THE STRAIGHTFORWARD PULPIT

Text: Romans 8:1
Theme: “M4: The Acquittal” (4th in a Series)
4th Sunday after Pentecost
July 10, 2011
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

IN THE NAME OF JESUS

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

This morning I’m glad to present the fourth installment in a series of messages to you about the mission of the church. Instead of calling it Mission: Impossible (an allusion to the television and motion picture series of yesteryear), I’ve titled it Mission: Possible.

It’s possible to believe, as we learned during the first message, that we are recruited to be a part of the mission. Likewise, we have all the resources necessary in the teachings of Jesus. Along the way, we learned the importance of welcoming others – or receiving them – in a genuine fashion. We don’t do it because we have to or because it is a choreographed task that churches undertake to show how nice they are in the hopes that someone will join. We welcome people genuinely because that is what Jesus did.

Last week, we discovered what a blessed thing it is to proclaim and extend the invitation of our Lord. “Come to Me, all you who are weak and heavy-laden,” says Jesus, “and I will give you rest.” We discovered that if we, the disciples of Jesus, are not offering the rest and refreshment that comes with being a follower of the Lord, we’ve overlooked a key component of the church’s mission. Whether it knows it or not, whether it can formulate it in words or not, our society desperately craves the spiritual nourishment that Jesus continues to provide through His Word and Sacrament.


Today’s message, entitled “The Acquittal”, brings to our hearts and minds another element – I would argue the central element – of mission. As a side note, I want you to know that I chose this title long before the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial came in last week. In the court of what we occasionally call “popular opinion”, the acquittal of Ms. Anthony on the charge of murdering her daughter is -- for a whole bunch of people in our country -- a travesty of justice. Some would say that the circumstantial evidence surrounding the case all but demanded a guilty verdict. But in America, popular opinion, however it is measured in anyone’s polling data, does not serve as judge and jury. In our grade school, junior high, and high school civics courses, we learned that any suspect is innocent until proven guilty. Second, the burden of proof lies with the prosecution. Third, guilt must be established “beyond reasonable doubt.” And finally there’s double jeopardy – which means that a defendant cannot go to trial a second time for the same crime.

I think what really irks the American people is the possibility that favorable verdicts – meaning an acquittal, in the case of a defendant – can be bought. Three years ago, a movie actor by the name of Wesley Snipes was acquitted of tax fraud. On the same day when headlines reported the acquittal of Mr. Snipes, a Boston appeals court convicted a man named Richard Hatch for the same charge. Hatch got nailed. Wesley Snipes walked free. Why is that? Well, think about the resources available to the prosecution (the government) and to defendants. Hatch did not have the resources to retain a high-brass, high-dollar defense team. He couldn’t retain F. Lee Bailey, Robert Kardashian, or Johnny Cochran. Snipes, however, did have the cash. Instances such as this feed the thought that “justice goes to the highest bidder.”

In courtrooms all across America, judges ask defendants how they wish to plead. On Sunday mornings, however, in houses and places of worship all across the world, Christians come forward to offer a plea of their own. We did that earlier this morning – and the plea was guilty. In other words, we confessed our sins; we agreed with the charge of the prosecution. We didn’t come before God and one another only to offer a plea of “not guilty”. In addition, we didn’t come before our God to plea bargain – in other words, “Yes, God, I’ve made a few mistakes; I may have even sinned a time or two. But I’m a nice guy (or gal); I treat others kindly (unless they cut me off in traffic); I don’t beat my wife; I spend time with my kids. I support causes that you like, God. Therefore, we can work this out; we can cut a deal. For crying out loud, dear God! Throw me a bone, God!”

Neither did we plead nollo contendere (a Latin phrase still used in courts of law) which means “no contest”. Essentially, we’re not admitting guilt but we’re not contesting the judgment of the court either; that’s nollo contendere. Here’s a classic example: Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, during the years of Richard Nixon, plead nollo contendere to tax fraud, extortion, bribery, and conspiracy. The judge accepted this plea on the condition that Agnew resign the Vice-Presidency – which he did. Interestingly, nollo contendere is a very popular option among God’s people today. The attitude is very simple and very popular: “God, I’ll take whatever you dish out. I’ll roll with whatever punches come my way. After all, You’re sovereign; You’re in control. But I’m not going to “fess up” until others – like Joe, Jim, Jane, or Judy – confess. I may sin, but Joe, Jim, Jane, or Judy sin far more than I do, and you need to deal with them first; it’s only fair. Until you get into gear, God, and right what is wrong, I have nothing to say. That’s the language – and the attitude! – of nollo contendere before God.

To plead “not guilty”, nollo contendere, or to try to plea bargain away the accusation against us all is basically a big heaping pile of what the apostle Paul called skubala – or dung, or excrement, or crap. The Bible makes no bones about it; it pulls no punches when it says that “All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God – and that includes OJ and Spiro Agnew and Casey Anthony and you and me and even my dear old Aunt Esther Mae who was truly one of the nicest, most Christian human being I ever met! God’s Word goes on to say that “If you keep the whole law of God perfectly but stumble just once, you’re guilty of the whole thing.” King David, once described as the “apple of God’s eye”, went so far as to say: “I was born in sin, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

The apostle of Paul, in Romans chapter 7, puts into words something of the spiritual civil war that we all are engaged in. He writes: “I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” That language doesn’t exactly lift the spirit, but it is gut-level honesty.

Dear friends, I’ve lived fifty years. Were someone to ask me to sum up my experiences, I’ve come to the point where I believe I can do that quite easily. First, the human condition is far worse than any one of us can begin to imagine. Despite the incredible advances the human race has made (antibiotics, vaccines, splitting the atom, the microchip, etc.), we’re in far worse condition than we can begin to imagine. But secondly, at the same time, the human condition is far better than we can possibly conceive. The human race, because of Jesus Christ, is blessed in such grand and glorious scope that one scarce can take it in.

And here’s why. It comes in the form of today’s text. After confessing total despair and wretchedness, the apostle Paul goes on to announce: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”

There you have it: The verdict is in and the acquittal is announced. It is also known as the forgiveness of all your sins! “But wait,” someone says. “That’s not justice!” Oh, yes it is! It’s a rough justice – no doubt about it. You can say that it’s a justice that was bought.

But it was not bought in the process of securing high-brass, high-dollar attorneys. It was not bought with hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in legal fees. In some of the greatest words the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther ever wrote, we read as follows: “Jesus Christ…has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness!”

It’s worth repeating – and committing to memory: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Amen.