The Way It Was, What Happened, and How It Is Today

Text:  Romans 5:12-19

Theme:  "The Way it Was, What Happened, and How it Is Today"

1st Sunday in Lent

March 9, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

¹³ To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

The Bible goes to great lengths to tell us the way it was, what happened, and how it is today.  The Word of God is at great pains to tell us the way it was, what happened, and how it is today.  The Scriptures desperately want us to know the way it was, what happened, and how it is today.  The season of Lent is a prime time to begin to learn, or to learn again, about the way it was, what happened, and how it is today. 

Why is it important to know the way it was, what happened, and how it is today?  Because it is the essence of Christianity; it is the core, the kernel, the seed.  It is the main message and, indeed, the narrative of life. 

Richard Rohr is a Catholic priest and author.  He has written a masterful book of meditations for men entitled On the Threshold of Transformation.  Early on, he makes this startling claim -- and it's good for both men and women:  "If we don't mythologize our lives, inevitably we will pathologize them... .  If we don't move beyond the self-referential trap of our own stories and lives, and connect with the larger story of what it means to be a human, we will live lives of quiet desperation."

Don't count me in on quiet desperation; I'm not down for quiet desperation.  Been there.  Done that.  Bought the t-shirt.  Quiet desperation leads to existential despair; you despair of your own existence.  Existential despair, then, often leads to depression.  Depression leads to seeking something -- anything! -- to make you feel better.  When that something that makes you feel better no longer works, you're back to existential despair, and the vicious cycle starts all over again.  No wonder that some have said:  "Stop the merry-go-round; I want to get off."

The alternative to the sickening merry-go-round is what Rohr calls "the larger story of what it means to be human."  I'll call it the Gospel!  Enter genuine Christianity; it offers that larger story; it gives us that good news!  It tells us the way it was, what happened, and how it is today.  And it is the Holy Spirit -- who proceeds from the Father and the Son -- who convinces us that this larger story is ours, and we are part of it.  As the poet Walt Whitman puts it:  "The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse."

In something along the lines of a minor miracle, today's Service of the Word (outlined in your bulletin) gives us the larger story, or the powerful play,  in a nutshell.  In the Old Testament Reading and Holy Gospel we discover the way it was.  In the anthem "Beneath the cross of Jesus", sung so beautifully by Dr. Snider and Dr. Linder, we find out what happened.  And in the New Testament Reading from Romans, we learn how it is today.  It's all there for you:  the way it was, what happened, and how it is today.  You may wish to keep the bulletin.

Also, you may have noticed that the devil shows up in our first two readings.  It makes no difference whether you believe in the devil or not; the devil doesn't care way either way.  Devil's job -- or the job of evil, if you prefer -- is to get you to doubt God.  That constitutes "winning" for the devil.  When you doubt God, when you're not sure that you're part of God's story, then you are like spiritual silly putty.  You can be molded and shaped into a little bundle of quiet desperation, existential despair, and depression.  You're put onto that merry-go-round that you end up wanting to get off.

Adam and Eve, our first parents, were cruising along just fine -- living in communion, as they were, with God and with nature.  But along comes the serpentine devil and the forbidden fruit.  The devil's logic, if you wish to call it that, carries the day.  Adam and Eve sinned, and they tried to cover it up with fig leaves.  There certainly has been a whole lot of sinning -- and the subsequent attempts to cover it up -- ever since.  The default position, the initial reaction to anything that goes wrong these days, seems to be:  "It's somebody else's fault."  We live in denial of our own complicity. 

Riding a winning streak, the devil shows up again.  This time Satan sets his sights on another human being.  This individual happens to be named Jesus.  The Scripture tells us that He is the Son of God and the Son of Mary. Thus, He is fully divine and fully human.  But unlike Adam and Even when confronted with evil, He doesn't buckle.  The devil, quoting the Bible, tried three of his best tricks, but Jesus wouldn't budge.  Three Satanic fastballs.  Jesus knocked all three of them out of the park.  Game over.  That's the way it was.

But what happened?  It's one thing to beat the devil and not yield to temptation.  Even we have managed to do that from time to time.  But what about all the times when we didn't manage to do that?  What about all those times when we tried to slap some fig leaves on our own sins?  What happens then?  What happened?

Look at what happened to Jesus.  Thank you for singing it to us, Dr. Snider and Dr. Linder. 

Upon that cross of Jesus

Mine eye at times can see

The very dying form of One

Who suffered there for me;

And from my stricken heart with tears

Two wonders I confess:

The wonders of redeeming love

And my unworthiness.

What happened to the way it was?  Redeeming love happened.  At the cross, Jesus, willingly, cleaned up the mess that we were too busy denying.  Was that sacrifice, that redeeming love, enough?  Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, says "Yes".

So finally, how is it today?  As St. Paul pointed out to the Romans, it's actually quite simple.  He says:

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

When devil, world, and even your own flesh seek to get you to doubt God, to deny God, and when countless circumstances would plunge you into desperation, despair, and depression, tell the story of the way it was, what happened, and how it is today. 

Game over.  You win!

Amen.