Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

Proverbs 8:1-4, Rom. 6:20-23

"Can you hear the voice of wisdom?  Listen to what she says." Prov. 8:1

Motherhood is one of the ancient images used for the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew word for the Spirit is female. The Bible reminds that Wisdom was with God creating the heavens and the earth. Wisdom is personified in the Bible as the voice of a mother who wants the best for her children. She knows they must grow up to make their own choices, but she wants them to give them her understanding so that they can choose wisely. This Mother's Day weekend I want us to listen for the Holy Spirit's wisdom as we listened for the counsel of our mothers when we were children

The motherhood of the Holy Spirit puts in context the fatherhood of God. If the Father lays down rules to guide us, the Holy Spirit stays at our side whispering counsel to help us understand the reasoning behind the rules. In fact, without the motherly whisper of the Holy Spirit it is impossible to appreciate God's laws and commandments.

I suspect one of the most misunderstood parts of the Christian message is the purpose of God's rules. If we took a survey of non-religious people across our country and asked, "What is the purpose of God's laws?" the majority would likely answer that God wants us to follow the laws so we can be good people. If we asked these same people how a person gets into heaven, the answer would be similar. Many people mistakenly think that we get into heaven by following the rules and becoming good enough so that God accepts us. If we prove ourselves worthy of God's love by following the rules and obeying the Ten Commandments, then God will let us into heaven. Whatever we would call this popular 'religion,' 'do-goodism,"sincerityism,' or 'try-hardism'  it is clearly not Christianity.

This Mother's Day let's consider one of Paul's clearest presentations of the purpose of God's laws.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- Romans 6:23

The father sat with his young children on his lap, looking through the wedding album. "This was when Mommy and I got married," Dad explained. The children stared at the pictures of their mom in the flowing gown and their dad in a tuxedo. They asked about the others in the pictures. Dad explained that the one in the robe was the pastor who did the ceremony. The attendants were identified. But still the children seemed confused about the purpose of the ceremony until one child suddenly got it. "Oh, so that's when you got Mommy to come work for us!"

There is similar misunderstanding as to the purpose of God's laws. Many people confuse the laws of God with our human laws. Human laws are intended to keep people from hurting each other. We make a law and ask our government to enforce it so that neighbors will respect each other's rights. We then set up a punishment system for those who break the laws in order to teach people that harming others or their property is wrong. Thus, the hope is to keep people civil and reinforce doing what is right.

God's laws do not work this way. God's laws cannot make us be good people. They have a different primary purpose. If we do not understand the primary purpose of God's laws, then we will likely think they are intended to teach us how to be good people. We might think that God's laws clarify the boundaries between right and wrong. Like children coloring inside the lines, we are supposed to remain on the side of right and not overstep the boundaries. As long as we remain within the boundaries, God loves us and rewards us with heaven. If we consider this to be the reason for God's laws, we can fall into a dangerous way of living. We tend to live our lives by asking the question, "How far is too far?" In other words, we wonder, "When have I overstepped the boundaries?"

The young mother opens the door to let her three-year-old son play in the front yard. As he runs through the door, she says, "Stay in the yard. Don't go onto the sidewalk, don't go over into the neighbor's yard, and don't climb over the fence!" She sets the boundaries. Does he understand? Of course he understands. We know he understands because the first thing he does is run out to the edge of the yard and put his big toe on the sidewalk as he turns and looks back at his mother.

Thirty minutes later he calls, "Mom, look at me!" She looks out the window and sees his arm dangling over the fence as he shouts, "I'm still in the yard." The next time he walks by the sidewalk, he puts an entire foot on the sidewalk and looks back at the house. His weight is still the yard, but he wants his mom to notice that he has one foot on the sidewalk. Finally, in a moment of boldness he steps onto the sidewalk with one foot, keeping the other foot on the lawn. He balances his weight fifty-fifty so that half is on the sidewalk and half is in the yard and then calls for his mother to look.

How far is too far? Am I breaking the rules yet, or is this okay?

The man called and asked me to meet him at a local restaurant. I spotted him at a secluded booth. The waitress brought us both coffee. He looked down at his coffee as he spun the cup in his hand. Finally, he started the conversation with these words, "She is just a friend, but my wife says it's the same thing as adultery." He nervously played with the wedding ring on his finger. Without making eye contact he continued, "We haven't done anything. It's not really a sin to have feelings is it?" Making eye contact for the first time, he said a little too loudly, "My wife used to say I could look, but not touch. I haven't touched."

