No Shame in Christ (Sermon 2.17.2013)
I hope that all of you had a great Valentine's Day with those that you hold dear. The fact that Ash Wednesday kicked off Lent was the same week that we also celebrated Valentine's Day is very unique. It gave us a chance to not only think about our loved ones on V-Day but it also gave us the opportunity to think about the love and grace that God continues to shower on us. It is not too late to come up with something that you would like to do (or not do) during Lent. I encourage you to make it something worth-while, something that will allow you to grow closer to God. Today's scripture comes from Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 10:8-13: "8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
This morning’s scripture really shows us that Paul’s hands were often times full. In his letter to the Romans, Paul was constantly talking to both Jews and Gentiles at the same time. Most of the time we see Paul speaking to one group or the other but rarely both at the same time. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to try to speak to two groups as different as the Jews and the Gentiles. We can tell that Paul is speaking to both groups because he is quoting Old Testament scripture which the Gentiles would not have known very well so Paul would have used a different source to relate the material to them. The Jews would have had a much better understanding of the scriptures so they understand that part but what they could not fathom was the fact that Paul was putting Jew on the same level as Gentile. You have to understand that Paul envisioned a faith much different than what we see today. At the time Paul was writing this letter, he fully thought that Christianity and the Jewish faith could and should coexist as one. All Paul had to do was convince Jews that Jesus was the messiah they had been waiting for, even though his earthly body died and they believed that it wouldn’t and he had to convince the Gentiles that Jesus was the only God they needed to worship. Both of these groups had been worshiping in their respective ways for 100’s of years and Paul was trying to get them to change that.
Romans 10:9 has been a really important scripture for me when I was younger and beginning to develop my faith. For a new Christian, this passage just really makes sense: “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” It describes a two step process that is very important to our faith. But first you have to understand that the Jews believed that they were saved by following the law of the Old Testament scriptures. On the other hand, the Gentiles weren’t sure which god was the correct one so they tried to cover their bases and pray to them all. But Paul does his best to help us understand that there is only one way to salvation, redemption and grace was through our Lord, Jesus Christ, not through the law or any golden statue. Today’s scripture is part of the larger argument that Paul is making to both groups that Jesus is the only true way to eternal life. Even as a young Christian I always kind of understood why God called us to believe that He raised Jesus from the dead but the step I struggled with is why did God have to hear us confess with our lips that Jesus was Lord? Until I realized the power of confession. I want you to think back to a time where you only thought about doing something, a time where you really wanted to do something like quit smoking or learn how to knit or learn how to speak another language or tell yourself that you were going to get caught up on laundry this weekend. Just think of a time where you only thought about one of these things where you did not tell anyone and just thought to yourself, I can do it. I would like to see by a show of hands, how many were successful. Now think of a time where you told someone your goals or ambitions, you shared the details with them and they then helped you reach them. By a show of hands, how many of you were successful now? So you can see how the power of confession helps to keep us accountable and the other aspect of this is that the confession of our faith can also serve as a witness to others. Romans 10:10 is also very important to our faith as well because it tells us exactly why each step is so important: “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
On the first Sunday in Lent, it is customary to speak about Jesus going off into the wilderness and being tempted for 40 days and nights. The scripture from one of the gospels is chosen as to help each of us “go off into the wilderness” and be tempted during Lent. Each of our temptations is most likely different but I wanted to discuss something that we all may have in common as we go through Lent together that is why I chose to go with the scripture from Romans, rather than one of the Gospels. I feel that at some juncture in our faith we come across someone or something that causes to have a feeling of shame towards Jesus, God and our faith. This shame causes us to say things we don’t ordinarily say, it causes us to do things we don’t ordinarily do. But where does this shame come from? Does it show up because we feel that we are not worthy? Does it show up because we are not secure enough in our faith? Does it show up because you feel that whatever you have done is unforgivable? Whatever the reason may be for it showing up, nonetheless, it has been there and once it is there it is tough to get it rid of. It may burrow deep down in our hearts somewhere and not so or do much. It may only peek its head out every once and a great while and not stay long but it does not take long for the damage to be done. Just take a moment to think for a quick second how many people you were scared to share your faith with because you felt some sort of shame. When Paul was writing this letter to the Romans, there was nothing worse than being publicly shamed. If given the choice of being publicly shamed or casually killed most would take death because the shame caused by you to your family was harder to live with than dying. Dying was one thing, but to do so in a shameful way could have repercussions for generations to come. The thought of being shamed in our society today has kind of lost its ability to keep us in check mostly because people will go on tv and have anything done to them for no other reason other than to be on tv. But for some reason, shame still holds an awkward place in our hearts when it comes to our faith. A common saying that I used to hear my Grandma Francie say was, “Have you no shame?” or “She has no shame!” Which meant that they were not easily bothered by what others thought of them based on their actions. In Rome, being a Christian was a dangerous thing and in fact, it was deemed a shameful thing by those who did not believe that is why Paul took it upon himself to let them all know that there was no shame in Christ, that if you confessed your sins and believed in your heart that Jesus died and rose again, that you will not be put shame. You may be criticised or persecuted but you will not be put to shame. And do you know why this is? Do you know why we will not be put to shame? Being shamed means that you have done something wrong, that your beliefs have in someway been proven to be mistaken. But if we place our faith in Christ, we will not be proven wrong. Jesus is the way, the light of the world and the world looks at faith in Him backwards. The world tells us that we should be ashamed to believe in Christ when really the world should be ashamed for not believing in Him.
In closing, verse 12 tells us that “there is no distinction between Jew or Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” In other words, there is absolutely no distinction between the most pious one of us here this morning and a drug dealer with 4 kids with 4 different women. This can be one of the hardest pills to swallow for us because we feel that God should bless us differently, more abundantly than He does others because we follow, listen and believe in Him. We feel like we ‘deserve’ more than others because of the good that we do. And we feel that others need to be punished for the pain that they cause. But we must remember what it says in verse 13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Which means that it does not matter what anyone has done, God’s saving grace is open to us all. The gospel of Luke tells us that when Jesus was taken out to the wilderness to be tempted, the Spirit was there with Him the whole time. That same Holy Spirit is with us today so even when you feel alone in the today’s ‘wilderness’ you will always have the Spirit with you. And as you walk through this wilderness of Lent, know that there is no reason to be ashamed for your beliefs in Christ because someday, Jesus will show the world that your belief in Him is justified. If you are wanting to confess so that others can see and hear so they can help you in your faith you may come forward and receive the grace that has been so graciously given to you. Or if you would like to make Fairview your own, you may do that as well, we will be very happy to have you join our group of believers. Amen.
God Bless,
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