Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
June 13, 2004

Scripture:

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

We’ve talked about this before, but it is an issue that is so central to the way Christianity is usually understood that it keeps coming up again and again. We all, I think, have some understanding that Christianity is about forgiveness. Put another way, central to our faith is the notion that somehow, in some kind of way, it is in and through Jesus Christ that we get into right relationship with God. Christianity has usually understood forgiveness to be what is needed to put us in right relationship with God, and it is in Jesus that we find forgiveness.

Now, that’s all very well and good. I believe that forgiveness is at least one of the things we need to get right with God, and I believe that we do find that forgiveness in and through Jesus Christ. There is, however, a problem here. The problem is that it’s really hard to figure out just how that works. Most Christians today will tell you that it’s very easy to figure out how it works. They will tell you to look at passages like the Galatians that we just heard. There Paul says that we are justified, that is, we are put right with God, "by faith in Christ." Problem solved, they’ll tell you. Just believe in Christ and all will be well.

Once again, that’s all very well and good. Believing in Jesus is a very good thing. I highly recommend it, which I suppose is a good thing given where I’m standing and what I’m wearing and doing at the moment. Once again, however, there is a problem, or actually several problems. If what we have to do to get right with God is believe in Jesus, doesn’t that mean that it’s all up to us? But I thought it was up to Jesus, and to God! Jesus promises me God’s grace, but if I have to do something to get right with God, then it’s me who gets me right with God, not Jesus, and that’s not grace. Beyond that, what about all the people who never heard about Jesus, maybe because they lived before he was born for example, or because they live in cultures with different religious traditions so that believing in Jesus really isn’t an option that makes much sense to them. Or maybe they have heard about him, but they heard about him from someone who made him sound so judgmental, so strict, so harsh, so demanding that believing in him is that last thing they would want to do. And what about all the people who find God, who find spiritual wholeness in other religious traditions? What about all those people? Are they lost?

Tragically, some Christians would say yes, they are. Sorry about that, but that’s the way it is. Sorry, but God set it up that way, not me. I, however, am not one of those Christians, and I don’t think any of you are either. I want today to show you something about our passage from Galatians that maybe will help you think through why you aren’t that kind of Christian.

There are three places in this passage where the NRSV translation we just heard, and every other translation I looked at, use the English phrase "faith in Christ" or "faith in the Son of God" to translate Paul’s statement about what it takes for us to get right with God. However, the NRSV has a footnote at each of these places that reads "or the faith of Christ" or "of the Son of God." I’m no Greek scholar, but I did look at the Greek original, and it sure looks to me like "faith of Christ" and "faith of the Son of God" are more direct translations of the Greek than faith in Christ or faith in the Son of God. Not only that. A better translation of the phrase rendered "through faith" is actually "out of [ek] the faith." So try hearing Paul’s central message this way, which actually may be truer to the Greek original: "Yet we know that a person is justified...out of the faith of Jesus Christ." Not through faith in Jesus Christ, but out of the faith of Jesus Christ. Wow! What a difference. We don’t save ourselves by believing certain things. Rather, Jesus saves us through his profound and unwavering faithfulness to God. That means: Because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, we and the whole world have been put right with God. He did it. We don’t have to. It’s done.r Fait accompli!a Thanks be to God. That’s absolutely the best news there ever was or ever could be!

So what then, you may ask. Is there nothing at all we need to do? If you mean by that question is there anything I need to do to get right with God the answer is a resounding "No!" You already are! No matter what! And yet, there is something you need to do if you want to make Christ’s salvation real in your life. Actually, there are two things you need to do. First, you need to realize that you need to be put right with God. Maybe you need forgiveness. Maybe you need something else, like to have your heart softened or your mind opened. Maybe you need to be called home from exile from God or released from bondage to some habit or idol or unhealthy way of living. Whatever you need, your first step is to know that you need it. Then, your second step is just to know that whatever you need, God has already made it available to you in Jesus Christ. It’s already done. All you have to do is accept it.

All you have to do is know it. But not know it with your head only. Know it with your heart. Know it in the depths of your soul. Live into it. Appropriate it. Make it your own. The Psalmist of Psalm 32 that we heard this morning did that. He opened his heart to God in confession, and the joy of God’s forgiveness, which really was already there, flooded in. The same thing can happen for every one of us if we will admit our need and trust that God has already met that need. Thanks be to God. Amen.