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September 1, 2012 St. Paul's Anglican Church Chatswood - Sermons

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at primary schools in New South Wales,
or at least at the primary school that our two eldest are attending at the moment,
the school organised a Father's Day gift system.
The kids would bring in some money,
and they'd get a gift for their dad to keep for Sunday.
So I gave little Sonia some money for this system.
And when she came home, she was crying.
And I said, why are you crying?
And she said, because I didn't get a Father's Day gift for you.
And I said, oh, why not?
Were there not any left?
Did they run out?
She said, no, that wasn't the problem.
I said, what was the problem?
She said, Daddy, I spent all the money on cupcakes and ate them all.
One of life's biggest mysteries is that we don't always do what we want to do.
She wanted desperately to buy a Father's Day present,
and she was so sad after the fact that she didn't.
But it just didn't turn out that way.
I was reading in the newspaper this weekend a little segment on Clive James,
who I really enjoy as a writer and an organiser of comedy.
And he was lamenting the fact of some things in his personal life that he'd done
that had wrecked his own marriage and somebody else's as well.
And he said, you know, I knew it was wrong, and I knew it was silly,
but I did it anyway, and I wish I hadn't.
It's not just little children that do this sort of thing, but grown people as well.
If you're human, you'll know what I'm talking about.
If you're not, you probably need to replace your batteries.
We don't like self-centred people, but frequently enough, that's us.
We know what God requires of us,
but we're keen to spot it when it doesn't happen in others.
People having an affair with a married person know that it's wrong,
hence the secrecy, but we still do it, nonetheless.
And afterwards we say how silly we were.
Well, the Apostle Paul had the same kind of experience of this life.
And he writes in verse 21,
so I find this law at work.
Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
And I wonder if that's your experience of life.
And have you got any ideas about why that might be the case?
Why is it that even though we know what the right thing is to do,
and even though we want that right thing,
we still sometimes don't do it.
Why is that?
Some philosophers put this down to our fleshly bodies
as if we're a rational mind,
but we're contaminated every now and then
by a polluted stomach.
You know, my rational mind knew the right thing to do,
but my libido overcame me in a moment of fleshly weakness.
And so as a result, what they recommended
to overcome this problem was a strict regime of discipline.
Other people maintained that what we needed was more education.
And so jails famously became places of re-education,
not of punishment.
And there are many disagreements about what this source
of this recalcitrant streak within us is
and where it comes from.
Well, the Apostle Paul, in our reading from Romans today,
also experienced this weakness.
And for him,
it proved that knowing the right thing
can't make you good
and wanting the right thing
can't make you good either.
Listen to him in verse 22.
For my inner being,
I delight in God's law.
He was not an evil, malicious man by nature.
But verse 23,
but I see another law at work in me,
waging war against the law of my mind
and making me a prisoner
of the law of sin at work in me.
Now, Paul was nothing if not self-disciplined.
He was also very well educated.
But yet, Paul complains
that he's not the good, righteous, kind person
that he wanted to be.
And what he's also saying,
although he won't write it explicitly,
is that we too are not the good, kind, righteous people
that we would like to be.
Now, I don't mean this
in a trivial sense
of simply not being perfect.
Paul is not sweating the small stuff here.
He's not lamenting the fact
that he forgot to help some old lady
over the road,
cross the road,
or that he admitted to give somebody
a cup of tea at his home one day.
He's talking about real matters
where he caused real hurt
to real people.
What a wretched man I am, he says.
Who will rescue me
from this body
that is subject to death?
What a wretched man I am.
He's not talking about
trivial matters
of
niceness here.
He's talking about
the real gritty issues
of human life.
What a wretched man I am.
How could he stand
before God
knowing
who he was?
God had given Moses
very plain instructions.
Worship no other gods,
do not murder,
do not best bear false witness
against your neighbour
and so on.
In church in earlier times,
Christians used to read out
this law of Moses each week.
It was not that they had forgotten
some of the laws,
as if they were to
suddenly chirp up,
oh, do not murder,
oh, that's right.
I thought there was
something wrong this week
when I killed my neighbour.
But it reminded them
that they would experience
and did experience
this same problem.
That whilst they knew
what was right
and whilst they even
wanted what was right,
they frequently caved in
to what was wrong.
And so Paul then concludes,
so I myself,
in my mind,
am a slave to God's law
in that best sense
of the word.
But in my sinful nature,
I am a slave
to the law of sin.
Well, at this point,
you may think that Paul
is overreacting
and you may want to tell Paul
to lie down on a couch,
take a Valium
or something like that.
But Paul is not
talking about
some personal crisis.
He's describing
a big picture problem,
not just of his own,
but of all people.
You may think
that Paul's view of God
is too strict,
his standards too high.
Maybe God doesn't mind
so much
about wrong
in the world.
But Paul's
not addressing
how high
God's standards are here.
He's talking about
why there is
that thing within us
that drives us
in the wrong direction.
But by the way,
be careful about
wanting God
to lower his standards.
In any case,
Paul considers
that this bentness
within us
makes us unfit
for God
and unfit
for living
the good life
for we cannot do
what we want to do.
Well, this conclusion
is very offensive
to many people
because it implies
for a start
that Moses
and the prophets
were achieving
very little
when they spoke
the words of the law
over and over again
to the people
of Israel
as if that would help.
In my context,
in the Middle East,
the laws of Islam
are recounted
over and over again
and people are urged
to pray five times
a day
and you can't avoid it.
The loudspeakers
really fill your ears
five times a day.
But what Paul is saying
is that
even when people
know God's law
and even when
they want to do it,
this principle of evil
still lies within them
and makes them do
the opposite
of what they both do,
opposite of what they want
and opposite of what they know.
They may delight
in God's law
but that sinful nature
inside them
pushes them
the wrong way
just as it does us.
No amount of learning
religious laws,
no amount of Bible study,
no amount of meditating
on God's law
can fix this problem.
The problem is so much
inside of us
that Paul calls it
part of our flesh,
part of our makeup.
It's like a recalcitrant streak
within us.
Paul details this problem
because he doesn't want
the people in Rome
to whom he's writing
be under any illusions
about where
their hope comes from.
And he gives us
this hope
in chapter 8
verses 1 to 4.
It's a very dense paragraph
but the ideas
are simple enough
so please follow along
if you've got it open
in front of you.
And he begins in verse 1
and he says,
you see,
there is now
no condemnation
for those
who are in Christ Jesus.
No condemnation.
God knows
what we are like.
No fear
before God's
justice.
No fear
of the future
for those
who are in
Christ Jesus.
And why?
Well, in the next verse
he explains,
and it turns out
that both
the death
of Christ
and the resurrection
of Christ
play a role.
He says in verse 2,
because through
Christ Jesus
the law
of the Spirit
who gives life
has set you free
from the law
of sin and death.
death.
This
recalcitrant
streak
within us,
this
law
of sin
and death,
Paul says,
can only be broken
by the Spirit
who gives life.
The power
that God,
that Paul
sees in himself,
making him do
the opposite
of what he wants
and what he knows,
this can only
be dealt with
by God's
Holy Spirit,
the power
of the Spirit
who gives life.
And this is
fairly close
to what
systematic theologians
call
sanctification,
if you ever
read theology,
the breaking
of sin's
power
in us.
And notice
that this new life
comes from nothing
that we do,
it comes from
the Holy Spirit
in Christ.
It's not a result
of years
of spiritual
discipline,
it's a gift.
Now look
at verse 3.
For what the law
was powerless
to do,
because it was
weakened
by the flesh,
God did
by sending
his own
son
in the likeness
of sinful flesh
to be a sin
offering.
And so
God condemned
sin
in the flesh.
Verse 2
talked about
the Holy Spirit
and the new life,
but this verse
speaks of another
aspect,
the killing off,
the condemning
of that recalcitrant
streak
within us,
the condemning
of sin,
the death
of Jesus
as a sin
offering.
sin.
The problem
we've been
talking about,
this sin
in our life,
needs to be
addressed
honestly
by God.
Sin
needs to be
condemned,
otherwise
it will still
continue to live
amongst us.
God acts
here
something like
a judge
in removing
criminals
from society.
He condemns
sin
so that it
might no longer
be present.
But God
is a little bit
different
to human
judges.
Human judges
send people
to jail
and find them
and God
condemns sin
too,
but differently.
There are
two main
differences.
Firstly,
he absorbs
the punishment
in his
own
son.
Now,
in the original,
there is
an emphasis
on the words
his own
son.
I've got
three sons
and a
daughter.
And by using
this phrase
his own
son,
Paul is
reminding us
that
God's
love for
us is
so great
that even
his affection
for his
own
son
was called
into account
and was
sacrificed
at great
cost.
By his
own
son,
God
condemned
sin.
And that's
why there is
no more
condemnation
remaining
for us.
God
is
not
free
from
condemnation
because
we now
live
perfect
lives.
I
certainly
don't
and you
don't
either.
It's
not that
there's
no
condemnation
because
God
has
suddenly
relaxed
his
standards.
It's
not that
there's
no
condemnation
because
we hope
to do
better
in the
future.
There's
no
condemnation
because
God
has
dealt
with it
with
his
own
son.
At
the cross
God
condemned
sin.
That
absorbing
of the
condemnation
of sin
into
himself,
into
his
own
son,
makes
God
different
to a
human
judge.
But
there's
also a
second
way in
which
God
is
different
to an
ordinary
judge.
And
that
God
is
interested
in
imparting
new
life
to
people.
The
image
of
dying
and
then
facing
God's
judgment,
how
people
often
think
about
this
life,
you
know,
you
live
your
life
and
you
die
and
then
you
go
before
God's
judgment
seat.
That's
true
enough,
but it
overlooks
the
fact
that
God
is
not
just
interested
in
evaluating
our
lives
at
the
end
of
them.
He's
more
interested
in
now
changing
your
life
and
renewing
you
and
in
giving
you
new
life.
God
is
far
more
involved
in
our
lives
than
that
earlier
image
might
suggest.
He's
not
like a
judge
to whom
we are
a
stranger
until
we
give
an
account.
He
is
our
Father
who
condemns
sin
and wants
to
impart
new
life
to
us
even
now.
Judgment
is
not
the
end
of
life
in
God's
eyes
but
the
beginning
of
life.
And
you
can
see
this
new
life
mentioned
in
verse
2
and
in
the
next
verse
4
which
speaks
of
this
end
result
in
order
that
the
righteous
requirement
of
the
law
might
be
fully
met
in
us
who
live
not
according
to
the
flesh
but
according
to
the
spirit.
God
wants
the
good
life
for
us.
He
wants
that
righteous
life
for
us.
The
life
that
we
might
know
about
and
even
want
and
desire
but
we
cannot
attain
it.
God
wants
that
life
for
us
and
the
only
way
it
can
be
obtained
is
through
Jesus
Christ.
it
was
premature
to
think
of
God
as
being
overly
strict
or
lacking
generosity.
You
can
see
that
because
he
sent
his
own
son.
You
can
see
it
because
he's
interested
not
just
in
condemning
people
but
in
giving
them
new
life
according
to
his
own
spirit.
The
Christian
gospel
facts
are
that
Jesus
died
and
rose
again.
His
death
mysteriously
took
the
place
of
our
death
and
his
life
is
mysteriously
imparted
to
us
through
his
Holy
Spirit
which
gives
life
in
every
sense
not
just
in
the
sense
of
bodily
resurrection
which
we
await
but
in
that
new
obedience
to
God
by
which
we
can
even
resist
that
recalcitrant
spirit
within
us
when
you
become
a
Christian
both
this
freedom
from
condemnation
and
this
new
life
become
yours
and
both
of
these
death
and
resurrection
are the
gift
of
God
God
we
will
still
continue
to
struggle
against
sin
and
we
will
still
sin
further
on
in
chapter
8
Paul
says
if
Christ
is
in
you
your
body
may
well
be
dead
because
of
sin
yet
your
spirit
will
live
because
of
righteousness
God
intends
for us
the new
life
the righteous
life
with
him
and
both
of
these
a
freedom
from
condemnation
and
a
life
freed
to
serve
God
in
all
righteousness
are
God's
gift
God
is no
longer
just
a
judge
but
a
judge
who
gives
life
through
his
own
son
where
do
you
put
your
hope
for
a
right
standing
before
God
where
do
you
put
your
hope
for
a
renewed
life
of
righteousness
of
love
is it
in your
great
learning
that you
educate
yourself
to resist
the recalcitrant
spirit within
you
no that
won't
work
is it
in
some
ascetic
regime
of
strict
discipline
no that
will have
no effect
either
the only
place of
hope we
have for
a right
standing
before God
and the
hope of
living a
life
according to
God's
holy law
in righteousness
and love
is through
Christ
Jesus
let's
pray
our
father
especially
on this
father's
day
we praise
you
for showing
yourself to
be such
a kind
and generous
father
who knows
our weakness
and who
pays a
high price
to gain
our
freedom
father we
praise you
that you
want us
to lead
a new
life
in
Christ
Jesus
grant us
your spirit
that we
might live
according to
it
grant that
we might
live this
new life
grant that
we might
bear the
fruit of
that new
life and
that everyone
may see
how changed
we are
let our
light shine
in the
world
so that
people may
praise your
name
and we
ask it
for the
glory of
your son
Jesus
amen