First week of Lent - March 8, 2006

Pentecost 4 June 8, 2008– = Romans – Dads – what would you do?

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St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bullhead City

Dr. Earl J. Pierce

Grace, mercy and peace - - -

As promised, this week we take = up the word Justification. And, as luck would have it, wink, wink, nod, nod, it also happens to be Father’s day. A connection? Of course. Let’s start with a look at Father’s day from the child’s point of vie= w

Now, let’s hear about father’s day from our heavenly father’s point of view:

Romans 5:6–15

⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die= 212; ⁸but God shows his love= for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since, therefore, we have now been justified by = his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled = to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall w= e be saved by his life. ^11<=
/span>More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now rece= ived reconciliation.

12Therefore, just as sin came into the world throu= gh one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— ¹³for sin indeed was in = the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no la= w. ¹⁴Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type = of the one who was to come.

15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For = if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God= and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.<= /span>

What did we see from the child’s point of view? Dad needed help baiting the hook. Dad needed to read a bedtime story. Dad needed a kiss good night. And so on through the story. In other words, while the boy thought the dad was something of a klu= tz, the father, on the other hand, as we can see so well, was doing everything = for the benefit of the child. Dads, what would you do?

We could say that the dad was doing nothing to justify himself in the eyes of = his child. He had no need to display how good he was, or to explain why he was doing all those things, he was just being the dad and that’s what a d= ad does.

But, that’s not always the case is it? Often we try to justify or defend o= ur actions. We try to explain our way of doing things in a way that makes us l= ook right or correct, don’t we? And it doesn’t take a dad to do tha= t. Any man or woman tries to find ways to make themselves look better, feel better, many times regardless of the consequences, good or bad, to others. =

It ends up being all about me! The ultimate example of self-justification. Oft= en the cost of self-justification is elevating yourself over others. And the b= est, and easiest way to do this is to put the others down. If we are honest with ourselves, we will find it nearly impossible to raise ourselves up, or to f= ind examples in our own lives that are truly all that much better than someone else. This is conclusion Paul comes to as well as he writes:

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and= so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13for sin indeed was in t= he world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no la= w. 14Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses,”

From father to son, from mother= to daughter, death has reigned. Death is the ultimate denial of self-justification. We can try to hold ourselves up, or we can try to blame others, the reality is death. We can hold ourselves up saying I will die for you, but Paul reminds us of the foolishness of this “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person = one would dare even to die.” You might even consider dying for your child= . I have read accounts of a person being willing to give a life-saving organ to= a child, even though it would cost the parent’s life. Dads, what would = you do? I’ve yet to read an account of that actually happening, except in one, and only one case, ̶= 0;For while we were still weak at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.R= 21; That’s the only case I know of. And in that case, that one case, we f= ind our justification.

The heart and soul of the lutheran understanding of Christianity lies in that w= ord, justification. Or in the complete expression of it – “justifica= tion by grace through faith.” Luther said and every Lutheran theologian ov= er the centuries have agreed that this is the statement by which the entire Christ= ian church stands or fall. God’s words through Paul emphasize this:<= /o:p>

15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by = the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

It is holding on to this fact (which is the gift of faith) that justifies us in the eyes of God. It is God’s grace, God’s willingness to overlook our sins because pay= ment for those sins were made by His son, his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, th= at allows us to stand in the presence of God, not just someday, but today, rig= ht here, right now, fully justified, fully forgiven, fully free, and fully lov= ed by our great and wonderful God. That’s justification.

Some = have tried to come up with an easy way to remember what justification is using t= he simple little phrase “just as if I’d never sinned.” Cute, short, simple. We could go so far as to see the son and the father in that light. The father did all those things because he loved his son and was wil= ling to overlook some slights, some faults, and love him just because. Dads, what would you do? Of course, each of us would love our sons or daughters that w= ay.

But, = it is not so cute and simple with God. We can say “just as if I’d nev= er sinned” which is quite true in terms of how God sees us now. Now, only after the death of His son, now, only after the payment for sin has been ma= de, because the fact of the matter is that I have sinned, you have sinned, and = I am going to sin again, and perhaps, you might, as well.

No, justification by grace through faith is the phrase and there is really no w= ay of turning it into a nice little T shirt saying. Because the cost to God ca= nnot be measured through a nice little T shirt. In verse 9 we read – havin= g been justified by his blood. There is the cost to God, the life of his only son.=

That = is why justification by grace through faith is the heart-beat of Christianity and = of the Bible, from first to last. We understand this phrase to be core of our teaching and the teaching of the Bible. Other traditions see other things at the core. One branch of Christianity sees the “sovereignty of GodR= 21; as the central teaching. Another sees the authority of the church as key. Luther once said, if you cut the Bible anywhere, it will bleed Christ. Yet, some think it is not enough just to emphasize justification. One could say = we are justified if demonstrate our faith in Christ through our actions, throu= gh our works. Or we are justified if we response to God’s call on our li= ves. Either of these, lead us right back to self-justification, don’t they= ?

It is= only when we see the darkness of our sins through the power of the law that we c= an enter the bright light of God’s grace through his wonderful gift of faith. Then and only then can we see ourselves as justified in God’s sight, justified and declared worthy of salvation, worthy of a place in hea= ven, worthy for a seat at the table now, and hereafter.

That = is why justification by grace through faith is so critical to our understanding of Christianity. Everything flows from that centrality. Any lesser place puts Christianity in the same category as the many man-made religions throughout= the world. All of the others seek to find God, find out what God wants, how to please God, how to justify yourself in the eyes of God. In other words, all others are about self-justification.

Only = in Christ do we have a God who comes to us, comes to us in person, in the pers= on of his son, in place, in time – at just the right time, and He still continues to come to us in His Word, in the blessed sacraments, we have God right here with us, through no effort or cost to us whatsoever. He opens our minds to the message; he opens our hearts to his love. And through His bloo= d he opens heaven’s door to all who believe.

Dads,= moms, what would you do? – I know you would do the same if you could for yo= ur children, but thank God we do not have to, because Jesus did. That is the message we as parents have to share with our children and grandchildren = 211; As God’s word reminds us: “Fathers, bring your children up in t= he training and instruction of the Lord.” And what better place to start than with justification, and no better place to end. Amen=