The little boy stands with one foot on the sidewalk and one foot in the yard. How far is too far? This is the kind of thinking that can develop when we interpret God's laws as boundaries. Our natural tendency is to push the boundaries. We find ways to justify our behavior. We think we can play with sin and then wonder, "Is this still okay with God?"

Jesus clarified the intent of the commandments in his Sermon on the Mount. "You have heard it said, 'You shall not commit adultery,' but I say to you, if you even lust, you have committed adultery in your heart." "You have the commandment, 'You shall not murder,' but I say that if you get angry enough to consider a person a fool, that is the same as murder." Jesus showed us that the intent of the law allows no flexibility at the edges. God's laws were never intended to keep us inside the boundaries so that we could consider ourselves good enough to deserve God's love or righteous enough to get into heaven. The Apostle Paul realized that the laws had a different purpose than this.

In an autobiographical section of his letter to the Romans, Paul reviewed his own life. He was a faithful Jew. He attended synagogue, studied the scriptures, and memorized the Commandments. He thought he was doing well. He had not committed adultery. He had never stolen. He was virtuously honesty and had never cheated. Then he came to the tenth Commandment, "You shall not covet." When Paul read that commandment, he realized he had already broken it many times. In fact, he discovered that the more he tried to keep it, the more he became aware of his own discontent. This discovery led to Paul's understanding of the primary purpose of God's laws. God's laws were given so that we would be honest about our sinfulness.

Why did God give us the laws? God uses the Ten Commandments to force us to admit that we all fail to live our lives perfectly. Every one of us is guilty of breaking some part of God's laws. Only when we recognize that none of us are good enough will we genuinely cast ourselves on God's grace for our entire acceptance. Grace, then, is unearned favor, undeserved credit. We charged up the credit card, and Jesus paid it off. We were hopelessly in debt; Jesus paid it all for us. When we admit our needs and ask for help God graciously gives us the Holy Spirit to love, nurture and counsel us.

In Romans, the Apostle Paul summarized the gospel in one sentence: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23) This sentence is the essence of the gospel. The stark contrasts in the sentence show us our need to make a choice. Death or Life? Sin or God? Wages or gift?

I picture heaven as having two entrances or gates. Over each entrance is a sign that identifies the qualifications needed to enter heaven through that gate. The sign over one entrance reads, "Gift." The sign over the other entrance reads, "Wages." Which line will you and I join?

Here is how the two lines work. If we think we deserve to get into heaven based on our sincerity, hard work, and religious acts, we line up at the gate marked "Wages." If we think we are not worthy to be with God, we line up at the gate marked "Gift." If you had to choose which line you would stand in for entrance to heaven, which would you choose?

I picture people making their choices and forming two lines. Once people are in their respective lines, God comes out and addresses those in the "Wages" line. God explains how this line works. God says, "You will be going through a series of cuts in order to eliminate those who do not deserve to be in heaven through their own accomplishments. Please listen carefully. I need you to organize yourselves according to how sinful you were in your life on earth. The worst sinners will be eliminated first."

People begin to jostle and push for a place near the front of the line. They are comparing notes on how insignificant their sins were. Some are pointing fingers at others and telling them their sins were worse. Very few are willing to openly admit they do not deserve to remain in the line. After hours of debate the last half of the line is eliminated from consideration. Most of us would still be standing in this line because we were not as bad as Hitler or Stalin, right?

God then steps out and continues the process by making another announcement. "The next cut asks you to line yourselves according to who was most holy and good on earth. Only the top ten percent will be allowed to remain in the line." Now the pushing and shoving gets down right nasty. Family members argue, "Your self-righteous judgmentalism was worse than my drug addiction!" Fist fights break out. It takes some time, but the line is finally pared down to the very most holy and religious people.

God announces the final stage of determining who gets in through the "Wages" gate. God speaks as the crowd comes to a hush. "You people have proven yourselves to be the most righteous people on earth. You have taken much pride in your religious activities and devotions. Now for the final cut. Only one person is allowed to walk through this gate. Oh, by the way, Jesus is going to come and stand in line with you."

Meanwhile, the people in the other line are passing through the gate marked "Gift." They face God and humbly admit their unworthiness to enter heaven. They honestly confess their failings. The only basis they claim for getting into heaven is that Jesus has paid the price for their entrance. Their only hope is that God loves them and they have received that love as a gift.

Can you hear the voice of our Mother, Wisdom, also known as the Holy Spirit, inviting us to be wise? She is inviting us to come into God's presence through the gate marked "Gift."

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What rule that your mother laid down do you most appreciate today?

2. Who is the most gracious person you have known?

3. "Grace is a gift" and "the gift of God is eternal life." What about this is most comforting? What is most troubling?

4. If salvation is a gift, why should I try to be good?