But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.
Romans 5:15-18
This fall before a graveside service for a distant member of the church, a woman came over and introduced herself. She told me that she belonged to a nearby Methodist church and that she was a Lay Speaker, and a leader in that church. “I remember your father,” she said. He was the pastor in Coventry when I was a teenager.”
“He came to visit at our house one day and he was talking to my mother. And he told me that they were starting a youth group and he invited me to come. I told him that I didn’t really believe in Jesus, so I didn’t want to come to the youth group.
“My mother was so embarrassed. And she was so angry with me. But your father just smiled. ‘That’s okay,’ he said. ‘You think about it, and if you want to attend, we’d love to have you.’ He didn’t get upset. And he didn’t tell me I was wrong to think that way. I’ll always remember that.
“And then later I went to the youth group and it was great. But I’ll always remember the way he reacted.”
Dad died four years ago today. And the truth is that although I loved him dearly, and told him so, I did not adequately appreciate his gifts as a pastor.
When the great theologian Karl Barth was asked to sum up his many complex volumes of “Church Dogmatics,” he said,
Romans 5:15-18
This fall before a graveside service for a distant member of the church, a woman came over and introduced herself. She told me that she belonged to a nearby Methodist church and that she was a Lay Speaker, and a leader in that church. “I remember your father,” she said. He was the pastor in Coventry when I was a teenager.”
“He came to visit at our house one day and he was talking to my mother. And he told me that they were starting a youth group and he invited me to come. I told him that I didn’t really believe in Jesus, so I didn’t want to come to the youth group.
“My mother was so embarrassed. And she was so angry with me. But your father just smiled. ‘That’s okay,’ he said. ‘You think about it, and if you want to attend, we’d love to have you.’ He didn’t get upset. And he didn’t tell me I was wrong to think that way. I’ll always remember that.
“And then later I went to the youth group and it was great. But I’ll always remember the way he reacted.”
Dad died four years ago today. And the truth is that although I loved him dearly, and told him so, I did not adequately appreciate his gifts as a pastor.
When the great theologian Karl Barth was asked to sum up his many complex volumes of “Church Dogmatics,” he said,
Jesu liebt mich, ganz gewiss,
Denn die Bibel sagt mir dies
“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
That would also have summarized Dad’s theology, although it sounded much more profound coming from Barth. Dad was not a theologian, but he was a pastor, and he understood the practical application of the faith.
He was convinced that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.” And he was convinced that God’s grace, in Christ, extended to everyone, whether they believed it or not. Sadly, Dad’s intuitive response to a questioning teen made a lasting impression in part because it was not what she expected from those who call themselves Christians.
In Paul’s exposition of Christ as the New Adam, his basic assertion is that in Adam we have all sinned and in Christ we have all been justified (forgiven and made right with God).
For two thousand years, the majority interpretation of that passage has been that the first “all” refers to everyone (everyone has sinned) and the second “all” refers only to baptized Christian believers (all baptized believers have been justified).
Ironically, this notion that sin is unlimited while grace is restricted, is one more evidence of our tendency to “sin” in our biblical interpretation. So (ironically) it proves the first of Paul’s assertions. We are all self-centered and we want to believe that grace applices only to us and to the people who think like us. We believe in sin, but we have doubts about grace.
Why is that? In traditional language, it’s because we are “sinners.” Paul told the Romans that grace was greater than sin, but many Christians have trouble believing that. Our (sinful) tendency is to believe that sin is greater than grace.
But Dad had it right.
No comments:
Post a Comment