Notes From Jon

Romans: Part 4
“Justified”
2:25 – 3:31

At the risk of being redundant (and since the hearers will need to be reminded each week) we’ll review where Paul’s taken us so far:

· No one has an excuse: everyone, no matter who or where we are, has some idea of a greater power, and some idea of what is right and wrong.

· Even though we have known God, we still turn away from him.

· Our sinfulness is a result of our turning from God – he allows us the freedom to choose obedience or disobedience.

· Because we have all turned from God in some way, the quantity or quality of the sin is not for us to compare or judge – only God can give judgment. We can give only grace.

· We have failed to live up to the Law – and no matter how much we might preach, our obedience or disobedience speaks volumes about the God we worship.

Paul Drives His Point Home

Moving forward from the end of chapter 2 and into chapter 3, Paul is closing out this part of his argument:

25Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

28A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.

Circumcision, you might recall, was a sign that God instituted among the Jewish people. If someone was to be a covenant-keeper with God, they had a physical sign to show for it. But like so many other things, this act that was meant to merely be a “sign” had taken on significance beyond mere symbol. The Jewish people in Paul’s time obviously believed that circumcision itself gave them righteousness – that the righteousness had taken place of the SYMBOL. Read the rest of this entry »

Whew!  Holy Week is over – and what a ride it’s been.  This has been one of the most meaningful Lenten seasons I’ve had in a long time (more on that in another post), and to me, this sermon was a culmination of it.

I really wish I could show it to you in video format to give you the full visual effect.  So I’ll have to ruin the “surprise” and tell you what happens visually at the end.  I had a sheet hung on a pole that represented the veil of the temple.  And when we talk about how the ripping of the veil represents God’s ripping the barrier between himself and us, I ripped the sheet from top to bottom and stepped through it.

Hope your Holy Week and Easter have been meaningful.  Christ is Risen – He is Risen Indeed!

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“Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?”

Sermon for Easter Sunday (year A)

March 23, 2008

Matthew 28:1-10, Ephesians 2:13-20

Introduction – the question

As I listened to the accounts of Holy Week in the Gospels this past week, I practiced “spiritual listening” – that is, I prayed that God would open my ears to hear something, and then I would listen for something to attract my attention.  When I do that, God never fails to catch my attention, and this time was no different.  I first heard this question last Sunday night as we worshipped at the Community Palm Sunday service.

It’s a simple question.  It comes in John’s account of that Thursday evening before the crucifixion (13:1-17).  Jesus is talking about what it means to be “great,” and he decides to give them an example of what “greatness” really is.  He goes among them, and one-by-one, he performs one of the most menial tasks  a person could perform in the ancient near east.  Countering their resistance, quietly going about his work while they watched in stunned silence, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet.  Then he turns to them and asks, “Do you understand what I have done for you?” (13:12)

Read the rest of this entry »