Reflections on "Am I Saved?" Romans 5: 6-21; John 3: 1-21

This was a routine, if you will, sermon on salvation when I left for home on Friday.  By Saturday night as the stories from Charlottesville filled the news, I began to wonder if I needed to preach something different and directed explicitly to the events unfolding before us.  I opted not to change the sermon.  then, I preached it from the pulpit early Sunday morning, and had to make changes.  I took out anything that seemed extraneous to the topic given the context of preaching in light of what was happening in our country.  It was not a sermon totally focused on current events, but I hope it spoke to this particular moment in time.

"Am I Saved?"  Romans 5: 6-21; John 3: 1-21; August 13, 2017; SAPC, Denton

Romans 5: 6-21 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.[e] 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— 13 sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14 Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16 And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. 17 If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19 For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification[f] leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Introduction:  A few weeks ago, Dr. Cassell in his sermon noted that Karl Barth, the Reformed theologian, believed that as Christian we should hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.  

I first heard that story from a theology professor in seminary.  he made the point that if our sermons, if what we said about God, could not speak to what was going on in the world at that moment, then was it really gospel?

that has stayed with me for many years.  In some ways, it serves as a litmus test — if the gospel I am proclaiming is cannot be heard as gospel, than is it really gospel?

I thought about that last night as I worked on my sermon, wrestling with Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul’s comment about sin and salvation, while also hearing, reading, and seeing images from Charlottesville.  And I wondered, what is the gospel Paul writes about salvation that is still heard as gospel this morning, in light of what is taking place in our country.

Move 1: The God who acts as judge, is also the God who saves. 

a.  Paul’s recognizes our human sinfulness.

1.  He describes humans as weak and ungodly.

2.   he calls us sinners.

3.   he notes that we are enemies of God.

4. Strong words.

5.  But we recognize their truth.

6. We need only look at the unfolding of events in Charlottesville to see our human sinfulness in full view.

7. racism on full display.

8.  Hatred spewing out in words and violence.

9.  Self-absorption that cannot allow people to see beyond their narrow view.

10.  We stand and denounce the sin we see.  We must speak about and name injustice and sin.

11.  But even then, we have to be careful about pointing the finger at those “others,” as if we have not sinned before God.   Casting stones can be a dangerous activity.

b. To be clear, God is the judge.

1.  As Karl Barth describes it, God says, “No” to  our humans sinfulness.

2. We are sinners.

3. We deserve God’s condemnation.

c.  But hear the good news.  God acts to save us.

1.  Christian Century, 6/27/2012; “A Hopeful Universalism,” Paul Dafydd Jones (27):  “My point is this:  in light of Christ's person and work, sin no longer sets the terms for our relationship with God and God's relationship with us.”

2. “While we were yet sinners,” Paul tells us.

3. the God who acts as judge and says “No,” to our sin,  chooses to send Christ and say “Yes” to our salvation.

4.   this is not Jesus the hero coming to rescue us over and against the God of wrath.

5. God’s desire to love us leads to God sending Christ to save us.  There is no idea here of Christ as one who stands over against God to appease God’s wrath or to satisfy his justice on behalf of humanity. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor 5:19).  (Word & World 13/2 (1993) “TEXTS IN CONTEXT” Copyright © 1993 by Word & World, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. 

 God’s Saving Work in the Letter to the Romans:

Lectionary Texts for the Pentecost Season

ARLAND J. HULTGREN

Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota

6.  Daniel Berrigan, who repudiates our alternate gospels of pseudo-salvation in his poem Credo. 

I can only tell you what I believe; I believe:
I cannot be saved by foreign policies.
I cannot be saved by the sexual revolution.
I cannot be saved by the gross national product.
I cannot be saved by nuclear deterrents.
I cannot be saved by aldermen, priests, artists,  
plumbers, city planners, social engineers
nor by the Vatican,
nor by the World Buddhist Association
nor by Hitler, nor by Joan of Arc,
nor by angels and archangels,
nor by powers and dominions,
I can be saved only by Jesus Christ.

