08/03/2008 HONEST TO GOD - HONEST WITH GOD - PART 2
HONEST TO GOD – HONEST WITH GOD- Part 2
Sermon # 8 in the “First Families. Families First.” Series
Last week, as part of the summer sermon series, I preached about the integrity & authenticity Abraham displayed when praying to God. It’s a lesson about how we need to be honest & genuine, not only in our prayers, but in all of our relationships – in the family & home, at work, at school, & in the community.
A second aspect of this scripture lesson moves us from a story about Abraham’s character to God’s character. Today, we delve into God’s mercy. [Proof of God’s mercy in response to prayer is that this week’s & last week’s sermon were all one sermon. God’s mercy spared you from a marathon-er!]
In this famous prayer from Father Abraham, the Old Testament patriarch doesn’t make the case that everyone in
Guilt by association is not always valid. It’s the mistake which Jesus’ opponents made when they complained about him dining with prostitutes, tax collectors, & other sinners. “Why, he must be guilty, too,” they wrongly assumed.
The point is, Abraham convinces God that there are some good persons in the towns. At the very least, there are
This is proof that our prayers, like Abraham’s prayers, do have a beneficial effect for others & for us. The simple act of praying for others blesses us, too. As the Bible says about Job’s dire straits, “The Lord restored (his) Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends” (Job 42:10). Are we interceding through prayer on others’ behalves?
We’re not talking about some general spiritual definition of prayer that you may get from Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, or Oprah’s spiritual directors, but a Christian definition in which we have a unique role to play. As we learned last week, are our prayers grounded in the hope of the resurrection -- this sincere belief that God can bring change to the needs about which we pray for others? Do we point them to Christ for help? Or, do we solely pray out of pity?
Using an analogy, Jesus’ says that his followers are to the kingdom as yeast is to bread. In other words, we bless Christ’s reign just as leaven positively affects an entire lump of dough, so that it’s baked into a fresh, fragrant, warm, delicious loaf of bread (Mt.13:33). There are persons who interpret that teaching to mean that they can rely on the goodness of their Christian friends & relatives to save them. I’ve known individuals who depend on God going easy on them at Judgment Day, purely because their spouse & kids go to church. “They pray for me, so I’ll be okay,” is the thinking.
This is not unlike the individuals who magically believe that being a friend of the pastor will earn them brownie points with God or get them off easy.
There were firefighters over the years who became upset when I would unintentionally commit some sin. “Jeez,” they would actually exclaim, “if you get in trouble, Rev, how can you help me? You’re letting me down!” Or, how many times have I heard persons announce, “Well, I’m no saint, but it won’t be too bad for me. Why do you think I hang around the Rev, here!?!” They believe they can acquire salvation by osmosis, by simply being in my presence, rather than working out their own salvation, as Paul wisely instructs (Philippians 2:12). Really! People have these ideas. It’s the opposite of guilt by association. It’s innocence by association. Think about that one for a minute: Me, innocent, pastor or not!?! We chuckle, but there are intelligent, well-adjusted persons who engage in this kind of magical, superstitious thinking.
In defense of these persons, they recognize their own failings. They know that they can’t earn salvation on their own, or even on their own terms. If heaven’s in the cards for them, it won’t be because they’re card sharks. They require a help, a goodness & righteousness beyond their own. They’ve got things correct that far.
The mistake they make is believing someone else, like me or you, can make it happen for them, that someone other than God incarnate can grant them forgiveness, guarantee the salvation of their souls, & provide them safe passage to heaven. We can point them in the right direction, but as I’ve said before, I’m not the Savior & neither are you. That job’s taken!
We don’t necessarily see ourselves in the glowing light that others view us. The point is that they perceive us this way, if only because we go to church. That being the case, there’s some merit to the logic of depending on us to get them to heaven, or believing that our goodness can lessen their eternal punishment.
Again, in their defense, consider stories like our lesson today. After all, in the Old Testament, God saved persons because of & for the sake of others’ righteousness. Today, those “others” would be you & me. Abraham persuasively argues, “Will you save these folks, God, even if only a few good individuals exist?” That’s plainly stated. Our lesson reveals that God’s will is always to save, rather than to wrathfully punish.
In the New Testament, God still saves folks because of the righteousness of another. Only this time, it’s because of the righteousness of one person. So, indeed, there is a good soul who can save others. That good soul would not be me, or you, or some saint. That good soul would be Jesus.
People don’t have to do it (salvation) all on their own. There is a perfectly right way to get help & get to where they want to go, without doing all the work themselves. One can quite legitimately “cheat” by lightening their sentence & getting to heaven when they acknowledge their sinfulness in God’s eyes. Yet, when they do so, instead of relying on just any old someone’s righteousness, they/we must depend on Christ’s righteousness. Make the leap from you & me getting/making them right with God, to Christ who saves.
No one, not one of us is righteous in & of ourselves & by our own doing, no matter how hard we try, no matter what exalted opinions others have of us, or we hold about ourselves. Only Jesus Christ is supremely righteous. It’s His name which all heaven & earth exalt, that is the Name Above All Names, that is the one which saves. On Jesus we must depend.*
Abraham interceded on behalf of others, did so with integrity & authenticity, & entrusted their salvation to God’s mercy (-- to His ever-righteous Son). We can do no better.
In the Name…. Copyright 2008 by G.D. Knerr at
* - I’m tempted to end the sermon here, but I need to make clear the wholistic integrity of the Old Testament & New Testament scriptures, the legitimate link between Abraham & Jesus. --- Abraham didn’t literally know Jesus. They were separated by centuries. Abraham did know God as intimately as any human ever did. By virtue of such a faithful relationship, Hebrews (11:8ff) assures us that Abraham (essentially) knew Jesus. Anyone who knows the Father as well as old Abraham, knows the Son, too.