. The two are in fact related and have cooked up this plan together. This is the mystery of the incarnation. The God who created and desires justice is also mysteriously the God who becomes incarnate in the flesh and goes to the cross. On one side of the door is God the Father and on the other side is God the Son. From the beginning of creation Father and Son understood that human beings would spend a great deal of time throwing dirt clods and doing great damage by it. God and Jesus then created this plan together out of the love they both had for humanity. This is the reason God can be both the one who is just and the one who justifies. So once again back to my story. God the Father shows up at the door, and God the son, played by my mother, opens up and says, “Yep John did it this time. Shall we fulfill the plan so that John can be redeemed from being a dirt clod thrower?” “You bet,” comes the answer.

 

The third and final way we need to alter the story is to look at the purpose for which God has cooked up this plan to redeem humanity. The original image from the story and from much of our historic Christian faith is that redemption was to keep us from going to prison. In other words it was intended to keep us out of hell and get us into heave. To see this at work all you have to do is listen to any crusade presentation by Billy Graham, Luis Palau or any other evangelical preacher. They will make it clear that redemption is about setting us free from the sin which causes us to be dirt clod throwers so that when our dirt clod throwing days are over we St. Peter will welcome us home. A first Century Jew like Paul would find that concept a bit strange. Redemption for Judaism was always about being freed from our current state so that we could live freely and completely for God. Redemption was about being freed from slavery in Egypt or brought home from exile in Babylon. It was about making us fully God’s people in the here and now. Once again, back to the story. God the Father shows up and is greeted by God the son. They implement the plan in order that I no longer throw dirt clods…or at least not so many and not so often. They have come, as N.T. Wright puts it, to re-humanize me. To make me the human being God always intended me to be.

 

You and I have been given a great gift. We are the beneficiaries of the unmerited love and grace of God. We witness this love and grace in both the plan of God for our redemption and in the work of Jesus Christ as the sacrifice that sets us free to be fully human. We have also been given a great gift in the fact that our redemption is not simply a free pass to heaven that we have to wait to cash in upon death. Our redemption is a present act of a loving God that allows us to be new and more loving people with each passing day. As those who have been redeemed we become capable of being extraordinary human beings.

 

My challenge then for you for this week is this, to ask yourself this question: How am I living as an extraordinary human being? How am I living out my redemption as one who has been set free to be fully human?