Resurrection and Forgiveness
RUMC April 29, 2012
For ten years, the man had not talked to his father. Now he is sorry. He knows that he is the one who pushed his father out of his life. He would love to do something to reunite with him. He can't, because his father's funeral was last week.
A young woman struggles with her relationship with her sister. Her sister has this long list of hurts she believes were caused by the woman. Some real and some imaginary. The woman struggles to find a way to bridge the gap and express her love. The sister says there is no need; "stay away, my life is better without you."
It's 1:30 in the morning and a Christian man is returning to bed. It's the third time that week he has snuck out of the bedroom to look at internet porn. He hates himself for it and wonders whether God can forgive him… again. He knows that he has to change. He isn't sure how can he change something that seems so deep and powerful inside of him.
She has always been an active member of the church. Whenever something was happening, you could count on her: every event, every committee, and every project. When she is at the church, she feels close to God and yet, more and more often she doesn't want to take part. She often feels distant from God and resentful of the church. She is far too busy and feels like she has to cut back. Every time she says "no," she feels like she is a disappointment to God. She doesn't want to let her church down either, but there is no joy.
Maybe it isn't your father, or your sister, or pornography, or the church that weighs on your heart today; but let's not pretend that we are any different or any better than our four friends in these four stories.
Each and every one of us has experienced the breakdown of relationships, habits as strong as iron cages, wounds that tear at our guts, and hurts that rip at the fabric of our faith. The natural human responses are regret, shame, and guilt. Each and every one of us has, to a greater or lesser extent, wrestled with regret, shame and guilt. There are no painless answers. There is no easy escape. There is no quick remedy to regret, shame, and guilt. . . However, there is an answer. It was not painless, easy or quick- but the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the one and only answer to our regret, shame and guilt.
Starting with verse 13, Paul backs up to the beginning of the story. "Once you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcison of your sinful nature."[i] YEP, that is where we are all right. That is our problem. We are dead in our sins. Unable to act. Unable to change. Unable to fix ourselves.
However, we don't have to fix ourselves because God fixed us. Listen to this. Paul talks about a "record that stood against us with its legal demands."[ii] Paul is talking about an IOU, or a bond, or a promissory note. We are listed on that legal document as being in debt and it stands against us and holds us as debtors. Our soul has been mortgaged to sin.
Paul writes, "He erased the record that stood against us." The picture here is that in Jesus Christ- by his cross and resurrection- God just erased the record of our debt. Blotted it out. Eliminated all evidence of the debt. He wipes it away. He cancels all of the debt that stood against us and burns the mortgage. And when he wipes the debt away, he wipes away all legal obligation. He wipes away all the legal consequences. He wipes it clean like a chalk board and starts over.
God forgave our trespasses. Forgave those broken relationships. Forgave our weakness that succumbs to temptation. Forgave our self centeredness that makes us think we are the center of the world. Forgave our regret, our shame and our guilt.
God, however, was not done. He then took everything that was on that IOU and gave it to Christ. "He set this aside, nailing it to the cross."[iii] One way of understanding this is to picture a titulus. A titulus is the technical name for the sign that hung over Christ's head on the cross. It said "king of the Jews." Remember the chief priests wanted Pilate to change it to say, "this man said he was the king of the Jews," and Pilate wouldn't change it.
That sign was called a titulus. It was common to post notice to all who would see that this man was dying for these particular crimes. Therefore, Paul is saying that when Jesus was put on the cross, God himself made a titulus. He took all the sins he had erased from your IOU and my IOU. He took the balance of the mortgage on our souls. He took sin's payment book and wrote them on Jesus' sign, and he nailed it on to the cross with Jesus Christ. On that sign was a comprehensive list of my sins and yours.
1. All the things that we have done that have fallen short of what God calls us to do.
2. All of the things that we have done that have been hostile;
3. All of the things that we have done that have been selfish,
4. All of the things that we have done that have willfully turned away from God,
He lists them there and at the bottom is the verdict of God's own holy law, "you must die for this." You must, there is no other solution. That is what the law of God does. It holds up God's standard and says; if you do this, you will die. By God's law we must die for our sins. And so, God took these accusations against us and nailed them to the cross with Jesus. My friends, when Jesus died we did too. Our old sinful selves, our rebellious selves, out hostile selves, our selfish selves, our hateful selves, and our sinful selves died with Jesus on the cross.
The law has nothing more to say to us. The law said that Terry Plocher deserved to die for the kind of person he is. Terry Plocher died with Christ. The law can no longer condemn me. I am forgiven permanently. Did I do anything to merit that? NO. It's a miracle of grace.
I am dead to sin AND
AND
AND alive in Christ who was raised from the dead. Which leads to the last verse of this passage.
Not only are we dead to sin by the power of the crucifixion, alive to Christ by the power of the resurrection, but also in the resurrection Paul says, God "disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them."[iv]
That's the end of the story
· We are no longer subject to the power of sin.
· We are no longer slaves to the lure of sin.
· We are no longer bound by the chains of sin.
· We are no longer controlled by the influence of sin.
· Sin is disarmed and holds no more sway in our lives.
---do we give ourselves over to sin? You bet. Most of us every day. But the point is --- we don't HAVE to. We are no longer sinners. We have been given not only forgiveness for our offenses, but victory over the very real power of sin.
Sin no longer sits in the driver's seat. Sin is no longer in charge. The power of sin over your life and mine is gone forever.
So let's think about those people that I mentioned earlier. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ means that that man who was never able to reconcile with his father is still fully and finally forgiven, no matter how great a responsibility he had for the pain that he gave to his father, no matter how many times he could have dealt with it, but refused. No matter how hard his heart was, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ he is forgiven. The law says that he should die for what he did to his father. In Christ he has died and in Christ he now lives. God has done it all.
The woman who has been refused forgiveness by her sister is called to understand that the lack of human forgiveness doesn't mean that God hasn't forgiven her completely and fully. If God does not accuse you who else can? She is forgiven completely. In Christ she has died and in Christ she now lives. God took that guilt away, nailing it to the cross. God did it all.
The man who is repeatedly committing the same sin, he hears an amazing message of grace. God has the capacity to forgive him again and even again. Every time he repents and truly turns back to God, God chalks a new line or a new starting point. Yes, he needs to change. But the good news is he CAN change. The past is forgiven and put far away from him. In Christ he has died and in Christ he now lives. God took that shame away, nailing it to the cross. God did it all.
The young Christian who is wearing herself out needs to confront that part of herself that still believes that she has to wear herself to a frazzle in order to be loved by God. She is no longer slave to her works but is saved by grace. She doesn't have to kill herself saving the world, it's far too big. And besides that in Jesus Christ, God has already done it all. In Christ she has died and in Christ she now lives. God took that guilt away, nailing it to the cross. God did it all.
No matter what our regret, shame or guilt is about- we too can turn back to God. Yes, we need to change. But the good news is we CAN change. .
In Christ I have died and in Christ I now live. God takes all my remorse, guilt, and shame away, nailing it to the cross. God did it all.
In Christ you have died and in Christ you now live. God takes that remorse, guilt, and shame away, nailing it to the cross. God did it all.
Thanks be to God who, in Jesus Christ, has done it all. For me and for you.
· In the name of Jesus Christ.
· By the cross of Jesus Christ.
· By the power of Christ's resurrection, YOU ARE FORGIVEN!
Wonderful sermon! Thank you for sharing your experience.
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