There are some stories that we like
to hear so much that we read them over and over and over again. Have you had a moment at a child’s beside
when you finish reading a story and the child looks up at you with eyes of hope
and expectation and asks, “Oh, I liked that one. Read it again. Please read it again?” Are there books on
your bookshelves that are worn with wear from those times you had to read it
just one more time? Do you find yourself drawn to stories like “The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer,” “The Great Gatsby,”
“Pride and Prejudice” or another great classic that draws you back in
every time you read it? This morning we
come to the Easter story. We have
declared with power, He is Risen!” and sung with passion “Christ the Lord is
Risen Today.” There is so much that is familiar about how we celebrate
Easter. Year in and year out we come to
tell the story of how the risen Christ changes everything for you and for me.
It is always the same story. Except, it
is not just a story – it’s our story. It is the story who makes us who we are
as Christians. We are an Easter people -
a resurrection people – claiming life and faith through the one who was dead
and is now alive. So, here I am this morning reclaiming the same story retold
every Easter for two thousand years. It is our story.
Six weeks ago we started a sermon series that began at
the beginning to give us a fresh look at the redemptive work of God. We watched as God created humanity in His
image. We were created in the image of God for a real and personal relationship
with God. We were created by God to walk
with God. God gave humanity control over everything that would sustain us and
bring us joy. Somehow it seems, all of
God’s grand provision was not enough. Somehow the one thing, the only thing
that God has set aside seemed irresistible. In a sad but predictable twist in the story Adam and Eve chose
their own way rather than the way of God.
Their choice created the spiral of sin that sweeps us into whirlwind of
stumbles, bumbles, failures and falls.
In Romans 5 we hear Paul take us right back to that
moment in the Garden. We hear Paul teach; 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— 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. 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.
We tend to
think about sin as something we do – a distinct act, a moment when we step out
bounds and do something that breaks our relationship with God or one
another. But hear that Paul teaches us
that it is more than this one by one action; it is a pattern that plays out over
and over again in our lives. It is not
taking a bite of the forbidden fruit like Adam, it is about choosing to back to
the tree of disobedience and self-centeredness and making its fruit a part of
our regular diet.
In another
era we would have listened to pastors rail away at “sinners” and we tended to
think that he was talking about someone else – someone who had done such bad
things that we should avert our eyes in from the glare of their shame. But here
we hear that the reign of sin and the spiritual death lies equally at our
feet. In God’s eyes we are not good
people who rarely and occasionally do something wrong or fail to do something
right. No, at our core we are we are people who at our core chose our way over
God’s way. We are Adam’s spiritual
decedents. We, at our core, live in a pattern set by Adam, choosing a path that
leads us away from God to brokenness and spiritual isolation. If left to our
own, we like Adam and Eve, would end up hiding from God, rather than to walk
open and honestly with God in the cool of the day.
Something
had to happen to change the story.
Something had to happen because our stumbles, bumbles, failures, and
falls kept us from being the people we were created to be. Something had to happen because or we would
forever be weighed down by self-destructive choices and secret shames. Something
had to happen or we would live our lives separated from God. Something had to happen and we could not do
it on our own.
This morning
we come to celebrate God’s grand act on our behalf. When we come to the foot of
the cross we see God pay a price for our salvation that almost too great to
comprehend. The gift of grace takes on a painful and bitter face when Jesus
taken on our sin and our shame on our behalf. The violence of the blood stained
cross gives way to stillness of the empty tomb and we see that in Christ’s
resurrection God’s promise of life and eternal life is made real. In simplest terms, God’s great gift makes the
way for us to find our way back to God – it makes the way for people like you
and mean who are broken to be redeemed and our relationship with God made
right. Paul words it this way; 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! Charles Talbert, a great
Baptist New Testament scholar hears Paul’s words this way; “Adam, by his sin, brought
sin, brought death, condemnation and sin to all. Christ, by his obedience, brought
justification and life.” [i]
In the story of the cross and resurrection
the price for sin and shame and the price for our stumbles, bumbles, failures
and falls is paid.
I love the image that Paul claims. He contrasts what Jesus did against what Adam
did, and talks about what Christ did for us as a gift. I do not know anyone who
does like to receive a gift. I am sure
that there is someone somewhere out there that might disagree, but I have never
met them. There is something about see a
box all wrapped up, with a bow on top, with our name on the tag. Paul wants us to understand that the gift he
describes in now ordinary gift. It is a
gift given by God.
There is a reason behind most gifts we receive. We receive gifts to celebrate our birthdays,
marriage anniversaries, at Christmas, or as markers of other significant life
events. But this gift is different. It
is a gift of grace. It is an unmerited gift – we did nothing to earn this great
gift. It is an undeserved gift – we did
nothing to deserve this gift. It is an unqualified
gift in scale – it is beyond price we could conceive or pay. It is a gift that
only God can give. It is God making the way for our right relationship with God
to be restored. Paul wants us to hear
clearly that Adam’s choice for self, his choice for disobedience, his choice to
choose his way over God’s way put all of us on a path of spiritual
destruction. But with this gift God
makes a choice to make the way for forgiveness and life for us. With this gift
God’s love, God’s forgiveness, and God’s promise of life now and life forever
with Him overflows.
This is the great grace gift that God offers to
us. But, like all gifts, it must be
received. God does not force it on us.
It is offered in love. It is
offered in hope. It is offered in grace. But you and I have to make a choice. We, like
Adam and Eve, were created in the image of God for a real and personal
relationship with God. We, like Adam and
Eve, have to make a choice between going our way or God’s way. We, like Adam and Even have to make a choice
between hiding in the bushes in shame from God or standing opening and honestly
before God. We have to make the choice of embracing God’s great gift of grace
that makes the way for forgiveness and life with God for us or walking away on
our own. If we claim the Easter gift of
grace we choose a life of obedience – a life with God – a life walking God’s
way. So, what will you do with God’s
gift? Will you embrace it, or go your own way?
[i] Charles H. Talbert, Romans, Symth & Helwys Bible Commentary, (Smyth and
Helwys Publishing: Macon, GA, 2002), p. 152.
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