A Recipe for Life

                                          Romans 5: 1-10

         

 

          If you look on the church calendar, today is listed as Trinity Sunday, the Sunday following Pentecost Sunday, during which we traditionally remember the Trinitarian God whom we serve. If you look in today’s bulletin, you will note that we honor recent graduates of kindergarten, high school, nursing school, college, even seminary. If you look in today’s newspaper, chances are you will find an account of the South Carolina state high school baseball championship game, in which two of our members played key roles. A second look at today’s church bulletin discloses that the message is taken from Romans 5, a passage having to do with peace with God through faith. Also in the bulletin is an announcement that today our church will hear information on why it should not sever its connection with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).   

One might legitimately ask why today’s message begins with references to calendars and bulletins and newspapers, when all we are here to do is to hear the biblical message. One might legitimately ask what baseball and kindergarten have to with God’s peace through faith. One might wonder how in the world so many apparently different issues can possibly be incorporated into one message.

Baseball, graduation, denominational change, Trinity. Those are topics which on their face seem divergent at best, inappropriately mixed at worst. On closer examination, we might, in common Jesus-speak, answer these questions with a question: If the day to day affairs and activities of the people of God cannot be wed to the message of God, then why is that message worth hearing? That, too, is a legitimate question, and it begs an answer.

The apostle Paul is writing to a church he did not start in a city he has not yet visited. He would later be in Rome under house arrest and he would have a ministry there, but not at the time he wrote to the Romans. He spends the first four chapters talking about the need for justification and the way to achieve it. You will remember justification as what happens when we believe in God. Our sins are forgiven. We are justified. It is “just as if we had not sinned.” We are righteous; that is, we are positionally righteous. But positions change. We won’t stay righteous unless we are in a continual state of turning from sin and being forgiven. So righteousness is not just a state of being, but a target as well.

In the first part of chapter 5, the subject for today, Paul turns to the consequences, the fruits if you will, of that righteousness. He tells us what righteousness brings, and its signature gift is peace. In addition, Paul points to access to grace and to hope as other gifts of righteousness. All of these gifts come to us by virtue of being justified by faith, and that faith comes from and manifests in Jesus Christ.

Paul says the blood of Christ saved us from God’s wrath and that is wonderful, but there is much more to justification than just being saved from a terrible outcome. There is the promise that by his death, Christ reconciled us to God. Think about that. Christ made it possible for those of us who believe to be reunited with God. Color doesn’t matter. Race, nation, gender don’t matter. Just belief. Just faith.

But there is more. Not only do we have the possibility of reconciliation. We have the promise of salvation, for Paul goes on to say that “now that we are reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Through Christ’s death, we can be reconciled to God. Through Christ’s life, we can be saved!

In this letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul makes it clear that the common denominator is belief, not ethnicity or any other identifier. He uses the pronouns we and us all through chapter 5 because he wants us to understand that as Christians, we have become members of a different family, a family which has access to the grace of God, expectant hope in the outcome of not only our lives but in God’s universe, and faith that it all will come to pass.

It takes a little time to see the Trinity in this passage, but it is certainly there. We have peace through Jesus Christ, says Paul in verse 1. God’s love pours into our hearts in verse 5, and it does so through the Holy Spirit.  On this Trinity Sunday, Paul points out for us in Romans 5 the love of God the Father, the peace of God the Son and the outpouring of both through God the Holy Spirit.

Paul goes on to tell us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In other words, while we were disobedient to God, enemies of God, uncaring of God, unnoticing of God—that’s when Christ died for us. He loved the “us” we had not yet become. Paul also reminds us that it is not only the blood of Christ that paves the way, but the life of Christ that lies at the end of that road of life, the life that promises us not just forgiveness, but salvation.

This morning, we recognize graduates of all ages. Some have just tasted school. Others are farther along the way. Some have finished their formal schooling and are beginning to apply the tools they have learned as they enter the workplace. They have experienced achievement of some sort.

Today, we also recognize teammates of a high school baseball team. They have played for a state championship. That alone singles them out. At the time of this writing, they had one game to go. One game to determine champion and runner-up. We now know that result. I feel fortunate that as I composed this message, I was not privy to the score of that final game—fortunate because the score has little or nothing to do with what they have accomplished.

Today, we will listen to someone from our parent denomination. The Presbytery wants us to stay in this denomination. Our elders have voted to leave. Soon, that final decision will fall upon this membership. The decision is large, but not enormous. It’s about being aligned with God. Can you feel righteous, right with God, in this denomination? If not, is there another with which you can? Is there room for change, for diversity? Can unity in God’s church still be achieved in division?

Can unity exist in diversity? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 that it takes all the members of the body to make it work properly. Watching the baseball team play the other night, I was reminded of that concept. Imagine a baseball team playing without a shortstop! Absent even one member, it’s hard to compete as a team.

Can diversity exist and still have unity? Look around at all the ages represented in these graduates, from 6 to well over 60, and yet here we all are, worshipping the same God. We will not all come to that table in the same way or at the same time, but come we can and come we will. Our diversity will only make us stronger.

So this morning, let me invite you to focus on the life of Christ, the life that promises you everything you ever could hope for. It is that life to which we should aspire. What does your life look like? Is it reconciled? If it is, is it being lived out for Christ? It doesn’t matter how many educational credits you receive, unless they are a path to serve your Lord. It doesn’t matter whether you actually won that state championship, as long as you played in the game. In the long view of Christianity, it doesn’t even matter what brand of Presbyterian you are. It does matter whether you are a Christian. Are you following where he leads? Are you true to the Word of God which speaks to you through the Holy Spirit? Have you found the ingredients necessary to live a life worth living? You can’t ever be worthy of the sacrifice that has been made, but you can be aware. You can have faith, accept the free gift of God’s grace and live expectantly with the hope that comes from such belief.

Today, these graduates and teammates represent some degree of success. Each in his or her own way has tasted victory, moved up another rung of the ladder. But success is a tricky measuring stick for life. We must take care that what we seek is worth the effort. Competition alone is not enough. Championships alone are not enough. Degrees and diplomas alone are not enough.  

Here’s a little practical advice I received last week in a card. This is the way it defines success. It is:

          SETTING GOALS

                   but not in concrete.

          STAYING FOCUSED

                   but turning aside to help someone

          FOLLOWING A PLAN

                   but remaining flexible

          MOVING AHEAD

                   but not too fast to smell the flowers

          TAKING A BOW

                   but applauding those

                   who had a part

                   in your success.

 

I think Paul would approve of that message. That sounds like success to me. It is a combination of perseverance, and growth, and unselfishness. Now just sprinkle in the faith that God sends us and you just might have a recipe for life.