WHO IS IN CONTROL?

  Romans 7:15-25a

Union Avenue

There is good news and bad news about the 235^th birthday celebration we are enjoying this weekend in the United States of America.

The bad news is that we have not perfected our communities; we still have hungry people; we are riddled with crime; discrimination is still alive and well; political discourse is often downright nasty; and not everyone is happy all of the time.

The good news is that we keep trying; we have created systems that allow for change; our mode of government makes provision for diverse opinions and varieties of outlooks.  Historically, we have tried to repair inbred discrimination and continue to do that – even as slowly as it might seem.  Through 2 1/3 centuries our laws have been altered as our vision about rights of individuals and community living have expanded. I believe we have the potential to keep working toward the good.

The Apostle Paul didn’t have the advantage of living in the United States of America.  And the law that he not only claims as good – but in other writings congratulates himself on keeping – is not nationalistic law.  Rather, it is religious law.  There are significant differences.  The similarities are in how laws (both national and religious) hold community life in balance.  They set standards for rights and responsibilities.  They set limits for behaviors, which will injure or impair some and/or give undue power to others. They create control.

So, law within the context of faith is not bad.  It’s just not enough.  Even if we were able to attend to all the clear-cut and ambiguous standards of living in community together …even when we are able to keep up the disciplines of prayer, service, good stewardship of life to which God calls us … it isn’t enough.

No…let’s stop there…because even speculating or saying that we might be able to keep up all that we know we should may be exterior posturing for others … surely no one claims that in full honesty to themselves.

And this is where Paul is taking us in his anguished wrestling.  We know what is right …we know how to live … often we set standards of our life even higher than what is merely expected.

Gloriously, we are able to meet the standards … sometimes …and even our own expectations … sometimes …but not all of the time.

Then we churn with Paul, as we do we do what we do not want to do.

Better laws … better standards … even lower expectations will not solve the problem.  The gift of Jesus Christ is not about better law.  It is not even about the reality of breaking the law.  Acts of omission or commission do not encompass the whole story.

We are incomplete within our very nature.  The why of this is incomprehensible (at least to me).  As believers in an amazing God who created this spectacular world, we have to scratch our heads about why the ‘creation job’ wasn’t a bit more complete. I like organization and order …and I would like a much more controlled world than the one in which we live! Wouldn’t you have done it more perfectly – especially if you had unlimited resources?  Because we grow in how to do it better is precisely why we continue to progress in creating better laws, fairer practices, more benevolent services.

And God longs for us to be in this co-creating process …and gives us inspiration, energy, challenge to keep it going.

And yet, we will never get it done perfectly.  The good news – the Gospel of Jesus Christ – proclaims that we are not sufficient … no system of law … no ethical rule of life … no community development procedures will take us to the pinnacle we desire or which will replicate God.

That same Gospel proclaims that when we recognize … acknowledge … and confess our insufficiency we will be made whole in a way that we can never know on our own.

And so the insufficiency with which we have been created is counted as sufficient when we lean on the source and creator of all life – who is God.  This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This is why we claim him as the sovereign of life – he has shown us and brought us into this fullness.

As the Church – the living Body of Jesus Christ – we are called to share that revelation with each other and to the rest of the world.  Finding ways to carry out this responsibility that will resonate with others (and ourselves) provides a growing edge … a good one!

Entering an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting sounds quite similar to our morning scripture.  Rather than ‘Hi, I am Suzanne, and I am an alcoholic’…which would be the entry line for an AA meeting …and the response would be ‘Hi, Suzanne’… Christians, when we gather could say ‘Hi, I am Suzanne, and I am a sinner’.  The 12 steps of AA claim that it is only through that absolute confession and the reliance on a higher power will there be a change in life.  Additionally, an alcoholic understands that the process is day-by-day.

As loving, small, tightly woven a community of faith might be we do not expose our vulnerabilities as openly as any 12-step program.  And yet, at the foundation of our community – if we are a Christian community – is the knowledge that we all (as Paul claims) do not do what we want, but do the very thing we hate.

The badge of honor we must proclaim does not stop there, however.  Claiming our sinfulness … or even identifying others’ sinfulness (which has unfortunately been a more vocal part of church history) is not only uncomfortable, messy, and moves quickly into game playing … it is NOT the whole story…. it is merely the base point.

When we accept that we are inadequate (sinful) and trust the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives to make us complete —then we have a story to tell …then we have a proclamation to share … then we are living out the fullness to which God longs… and we truly know and proclaim who IS in control!

Oh, that we might know and speak that today!