Tabernacle

When considering the identity of Jesus, C.S. Lewis once declared, “Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.”  Typical of an English Oxford professor, Lewis was simply and calmly describing the logical options open to us.  He recognized that the one who rode into Jerusalem amid shouts of “Hosanna!” and was led out of the city amid shouts of “Crucify Him!” said and did crazy things.  Either He was crazy for presuming to be our Lord and King, or we are crazy for writing Him off.  Either He was possessed by a demon, or we are blinded by Satan’s influence.  Lewis concluded, “[B]ut let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”

Why do we tend to see the best in ourselves and the worst in others?  Why do we make excuses for our behavior but come down hard on everyone else?  Why are we simultaneously defensive and judgmental?  The answer is twofold.  First, we can’t bear to confess that we fall short and that we are sinners.  And second, we try to cover up and deflect attention from our own failings by focusing on the failings of others.  Our sinful reaction to our sin just goes to prove that our sinfulness is a lot more sinful than we want to admit!  God forbid we admit the truth and be brokenhearted over our failings.  That would be terrible!  No, we must maintain the facade at all costs.  Whatever we do, we must not confess our sins…or our need for mercy.

Jesus knew the heart of a person.  He could peer right through the veneer and see the motive.  Can you imagine being around Him, knowing that you couldn’t hide your feelings or intentions?  No wonder some people hated Him—people with agendas, people with reputations to uphold, people with masks to wear, people like us.  And yet, children felt completely at ease with Him.  “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).  But if we turn from trying to impress God and humbly rely on His mercy, we get a new heart--and our Father’s smile.

Why is it so easy to make excuses for our own bad behavior, but then turn around and make accusations against those who do the same things?  I except people to be patient with me and understanding when I’m running late, but woe to the person who makes me wait!  This is symptomatic of

the sinful human heart, and it is why the judgment of God is justly directed toward us.  Simply put, we are hypocrites who expect others to live according a code that we feel free to ignore.  Thankfully, there is mercy

for those who repent, for those who seek to walk in humility instead of hypocrisy.

God creates; Satan corrupts.  Every sin that has ever been committed is the result of taking something that God created to be good and then either using it for a purpose that isn’t good or failing to use it for the good it was intended.  Our guilt consists in suppressing the truth about our Creator and in our willful corruption of His Creation—even worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).  In light of our sin, God’s judgment is just, but His mercy is magnificent!  God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, exchanging the truth about God for a lie, Christ died for us (Romans 1:25; 5:8).

How would you feel if the one you loved took your thoughtful, expensive, one-of-a-kind Valentine’s gift back to the store and exchanged it for a lousy pack of cigarettes?  You might be inclined to be annoyed.  One might even say you had a right to be a bit miffed!  Your anger would have at least two catalysts.  First, the exchange cheapens your amazing gift to them.  Second, your love for the person means that it matters all the more how they respond to you.  God’s anger is like this.  First, we are guilty of trading in His glorious reality and presence for something false and foolish.  Second, He cares because He loves.  If God didn’t care about us, it wouldn’t matter what we did or didn’t do.  God’s anger, His righteous wrath, may trouble us and confuse us, but it also reminds us that we have been given something supremely valuable from Someone who is forever faithful.

In the opening verses of Romans, Paul demonstrates a passion for two things: the Church and the Gospel.  I will admit, I don’t measure up to Paul’s passion.  None of us do!  But the real comparison ought to be with Jesus, not Paul.  How does our love for the Church and the Gospel compare with Christ’s love?  Not that it’s a competition, but it is a concern.  Why don’t we love the right things?  And why don’t we love the right things with the right intensity?  We’re not right.  And that’s why we need the Gospel that we don’t love enough.  Paul says that in the Gospel “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith” (1:17).  By faith, we are counted as righteous.  By faith, we are right with God, despite all that’s wrong with us.  And the more we live in view of God’s mercy, the more we will learn to love God’s Church and God’s Gospel.

Have you ever been in one of those debates where people are trying to decide what part of the whole is most important?  “Which organ in your body is most vital?”  “What staff position is most significant?”  “What player is most valuable?”  People have long debated which book of the Bible is the most essential, and not a few of them have answered, “Romans,” with good reason.  Romans is the longest letter in the New Testament and the most thorough explanation of God’s mercy to us in the Gospel.  As we spend the better part of 2016 studying Romans, pray that we get a clearer view of God’s mercy to us.  And pray too that our community gets a clearer view of God’s mercy through us.