I am a sinner.
I have never had any other gods before the Lord our God.
I have never made an idol for myself in any form.
I've never murdered. I've never committed adultery. I've never robbed a bank, kicked a baby, hit my girlfriend, poured sugar in somebody's gas tank, cheated on my taxes, staged an elaborate prison break, or faked my own death in order to get out of taking a final exam.
But I am still a sinner.
I'm an Eagle Scout. I spent some time earlier this summer volunteering at a day camp for inner-city children. I have spent late nights on the phone with friends going through unfathomable heartache, simply providing a listening ear and a comforting word of love and support. I have quite literally visited the sick, fed the hungry, and clothed the naked.
And yet, I am still a sinner.
I'm a sinner in the exact same way that the apostle Peter, the apostle Paul, and Mary Magdalene were sinners. I'm also a sinner in the exact same way that 1960's folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary were sinners. I'm a sinner just like the President of the United States is a sinner, just like every President of the United States before him has been a sinner, just like every President of the United States after him will be a sinner. I'm a sinner, you're a sinner, we're all sinners.
Am I a good person? I'd like to think so.
But I'm still a sinner.
Am I a bad person? No...
But I'm still a sinner.
So no matter how proactively good I am, I'll still be a sinner?
And the fact that I'm nowhere near the heinous jerk that guys like Stalin and Genghis Kahn were doesn't matter, because I'm still every bit the sinner they were?
Huh.
Sometimes in our lives – weddings, funerals, birthday parties that have enough candles to warrant a visit from the fire marshal – we all try to focus on how good one person is. We stand up and talk about all the times that our friends or family members saved all those kittens from all those trees. Or we talk about all the hours spent reading to children at the public library. Or we talk about the times where the self was completely ignored for the sake of others. And then we think, “Wow. I want to be like that.”
And some other times – high school reunions, state executions, Election Day – we all focus, usually without as much effort as before, on just how horrible a person is. We think about how cruelly some people go through life, not caring who they offend, malign, or destroy. We think about people who steal millions of dollars from charities. We think about people who willfully scar children for life – whether the scars are physical or emotional. We think about people who openly spit in the face of everything good, pure, clean, sweet, and decent. And then we think, “Wow. I may have my problems, but at least I'm not like that.”
And sometimes we forget that neither of those are actually good enough.
You see, just being a good person isn't good enough to get you into heaven, and not being a bad person is nothing to be proud of.
In Luke 17:7-10, Jesus says,
“Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'”
Sometimes we look at ourselves and we see the good things that we've done and we start to think we're something special. We start to think that our good works make us special. We start to think that the positive impact we're making on the world ought to be rewarded. We sometimes think that the good stuff we've done makes us God's favorite.
What we forget, though, is that even when we're treating every body we come in contact with in such a way that the very aroma of Christ fills the air, we're still only doing exactly what we were told to do.
Nobody ever throws a party for the plumber when he fixes the leaky faucet. Nobody ever writes Congress to extol the virtues of the taxi driver who stops at red lights and uses his turn signal when changing lanes. Nobody pins a medal on the Wal-Mart cashier for ringing up your items and taking your money. It's what they're all supposed to do.
And nobody gives you a plaque when you make it through a day without murdering someone, do they? Nobody ever makes you the grand marshal of the homecoming parade for managing to go a whole week without kidnapping, do they? Nobody ever asks for your autograph because you didn't commit perjury in federal court, do they? Of course not. That's simply living up to the expectation of a normal person.
Don't think you're special for doing what is expected of you. Sometimes we become complacent in the good that we do, and we think we're doing enough to get by. The thing is, it's impossible to do enough good. Nobody's perfect – but we had sure better be trying!
One of the biggest snags about doing the right thing and being a good person is that we're going to get a lot of flak for it. Things won't be easy.
Luke 6:17-36 is the beginning of Luke's version of the Sermon on the Mount. Listen to what Jesus says.
He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
And back over in Matthew 5:10-12, we have a different wording that drives the point home again:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
As Christians, we are called to be different. Peter calls us “aliens and strangers in the world.” In Romans, Paul tells us that we are not to conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed. Jesus tells us, in plain Aramaic, be nice to folks who aren't nice to us, turn our cheek when someone slugs us, and give money to people we know won't ever repay us. That's pretty weird stuff, by the world's standards.
And if there's anything that the world has consistently proven since the beginning of forever, it's that the world does not do well with weird. The presence of Christianity upsets the boat. When the people of God step into the light and make waves for justice and universal love, the pattern of the world is thrown off. The world is self-seeking. Christians are self-sacrificing. The world hoards money like it makes a difference. Christians give out money like it's water. The world laughs at the suffering of its enemies. Christians weep for the suffering of another one of God's children.
We're supposed to be weird! We're supposed to be different! We're supposed to be SO weird and SO different that we just don't fit in anymore. We're supposed to be SO weird and SO different that the world decides it can't handle our presence. We're supposed to be SO weird and SO different that the world tries to turn us away from our calling by mocking us, threatening us, chastising us, excluding us, marginalizing us, and demonizing us. The world wants us to go away. The world wants us to be quiet. The world wants us to just leave them alone.
