So, I went to a Bible study type setting tonight involving a community of friends wanting nothing more than to share a bit of time together each week to try to be more of just that--a community. Someone shared this passage from Matthew 22:36,37: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with allyour heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'" This reflection, which I had never really pieced together, came flooding into my mind:
In high school, I remember overhearing a conversation between students in my photography class. One of the students was obviously a homosexual. He was also very open about his religion, Christianity. Another student, a conservative Christian, questioned the gay student's status of "being saved" since he was a homosexual. The homosexual responded confidently with something to the effect of, "I know I'm saved. The bible says, 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.' And I do that." I remember thinking, "If he only realized that he is not loving the Lord with all of these, since he is leading a homosexual lifestyle."
The implication of this statement was, "He doesn't love God like that, but I do." I had taken the commonly trodden path of focusing on certain sins in people (namely things like homosexuality or losing one's virginity or having an abortion) and taken myself out of the picture of sin as one a bit more "together" or one who didn't have these inhibitions to loving God. What I didn't take into account was my own sin of pride, as shown in this judgement against gays, my own lust, and my continual putting of idols in the place of a soul-satisfying God.
I didn't realize that, not only did this homosexual not measure up to God's standard of loving him, but neither did I. And not only did I not live up to that commandment/requirement of perfect love, but that that commandment is impossible to live up to! There, I said it. Christianity is impossible! Part of the beauty of the gospel is that it is impossible. You can't live up to what's required of you. The only person to ever live up to this requirement was completely God, namely Jesus. Thus, in the despair that we cannot live up to the most important commandment, and that we will further not be able to be saved in this manner, let us flee to Christ. We must stake everything on the one who did love perfectly. In this we will find humility. We will no longer condemn our neighbor the homosexual, but rather we will sypathize with him/her, knowing that their only hope is our only hope, that Christ save us based on his merit, not ours.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Thursday, February 09, 2006
real grace for real sin
This is an excerpt that I received at RUF from a letter that Martin Luther wrote to Spalatin. Spalatin was apparently well-known for giving advice. Luther received word that Spalatin had one day given someone confident advice and then woke the next morning that it was actually very terrible advice--harmful, sinful advice. Thus Luther writes him this letter, filled with the offense, biting and uncomfort of the gospel, yet wonderfully freeing in the rest that giving up on our own righteousness provides.
"...my faithful request and admonition is that you join our company and associate with us, who are real, great and hard-boiled sinners. You must not, by no means, make Christ to seem paltry and trifling to us, as though He could be our helper only when we want to be rid of imaginary, nominal and childish sins. No! No! That would not be good for us. He must rather be a Savior and Redeemer from real, great, grievous and damnable transgressions and iniquities, yea, and from the very greatest and most shocking sins; to be brief, from all sins added together in a grand total...Dr. Staupitz [Luther's mentor] comforted me on a certain occasion when I was in the same hospital and suffering the same affliction as you, by addressing me thus; Aha! you want to be a painted [meaning having a good external appearance] sinner, and accordingly, expect to have in Christ a painted savior. You will have to get used to the belief that Christ is a real Savior and you a real sinner. For God is neither jesting nor dealing in imaginary affairs, but He was greatly and most assuredly in ernest when He sent His own Son into the world and sacrificed Him for our sakes."
"...my faithful request and admonition is that you join our company and associate with us, who are real, great and hard-boiled sinners. You must not, by no means, make Christ to seem paltry and trifling to us, as though He could be our helper only when we want to be rid of imaginary, nominal and childish sins. No! No! That would not be good for us. He must rather be a Savior and Redeemer from real, great, grievous and damnable transgressions and iniquities, yea, and from the very greatest and most shocking sins; to be brief, from all sins added together in a grand total...Dr. Staupitz [Luther's mentor] comforted me on a certain occasion when I was in the same hospital and suffering the same affliction as you, by addressing me thus; Aha! you want to be a painted [meaning having a good external appearance] sinner, and accordingly, expect to have in Christ a painted savior. You will have to get used to the belief that Christ is a real Savior and you a real sinner. For God is neither jesting nor dealing in imaginary affairs, but He was greatly and most assuredly in ernest when He sent His own Son into the world and sacrificed Him for our sakes."
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