“The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself” Weekly essays by Dan Clendenin  Essay posted 16 December 2013  http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20131216JJ.shtml

Move 2:  Salvation question is about more than our personal salvation.

a.  Salvation is primarily about the God who acts to save, not about our choice of accepting God’s offer of salvation.

1.  we tend to make salvation a personal thing.

2.  To ask “are you saved?” is to make the act of salvation into a very personal, a very private, and a very particular act.

3.  It makes it about me.  Or about you.

4.  We Presbyterians want to push back on that notion of salvation being so private by pointing out that salvation is first and foremost about God’s desire to redeem all of creation.

b. Notice the examples Paul uses - Adam and Christ.

1.  Adam - Hebrew for human

2. Representative of all humanity.

3.  Adam’s sinfulness is lived out by each of us, by those who have come before us and those who will follow us.

2. Christ dies for all of us.  For those who have come before us and those who will after us.

3.  As Paul writes, “Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19 For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

c.  As we view the world around us this morning and see racism and violence in Charlottesville, or continued violence in the Middle East, or the opioid epidemic in our country, it is not enough to say, “Well, I’m saved.  That’s good enough for me.”

1.  God does not settle for saving just you or just me.

2. God desires for all the world to be saved.

3. christ came to bring salvation to all the world.

Move 3: leads to final point — salvation invites us into a process in which we grow in our response to God’s grace.

a.  In more evangelical traditions, the salvation question is often met with a very precise answer.

1.  A specific moment – maybe at a church campfire on the last night of camp.

2.  Or listening to a particular sermon on a particular Sunday.

3.  Or after an event like a car accident where the person felt that God had literally steered her to safety.

1. It does not seem to work that way for Nicodemus.

1. Jesus invites him into what seems like a process.

1. Not a single moment, but a changed life.

1. In some ways, how much easier it is simply to remember the exact date and time you were saved.

1. A lot harder to live each day as a person who has been changed by following Christ.

1. I was standing in line at Lowe’s Sunday afternoon waiting to return some spray paint (I ahd bought four different colors the day before to make sure I matched the color my wife had in mind!).  The man immediately in front of me made eye contact, and I asked, “how are you doing?”  “I am blessed.”  I wasn’t sure where to go with that comment, so I turned to the old reliable, “Sure is hot today.”   Actually, it turned out that it was a cool day for him because he works for a landscaper  Monday through Saturday, so on Sunday he was not outside in the sun.  After explaining that to me, he then asked me, “Do you know Jesus Christ?”  He caught me off guard, but I quickly responded, “Yes, I do.”  That seemed to satisfy him, but also end our conversation.  

He looked away and never made eye contact or spoke to me for the final few minutes we were in line together.  It struck me as odd that my affirmation of knowing Jesus Christ would end the conversation.  In fact, I was a bit worried about what his next question would be. But all I received was silence.  

I wanted to break the silence by asking where he went to church.

a.  His question and subsequent silence reflected, I think, his perspective that if I knew Jesus, if I have been saved, then there was nothing else that needed to be said.

1. My immediate thought about what church he attended, reflected my understanding that we are called to live our lives in response to God’s gift of salvation.

2. I suspect we both have a good point:  we need to know that God has saved us through the Jesus Christ; but that acknowledgement is just the beginning of our response to God’s gift of salvation.

4.  It might in fact be easier for Nicodemus to figure out a way to climb back into the womb to be born again than to give up his Pharisaical ways and follow Christ each day for the rest of his life.

5.  That’s why Jesus introduces the role of the Holy Spirit at this point. 

6.  Only by the power of the Holy Spirit can Nicodemus be born again and live his life as the new creation God calls him to be.

          7.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we respond to God’s gift of salvation by giving our lives over to following Jesus Christ. 

c.  Which takes us back to Charlottesville.

1.  it is not enough to say “I am saved,” and let that be our final response.

2.  If you are saved by the grace of God, how can you work to end racism?

3.  If God has saved you while you were still a sinner, how can you work to change our world to reflect God’s goodness?

Conclusion:  You have been saved by God.  Now follow Christ into the world to serve him.

In truth, we need both the realization that God