Being picked on means we're doing a good job. Living the Christian lifestyle guarantees persecution and suffering. There are simply too many verses throughout the Old and New Testament that tell us that the people of God will face hardships simply for being holy people that we can't ignore this one simple fact: if it's easy, you're doing it wrong.
It's not going to be easy to love someone who hates you. Do it anyway. It's not going to be easy to forgive people who steal from you. Do it anyway. It's not going to be easy to pray for those who mistreat you. Do it anyway.
Jesus asks, What difference does it make if you're nice to the people who are nice to you? Even people who have never heard of God do that. Who cares if you love people who love you? Sinners do that.
In Romans 2:12-15, Paul says:
“All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)”
What Paul is telling us is that whether you know what's expected of you or not, sin is sin. And it doesn't matter that you have gone to church since the day you were born; HEARING the law, knowing the truth, doesn't make you righteous. OBEYING the law, FOLLOWING the truth – that is what makes you righteous. He goes on to say that even the Gentiles follow parts of the law – there are parts of God's law that are common to everyone because of simple human decency and courtesy. So living up to the standards of what the world expects good people to look like isn't enough. We've got to look to a higher standard.
In Matthew 23, Jesus has a few words for the men who thought that looking good in front of people was good enough.
Verses 1-11
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
“Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'
“But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
(In Deuteronomy 6, God gives the Israelites the “shema” - “shema” is the Hebrew word that means to hear or to listen. And so in Deuteronomy 6:4, when we read “Hear, O Israel”, we are reading what would have been “Shema Israyil.” The “shema” is one of the most important texts in all of Jewish thinking. It says:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
A phylactery is a small box with the shema, written on a small piece of parchment, placed inside. Then that box has a leather strap run through it, and that strap is then used to tie that box on the forehead and on both arms. Most phylacteries were small – no more than an inch wide. However, Jesus is pointing out to us here that there was a trend among some people to make their phylacteries bigger – to make their visual dedication to the word of God more prominent. But the thing is, God didn't care how big their phylacteries were – He cared that they obeyed what the script inside the phylacteries said. He cared that they loved Him. But it's really hard for someone to see how much you love God. You can't just pull out a barometer of your love for God and show people in measurable units how much you love God. So sometimes folks try to come up with other ways to show people how holy they are. Sometimes we still do the same thing. Sometimes we wear the cross around our neck, but we don't carry the cross on our back. Sometimes we'll put the magnetic fish on the back of our car, but we forget to be fishers of men.)
Verses 13 and 15
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
Jesus had no patience for the Pharisees, and with very good reason! Their dedication to being admired meant that they had to live lives that could be shown as perfectly righteous when held up to a quantifiable standard. The Pharisees had to live up to a list of rules so they could tell everybody else how bad they were for not following all the rules. They thought of themselves as the teachers who were above the students, the leaders of the woefully lost, the fathers of the errant children. But Jesus says that those very same Pharisees did far more harm than good. Their rules and lists kept people from truly pursuing God. They put all these hurdles in the way of reaching God, when all God really asks of us is that we love Him. And when we love Him, we love His creations – the people around us.
Verses 23-28
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
It's easy to focus on checklists. It's easy to follow rules for every situation we can possibly come to. It's easy to say that because we've done all the things we were asked to do, we're good people. But doing it easy isn't doing it right, and doing what we were asked to do is nothing to be proud of. How often we come to church doesn't matter if we don't ever try to bring anyone with us. How much scripture we can quote doesn't matter if we don't let it enter our hearts and change who we are. Don't worry about what people think of you, worry about what God thinks of you. It doesn't matter what people think about our relationship with God. It matters what GOD thinks about our relationship with God.
Another thing we have to remember is that just like other people's opinion of our faith doesn't matter, our opinion of other people's faith doesn't matter. Your Christianity is your own, and involves no other people.
Romans 2:1-4
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
Paul is telling us here that none of us can possibly follow all the rules, which means that we can't possibly expect anyone else to follow the rules, either. God's going to look after things on his own. He doesn't need us making sure people live up to OUR version of HIS standards. After all, you didn't MAKE the rules, so you don't get to ENFORCE the rules.
And the big kicker of it is, rules don't even help anyone get closer to God, anyway! They only stand in the way.
Romans 8:1-11
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Checklists and rituals are empty and disconnected, but a passionate and genuine desire to know God will bring about a change of behavior anyway. When we seek God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we come to know His Spirit. And when we come to know that Spirit, it bears its fruit in us. And, as we know from Galatians 5:22-23, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And against such things there is no law."
But you know what? There's no law FOR those things, either! You can't legislate morality. You can never make a list of rules so complete that people will become genuinely good people because they followed the rules. So what should we do? We have to realize that sometimes some of our fellow Christians just aren't going to act the same way that we do, but they can still be just as much of a Christian as you and I are. Just because they don't fit our picture of a perfect Christian doesn't mean they missed the point.
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