Sunday
07/05/20 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Do You Still Make Mistakes To?”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 45:10-17
New Testament
Scripture: Romans 7:15-25a
Gospel Lesson: Matthew
11:16-19, 25-30
Friends, brothers, and sisters, once again it is good to be back after a
restful week of vacation. During this time off, Melissa and I were both able to
relax and to reflect upon the past few months of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and the
more recent racial and social unrest in this country.
This Sunday is also the 5th
Sunday after Pentecost, and July 4th Sunday. I say July 4th
Sunday or weekend, as yesterday was the day that on July 4, 1776 the founders
of this country ratified the famed Declaration of Independence. At this Second
Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this group of our nation’s
founders created this historic document to tell King George III of England,
that the then Thirteen Colonies are now free and independent from British rule.
At both Continental Congresses, there
were men that were from free states and there were men that were from slave
states. Some of these men supported slavery, and some did not. Yet, every July
4th, we have this holiday that we call Independence Day. We wave American
flags, we have fireworks, barbeques, etc. So, what are we really celebrating on
the July 4th federal holiday? You see, the Declaration of Independence
that was signed in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4,
1776 said in the preamble that regarding our founder’s intentions that:
“all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence).
Some have said to me though, “but how
can this statement in the Declaration of Independence that was directed at the
injustices of British rule over the Thirteen Colonies, be true if slavery existed
until 1865?”
The answer is this, the founders and
the framers of this country and were flawed men. Some of them were completely
opposed to the institution of slavery, but they wanted to birth a new nation. Is
it true to say then that this country started without all people being free?
Absolutely.
Further, the Thirteen Colonies then
fought our revolutionary war from 1776-1781. We then had a lose and ineffective
government from 1781-1789, called “The Articles of Confederation”. Our present United
States Constitution, or our main governing document, was created in 1787,
ratified in 1788, and took effect in 1789. Our first President of the United
States, and a slave owner, was President George Washington. Can you tell that I
used to be a social studies teacher?
So, it is undeniable then that what
our Declaration of Independence said about all people being created free and
equal, did not extend to all people on July 4, 1776.
Further, the Bible tells us, that if
we repent of ours sins, turn to Christ and follow him as Lord, then we will be cleansed
of our sins, renewed, restored, and that we will live with Christ forever. Yet,
after these spiritual conversion experiences, while we are truly saved and
truly forgiven, we are not perfect. What Christ did on the cross can remove our
sins and offer us salvation if we repent and turn to him, but that does not
make us perfect.
More specifically, in the Methodist
Movement, we along with other Christian denominations believe in a doctrine
called “Progressive Sanctification.” This doctrine is different than the
doctrine salvation and our eternity with Jesus. Progressive Sanctification is the
doctrine that if we walk daily with Christ and live the Christian life, that
God will continue to purify us and sanctify us. While we are changed spiritually
the day that we come to Christ, we will still become more and more like Christ,
as we walk with him. Forgiveness, salvation, eternity are free gifts though Jesus
Christ, but becoming like Christ that happens over the life of a Christian.
This is why the founder of Methodist Movement, John Wesley said, quoting
Hebrews 6:1-3, that we are “moving on to perfection.”
So, what is my point, and where am I
going with all of this? The point is this, the founders of our country were not
perfect, and neither are we. Only God is perfect.
I am preaching on this July 4th
Sunday largely from the Apostle Paul’s reading for this morning once again,
from the Book of Romans. Now the Apostle Paul, as we know of him today, was
first the Jewish religious leader, Saul of Tarsus. Saul of Tarsus hated the Christians,
persecuted them, and was determined to destroy them. Saul was on the road to Damascus,
Syria when Jesus appeared to him. Saul repented, accepted Christ, and because
the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul was forgiven and made new in Jesus Christ.
Yet, he still wasn’t perfect. Once again in our reading for this morning from Romans
7, the Apostle Paul says of himself:
“I do not understand my
own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now
if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it
is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that
nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right,
but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want
is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but
sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what
is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost
self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind,
making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man
that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through
Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God,
but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin” (Rom. 7:15-25a, NRSV).
One of the greatest teachers, evangelists,
writers, and leaders in the history of our 2,000-year Christian Church, is
saying that even though he was forgiven and has salvation in Christ, he still
struggles with sin.
What’s the point? The point is this,
even when the Apostle Paul came to Christ, he still was not perfect, as we are
not perfect. God, however, is continuing to mold, shape, and refine us into his
perfect image. I would argue then, in the same way that our founding fathers
were broken, flawed, and sinful, the United States of America has been living
through its own form of progressive sanctification.
What I am arguing on this our Fourth
of July Sunday then, is that America like us as Christians, is continuing to be
perfected. We are “moving on to perfections”. When we met Christ were not perfect,
and when our country was founded it wasn’t perfect either.
