Wrecked and Reconciled!

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (June 15, 2008)

Rev. Steven D. Spencer – Pastor Messiah Lutheran Church, Salem, OR

Romans 5:6-15

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- 13 for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

Grace, peace and mercy from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, Amen!

As some of you may know, I use to work for AAL. At one point we moved to a small Midwestern town. There in that small town, right on Main Street, with a store front window, I opened my office. I was sitting in the office one day when a young man came in and said, “I need to buy some insurance!” I have to admit I was a little bit shocked. That just didn’t happen very often, and especially with a young person. So I said in half jokingly voice, “okay so what type and how much?” The young man said automobile insurance and I need just enough to fix the fender. It was my unfortunate task to explain that you need the buy the insurance before the incident. With a dumbfounded look on his face the boy said, “But I didn’t need the insurance before, the car wasn’t broke. You don’t fix something if it ain’t broke.”

You know he got something right. You don’t fix something that “ain’t broke!” The part he didn’t understand was the need. He didn’t see a risk of damage or injury and therefore saw no need for insurance. One of the things I shared with him was that we need to buy insurance before we need to use it, but usually aren’t able to purchase it when we really need it. By then, it’s too late.

The reason I share this story is that St. Paul faced a similar issue with the Romans that he is addressing in our text today. Though this epistle is directed to the Romans, we should not suppose that Romans, in the proper sense of the word, are meant; rather those who dwell in Rome Therefore, the Christian Church of that city: those among the Romans, that includes gentiles who had been converted to the Christian faith, yet the principal part of the Church in that city seems to have been formed from Jews, sojourners in Rome, and the proselytes to the Jewish religion who are now Christian.

In reading the Epistles of St. Paul to the Romans and also those to the areas surrounding Greece we see St. Paul dealing with the influences of the Judaizers, those Jewish converts who hang on tightly to the rules and regulations of Judaism. Although they embrace Jesus as the Messiah they still insist that they must live the law, that the law saves them. They are like that young man that visited me in my office. They don’t see a need. They don’t see the need for a savior that did everything for them. They follow Jesus because He is the new Moses. He will lead them to a new Promised Land here on earth as long as they live sinless lives.

St. Paul doesn’t want them to be deceived. He wants them to see the need for complete and total redemption. Verse 6: “For while we were still helpless, at just the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Imagine what they might be thinking when they heard these words! “That’s wonderful that Jesus came for those who needed Him. Of course He came for all the gentiles that didn’t know of Him before. But we had the promise, we had Abraham and Moses and the Law. We didn’t sin like they.” But now Paul turns the Law against them. Verses 7 & 8: 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Paul shows them and us as well, that we are turned in on ourselves. We do whatever it takes to protect ourselves more than our neighbors. Remember, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s fine and well if our neighbor wants to borrow a cup of sugar or may need a car jump started. But to die for them, come on! But Jesus didn’t hesitate to die for us even when we were still counted as His enemy.

Again, how would the Judaizers have heard this? What would have they been thinking? “This is a great teaching or even a great moralism; we should be more sacrificial in our love. And it’s wonderful that Jesus died for those sinners. Fortunately we weren’t the cause of His death.”

You might be thinking come on Pastor how could you know what they were thinking? I want you to think back to 2004 and the release of Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of Christ. It caused quite an uproar at its release. Especially amongst certain groups of people, but in particular the Jewish people. Time and time again in the news were Jewish representatives claiming that the movie pointed at them for killing Jesus. Time and time again they said that Jesus didn’t need to die for them. Therefore, they would have never killed Him. The fact is that we all killed Jesus. Our sin is the reason Jesus died. Oh, we might not have personally nailed His hands to the cross. But those nails weren’t what kept Jesus on the cross; He could have left the cross at any time. But our sin is what kept Him on the cross. We, the whole world, are responsible for His death.

Let me also make this point about anyone who doesn’t see the need for Jesus to die for them. They are like the young man who didn’t need insurance until the accident. When they finally see the need it may be too late. St. Paul didn’t want to risk this so he says in verse 11: And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 

St. Paul takes away the notion of reconciliation through the Law. It is through the Lordship of Jesus Christ and Him alone. The Law condemns and kills and leaves us forsaken and wrecked. And just in case some still think they have lived a live good enough to not need Christ reconciliation Paul shares verse 12.  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—  This takes away the idea that we are sinless. We are born with sin.

Yet original sin still strives to remain. We might be tempted to think that is all and well but I’m not so bad, I really am not.  I’ve been a pretty good person most of my life. Yeah, I’ve sinned sometimes. Little sins like small white lies like, “I didn’t ask if her perfume was cologne or a colon. I didn’t say well that smells like a 4 day dead skunk, or is that the new scent “M.A.nure”, instead I said, wow that’s an unique perfume, French by chance? That doesn’t count as sin does it?

We need also to be reminded that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). So St. Paul reminds us in verses 12 through 14: 12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- 13 for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses.

Through one man, Adam, we all inherited sin. Unlike the young man that came into my office and claimed he didn’t need insurance before he had no damage. We all are damaged from day one. No excuse, no way out we have sinned. The Law requires perfect obedience. One sin and you’re damned to hell. It’s not like insurance; you can’t wait until you need it. By the way, the young man told me that if he knew something was going to happen he would have purchased it just before the incident. He just didn’t think he needed it. The Romans just didn’t think they needed Jesus as the redeemer. They didn’t see the risk; they didn’t see the incident that had already come upon them.

In the spirit of St. Paul let me be perfectly blunt. We are sinners, we are born in sin. Without Jesus we are damned and going to hell. St. Paul shows us in verse 13 that the Law imputes our sin upon us and is not there to save us. It shows us how incapable we are to save ourselves. In other words, we cannot work our way into God’s grace for we have already sinners. Now what do you suppose the Judaizers are thinking? (Pause) O’ boy now what? We’re without excuse; we’re in deep lutefisk.  Do you think St. Paul accomplished what he was trying to convey? Not yet!  The best is yet to come.

Paul says in verse 15: But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. Works and self righteousness isn’t the end of the story. One man, Adam, condemned all mankind and One Man, Jesus the Christ, created reconciliation with God!

Remember how I started with the story of the young man that came into my office asking for insurance that he couldn’t get. We are all like that young man. We have already had the accident that left us uninsurable. We have sinned by simply being who we are, born into sin and death.

What I didn’t tell you is that I felt so very sorry for the young man that I wanted to help him. I didn’t know what I could do. So I asked him how the accident happened. It turned out that his grandfather had given him the car just days before. He and his brother were playing touch football and his brother had tackled him into the fender. Tuff touch football! He took me outside to look at his car and as I looked at the fender, I could tell which part of his body dented the fender. It was shaped like a heart. I asked him to open the trunk. It was an older car and the inside of the fender was exposed. I reached down into the trunk and making a fist I hit the inside of the wrecked fender and with a loud pop the fender was restored.

It’s interesting the word reconciliation means to be restored. God reached down into this world and making His Son flesh, He restored our relationship with Him. While writing this sermon I thought about how Jesus with His hands and His loud voice reconciled the world when He said: “It is finished.” Jesus fixed what was wrecked with His hands and a loud voice. You were wrecked and have been reconciled. For Jesus has renewed that which was broken and has created a right spirit within you. Wrecked and now reconciled, made right with God. For Jesus sake and in Jesus name, Amen!

Now may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen!