CMLC 2026-06-28 Sermon

Howdy. Have you ever had an obligation that you

wanted to get out of? Maybe you had plans with

somebody, maybe you had committed to attend something,

and by the time the day arrived, all you wanted

to do was just to stay home. And your solution

was something like, what if I call them and just

let them know that I died? Now, my sister was

hanging out with me earlier this week. And I

asked her if she wanted to go see The Hunchback

of Notre Dame. Not the Disney movie, but the

actual musical performance, which apparently

makes all the difference in the world because

the ending of the musical is very depressing.

It is not the happy ending, just warning you

in case you're going. But while we were driving,

she kept saying, are you sure you want to do

this? What if we just stayed home and watched

TV? We could watch some British crime dramas,

which is my sister's solution to everything.

But she has this habit of wanting to stay home

even when she already has plans. While I'm the

extrovert between us, she's the introvert, which

is funny because I'm the socially awkward one.

And she'll oftentimes say things that make me

shake my head. Because she'll just say, what

if we just stayed home and pretended that we

were dead and now if you were dead would you

have to go to a party well would you have to

drive across town would you have to keep your

social obligations no and if you did that would

be creepy so obviously she's not actually wishing

that she were dead she's joking because this

would end her obligations Once someone is dead,

people stop expecting you to show up. And this

is actually what Paul is getting at in Romans

seven. Because he starts with something that

everyone understands. Death changes the relationship.

He uses the example of marriage. And if a husband

dies, his wife is no longer bound to him by that

covenant. The relationship has changed. And Paul

says something very astonishing. Likewise, my

brothers, you also have died to the law through

the body of Christ, so that you may belong to

another, to him who has been raised from the

dead. And notice what Paul does not say. He doesn't

say that we escaped the law. He doesn't say that

God lowered his standards. He doesn't say that

sin stopped mattering. He says we died. And this

changes everything. If the law requires death

for those who have broken it, and Jesus has taken

all the punishment upon himself, then what is

there left for the law to do to us? It's like

we are dead to it. It's condemnation no longer

has the final word over us. Jesus, true God and

true man, took upon himself sins that he had

never committed. He bore our guilt. He received

our condemnation. The punishment has been carried

out. The law, its debt, has been paid. So there's

nothing left for the law to hold over our heads.

Paul's point was not about the marriage. Paul's

point was about belonging. We have died to one

relationship being bound to the law so that we

might belong to another. by the Spirit to Jesus

Christ. His point is not so that we can be independent,

but so we can simply, not so we simply do the

things that we want, but rather to belong to

Christ. Now I made a mistake when starting this

sermon when I was writing it because I did so

when I was hungry. So every metaphor in here

is about food. So you're just going to have to

accept that. We've got great food at the picnic

today, but you'll have to get through this in

order to get to it. But you see, I was thinking

about Thanksgiving when I was reading through

the passage and about how every family has traditions.

And sometimes a person may decide that they want

to be the Monica of the group and put place cards

to show where everybody should be sitting for

Thanksgiving meals. And they may decide that

this aunt and this uncle should not sit next

to each other because they've been having a fight

for the last month. And they decide that this

cousin and this in -law should not sit next to

each other because they dated once. It was East

Texas, just go with it. Every group though, you

end up realizing that sometimes people assign

the seats and sometimes people do not because

who actually does that? But nobody has to wonder

though whether or not they belong at the table

because they see that their name is written.

The relationship, it's not that it's mandated,

it's a relationship though of love and cornbread

stuffing which I think is much the same. That's

what Paul is describing. In Christ, your place

has already been prepared because He loves you.

In Christ, you don't spend the meal wondering

if your name will be on a place card. You belong

because the host invited you. And that changes

the whole atmosphere of the meal. Now, here's

where people, though, struggle with God's Word,

because they will oftentimes see the condemnation

of the law. and that ends up sticking for them.

They hear what God commands and the first instinct

is almost always to push back on it. Whenever

someone tells us what to do, our nature is to

respond often in one of three ways. First, maybe

we just rebel against it. We're just like, I'm

gonna do the exact opposite of whatever it is

just to prove that I can. I can do whatever I

want and you cannot stop me. That's one option.

Second, maybe we just decide to reject it altogether.

We tell ourselves that the issue, it's not really

important after all. Nobody really cares about

that issue, so I don't need to worry about it

either. Or third, maybe we just justify ourselves.

We convince ourselves that maybe the command

didn't really apply to us, or maybe we're really

not guilty after all. Haven't you noticed? How

often our culture celebrates this way of thinking,

you know, whenever we are being true to ourselves

and following our heart and making sure, you

know, whatever makes us happy. The assumption

is that freedom means doing whatever we feel

like doing at whatever time we feel like doing

it. And I'm gonna give another example. I'm gonna

talk just briefly about Thanksgiving because

our family would go to East Texas for years to

see my memo. I have a grandma on my father's

side. I have a memo on my mother's side. It's

very important to distinguish the two. Every

year, there's that moment while we're driving

where we would wonder, why are we always the

one making this drive? You see, My memo was a

little bit of a hermit, and she hated Houston,

and she mostly wanted to keep to herself and

stay away from our traffic. But we still wanted

to see her. It was a long trip, but sometimes

it felt more like an obligation than a celebration.

Sometimes, though, the problem is not the journey,

because looking back now, after she's gone, we'd

gladly make that trip again, if we could. You

see, the obligation sometimes becomes something

that we wish we could do. Because it's more about

the attitude that we bring to it. The same thing

happens with God's law. When we think someone's

forcing us, we push back. When love changes the

relationship though, obedience begins to look

very different. It's like standing there thinking

about a pumpkin pie. And your memaw says, don't

touch that pie. And all of a sudden, you're starting

to think how much of it you could slice off just

slightly that nobody would notice any of it's

gone. And technically, I only touched the whipped

cream. But you see, the command didn't create

the desire. It just magnified something that

was already there. See, Paul says, but sin seizing

an opportunity through the commandment produced

in me all kinds of covetousness. The problem

is not the command, the problem is the heart

that immediately wants to negotiate. And that's

why Paul is, he says something that sounds confusing.

All right, let's just be honest. Romans is a

little bit hard if you don't take it a little

bit at a time, okay? And he says, apart from

the law, sin lies dead. He doesn't mean sin doesn't

exist without God's law. It's not as if it's

God's fault somehow for making up all these expectations.

He's already spent six chapters explaining that

sin is very much alive. What he means is that

without the law exposing it, we can fool ourselves

into thinking that everything is fine. So then

Paul asks the obvious question. What then shall

we say that the law is sin? By no means. Just

because the law causes us to feel uncomfortable,

just because we sometimes want to push against

it or wish that we could simply ignore it, does

that somehow make the law bad? No. The law just

simply tells us the truth. Now there are certainly

human laws, okay? that they're more a reflection

of what people want than what is actually best.

I mean, that's just, we know that. That's human.

That's normal, okay? Human laws, they're written

by human beings. And human beings, we don't always

get it right. It happens. But God's law is different.

God's law reflects reality that God created.

It shows us how life from God was designed to

work. And that's why Paul says that while we

were living in the flesh, our sinful passions,

they were aroused by the law and were bearing

fruit for death. The law wasn't producing death.

Our sinful hearts and passions were. The law

simply revealed that our hearts are broken and

are yearning for what is wrong. It's a little

like baking cookies. Suppose someone hands you

Memaw's famous chocolate chip cookie recipe,

and you look at it, and you think, I don't really

need this. I know how to make cookies. I've seen

it on TV. And so you start adding stuff, but

you kind of substitute things, and, oh, I think

there should be more flour here, and I don't

think we need that much butter, and I want really

sweet cookies, so I'm going to add twice the

sugar, right? add three eggs instead of one because

you're about to go work out and these are protein

cookies clearly so and heaven forbid you put

the raisins instead of the chocolate chips don't

talk to me now could you do that of course you

could nobody's physically stopping you but cookies

still work a certain way and those protein cookies

yeah that's gonna be terrible but you see the

recipe is not trying to ruin your fun The recipe

is just describing how ingredients turn into

cookies. Ignore it if you want, but the cookies

won't. God's law is like that. It doesn't invent

reality, it reveals it. The law, the issue is

not the law, the issue is us. We're the ones

who want to ignore the recipes. We're the ones

convinced that our own way will somehow turn

out better. And then Paul comes to one of the

more difficult statements. He thought it was

difficult already. I was once alive apart from

the law, but when the commandment came, sin came

alive and I died. Paul is not saying that we

were all perfectly fine until God came along

and started making up rules. That cannot be what

he means because everything in Romans up to this

point has been saying exactly the opposite. He's

speaking rhetorically to say not that we were

spiritually fine before God gave the law, but

about the perception we keep having of it. Before

God's law confronts us, we can imagine we're

doing just fine. We compare ourselves with other

people. You know what? I'm a pretty good person.

I see that one over there. You know, I'm definitely

better than that one over there. And you know,

God's law then, it shines into our hearts. And

then suddenly all the pride, the envy, the selfishness,

the resentment, the coveting, it's all exposed.

The law didn't create those sins. It revealed

what had been there all along. You see, diagnosis

is not the enemy. The disease is the one of sin.

And that's exactly Paul's point. The law doesn't

create sin. The law diagnoses it and shows us

the truth. And then we see it, and we're dead.

Paul even says the very commandment that promised

life proved to be death to me. Because the commandment

was bad? No, we were. And Paul reaches a conclusion,

so the law is holy, the commandment is holy,

and righteous, and good. Notice how strongly

he even says it. Holy, righteous, good. The law

reflects God's own character, it's not the enemy.

It's like when you left those cookies in the

oven for way too long and all of a sudden the

smoke alarm starts going off and nobody enjoys

hearing it. Especially because somebody may or

may not have burned the cookies. But you see

the smoke alarm is not the danger. It's the fire

on those cookies that is. See the alarm is just

revealing something's wrong. And God's law sounds

the alarm. It tells us the truth and reveals

where the burning truly is. because the problem

was never actually the law. And that's something

we need to make sure we understand. Whenever

Paul says apart from the law, sin lies dead,

he's not saying the consequences disappear just

because we don't know about them. The consequences

of our sin are still there. The law simply uncovers

them. Now the law doesn't make you worse, even

as the law also doesn't make you better. The

law doesn't make us righteous. Just because the

cookie recipe wasn't written down didn't mean

that somehow your cookies came out better, but

also writing the recipe and reading it word for

word doesn't magically make them any better either.

It simply tells you where things could go wrong.

See, the law never makes us righteous. It shows

us where we've wandered away and as uncomfortable

as it is, believe it or not, that's actually

a gift. Because if we never knew what was wrong,

and yet we still keep feeling and knowing the

brokenness, we'd never know that we needed a

Savior for the brokenness. We'd never see where

it truly came from. Because the law can diagnose

it cannot heal. It can expose the wound, but

it cannot bind up. It can tell us the brokenness,

but it cannot make us whole. Because only Christ

can. So where does that leave us? Does Paul just

make us sure we know how hopeless our diagnosis

is? No. He reminds us of what he said at the

beginning of the chapter. You also have died

to the law through the body of Christ, so that

you may belong to another to Him who has been

raised from the dead." That's the Gospel. The

condemnation that the law demands, it's already

happened. It fell upon Christ. The cross was

not ignoring sin. This is not God saying that

there is no such thing. It was God bearing the

sin. And the law did exactly what it was meant

to do. It exposed our sin and drives us to Christ.

But now the law doesn't define us. That's where

we often get confused. Because we still ask ourselves,

have I done enough? Am I a good enough Christian?

And we're often times trying to convince ourselves,

yes I am, because I followed all the things I'm

supposed to be doing today. But you see, we're

asking the law questions that it was never meant

to answer. Because the law can tell you where

you fell short or what might need to happen.

It cannot tell you who you are. Only Christ can

tell you who you are. Because the Christian life

begins with a different question. Not how do

I earn God's love, but since I already belong

to Christ, how does someone who belongs to Jesus

live today? See, one begins with fear, but the

other one starts with belonging. You see, imagine

somebody spent all that afternoon making those

cookies. Imagine they followed the recipe perfectly

or imagine that they didn't. Maybe they did add

too much flour. Maybe they put the cookies too

close together and they blurred into one giant

cookie. I know. Maybe they forgot an ingredient,

like sugar. And if you're trying to enter a baking

competition, probably not a good thing. When

you're bringing the cookies to the family dinner,

well, something beautiful happens. Your family

smiles. Somebody reaches for one anyway. Somebody

says, and it's probably my dad, these are pretty

good. He does that for everything. Someone else

quietly reaches for a second one, and you know

that the cookies were not perfect, but you're

loved. You see, you're family, and you belong

there. Your work done in love is not about expectation,

but it's appreciated because you are a part.

See, maybe next year it probably wouldn't hurt

to follow that recipe a little more closely,

learn a thing or two. The recipe still matters.

It's not that it's wrong, but your place at the

table wasn't determined because of the cookies.

Your place was determined because the family

had already set the chair for you. See, that's

the Gospel. God really does forgive and love

us, period. But it first required sacrifice in

Christ because God's law is holy. So, His commandments,

they're good. They're righteous. They're true.

And the truth is that we've fallen short. Every

one of us still struggles. And every one of us

still needs grace today just as we did the day

we first believed. But thanks be to God, our

identity is no longer trying to justify ourselves.

It's not found in checking off the commandments.

It's not found in convincing others that we're

good people. It is only saying, I belong to Christ.

The one who did fulfill the law. The one who

did bear the condemnation. The one who did rise

again and bring us with Him. The one to whom

we belong. So you don't need to spend your life

trying to prove that you have a seat at that

table and that the cookies are good enough to

be let in. Christ already prepared the place.

So listen to His Word. Walk by His Spirit. Become

more and more like the one who has already called

you his own, because being a Christian is not

about being good enough yourself. It is about

belonging to the one who is good, and then living

the new life that Christ has then given to you.

Because the law tells us what we are in sin,

but Christ tells us who we are in Him. In the

name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen. Please rise for prayer. Lord God, as we

come to you today, we know that there are so

many times whenever we are constantly struggling,

and Lord, the times whenever we do not know where

to turn. We ask you, Lord God, that we would

not spend the time asking, how is it that that

I am the one to fix all these things, but rather,

Lord God, that we would say, I trust You, and

Lord, would You lead me each and every day, even

at the times I know I will not do it perfectly,

but I will still try because of love and gratitude.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. Lord God,

we ask that you would bless those who are currently

in need, especially for Carol Osborne, who has

been in care in the hospital. Lord God, for Reverend

Fleischhauer, who has gone through smoke inhalation.

Lord God, that Don's father would be cared for,

and that he'd be able to recover, Lord. Lord

God, for Pastor Pete's son, Nathan, as he has

been going through various heart issues. And

Lord God, for those who have been struggling

with cancer, especially for Sharon and for Stephanie,

and Lord God, that their treatments would be

successful and would go well. Lord, in your mercy,

hear our prayer. And Lord God, for those throughout

the world who struggle in various ways, Lord

God, you know all the things that Venezuela has

been going through. Lord God, there is so much

that has been brought heartache, but Lord God,

especially now in the midst of these earthquakes,

Lord God, we pray for those who are recovering,

those who have yet to be known that they have

survived, that if there would be anyone left

that they would be found, Lord God, for those

who are mourning the losses, that you would comfort

them and that you would provide resources and

support as they go through the task of rebuilding.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. And Lord

God, as we prepare to celebrate the celebration

of our own country, We ask you, Lord God, that

we would do so not as those who claim to have

done everything right, but Lord God, as those

who are grateful for this place in which we live,

and that Lord God, that we can look toward all

the things that we aspire to, and that we would

still try harder tomorrow and the day after to

live those out. For this and for all the things

that you have led us and shown us, Lord God,

for so many things by your word, we thank you

and trust you even as you've taught us how to

pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed

be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day

our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation, but deliver

us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the

power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

You may be seated. At this time, we bring our

offerings onto the Lord. The cards that are in

front of you, make sure that it has your email

and phone number so that I can reach out and

get to know you. Sometimes these things fall

through the cracks. Do it again. We're just happy

to make sure that we can reach out to you. And

however that you feel called to, if you feel

called to partner with us in this ministry, we

thank you and we appreciate the opportunity to

serve the Lord alongside you. With that, we bring

our offerings onto the Lord.