I spoke about this same topic in our
July church newsletter. I also know that our church newsletter is the most
exciting thing you read every month, but if you did not read my July newsletter
article, I referenced the preamble of the United State Constitution. What does
the preamble of the United State Constitution say? It says this:
“We the People of the United States,
in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure
the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preamble_to_the_United_States_Constitution).
What
I focused in on in my July Pastor’s Newsletter article, was the very first line
that said, “In Order to form a more perfect Union.” In being a
permanently licensed New York State middle and high school social studies
teacher, I learned and taught that our United States Constitution is a “living
document.” This means what our founders created was designed by creation to
grow and to develop. As Christians, after we meet Jesus Christ and as we walk
with him, we progressively grow and develop. We become more righteous, more holy,
and more sanctified.
I
love our United States Constitution. I love our country, but we all know that
not all people were free when it formed. I don’t love that we had slavery, that
women could only vote only about 100-years ago. I don’t like segregation,
racism, inequality, poverty, and disco. Like our faith in Christ grows though,
so does this country in which we live. I believe that after we accept Christ
that we are moving “into a more perfect union” with God, as our country is
moving into “a more perfect union”. I am not perfect, our founders were not perfect,
you are not perfect, but Christ is indeed perfect!
I
am thankful and grateful that I am able to stand here this morning with the
freedom and the liberty to be able to preach and to talk the way that I am I talking
to you all right now. Yet, I want to grow closer to Christ. I want to know him
more, be more like him, and be an even better Christian, husband, and pastor.
Like you, I also want to see this country continue to grow and be better. We
were not founded in the country as “A perfect Union,” our founders were
attempting to create “A more perfect Union.”
Some
though, seem to want to destroy our government, our free market economy, and
replace it with something “perfect.” Here is the reality though my friends, we
are always striving for “more perfect,” but we in and of ourselves will never
make “a perfect Union.” We are broken, sinners, greedy, envious, slanderous, jealous,
and while I believe that we can make our country even better, I believe that
only a “perfect” union will exist when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth and
sets everything right.
I
still love the Fourth of July, even though as a country we have some serious
realities to contend with in the history of this country. Instead of tearing
down this great republic though, I think that we should do what we always have done,
continue “to make a more perfect Union.”
I
really love singing “The Battle Hymn of Republic,” that we just sang this
morning. This hymn, as I have said, is a Union Army hymn. Our Union soldiers
sang this hymn in their camps and in marching in the US Civil War. Hundreds of
thousands on men, both black and white died to end the sin of slavery in this
country in 1865. On the day that slavery ended, our country was continuing “to
make a more perfect Union.”
Five-Hundred
years ago, the great reformer Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation,
but he didn’t try to destroy the church. Learning, growing, loving, leading,
and reforming, this is what the church does, and what America has always done
to. We don’t need to hate our country, but I think that we need to continue to
work “to make a more perfect Union.” This is what we have always done.
The
sins of slavery, segregation, racism, and all of the bad things that are still
part of our history, are there, but so are so many great things. This country
in which we live, is the richest and the most powerful country in the history
of the world, and can be a beacon of hope, light, love, grace, and mercy for
the whole world. I love my country, and I also love the church. The church
exists all over the world. As we are part of this country, we are also part of
the worldwide Christian faith. As Christians historically, we don’t tear down,
we reform. I truly believe that our founding fathers in all their brokenness and
imperfections got this, as they said that they were setting out to form, “a
more perfect Union.”
In
our gospel of Matthew reading, Jesus says once again:
“But to what will I
compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and
calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we
wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and
they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they
say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
(Mt. 11:16-19, NRSV).
Instead
of us always thinking we have the answer to everything friends, Jesus says,
come to me, and walk with me. In doing so, we grow closer to him, and we grow
in “a more perfect union” with him.
Jesus
ends our gospel lesson from Matthew for this morning, saying:
“Come to me, all you
that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(Mt.
11:28-30, NRSV).
So how do we continue to make this republic in which we
live “more perfect?” How do we continue to make Sidney and the world “more
perfect?” How does God make us “more perfect?” I believe the only and best answer
through Jesus Christ and his gospel.
There have been times in our nation’s and other nation’s
histories where some people misinterpreted the Bible. These misinterpretations
were generally not happening in the whole church, just in some areas. These misinterpretations,
like slavery, the rights of women, etc., were and are continuing to be
addressed. What is eternal and is unchanging however, is the Triune God of
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What is unchanging is God’s word, that Jesus is
the risen Lord, and that whether it is 1776 or 2020, the gospel of Jesus Christ
is still and always will be the hope of the world.
My friends, my brothers, and sisters, may God continue to progressively
sanctify us, and make us more and more like Jesus. May we also strive to live up
to the founders of this republic in which we live, as we are called to “a more perfect Union.” Happy 4th
of July weekend, and may God bless America, all countries, and all people, for
we all made in the image of God. Amen.
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