Palisade Sermon 10/26/24

Is righteousness just lying?

›     cold open to the bible text

write in your notes the passage from Gen 15:6 

Genesis 15:1–6 ESV

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

God makes a promise, but abraham has questions citing the impossibility of the situation.

God gives reassurance, reiterating the promise, and abraham believes.

Metaphors with major problems

police

soccer

court hearing

1.   Calling the Case: The judge or bailiff will announce your case.  

2.   Taking your Place:

3.   Formal Procedures:

4.   Presenting your Case:

a.  In a more formal hearing (like a trial): opening statement, present evidence, question witnesses, closing arguments.  

b.  In a less formal hearing: chance to explain your side of the story to the judge.  

5.   The Other Side: The other party involved will also have a chance to present their case.

6.   Judge's Questions: The judge may ask questions to clarify information.  

7.   Decision: The judge might make a decision immediately, or they might take time to review the case and issue a ruling later.Righteousness by good enough

...ness-run

Being a good person or decent person or being nice to people or not being a jerk or treating minorities with the respect htey desrve has 0 impact on if god will save you. 

Relationship can no save you. all that effort praying and asking for forgiveness will not make god more warmed up to the idea of offerring you grace. No amount of loving god will count towards anything in the records of the living.

no amount of anything you bring to the table makes a lick of difference in the context of god choosing to save you or not.

All these metaphors lead to making yourself right. you ought to fix yourself, try harder get it together so you can be ready to accept jesus, so you can be allowed throught he pearly gates. But it’s worse than that. this way of thinking teaches our children to never experience or even look for the true power of a saving God.

Faith as the only ingredient

›     illustration of the brownies

God brings the means

God brings the sacrifice

God brings the repentance

God brings the holiness

You bring the faith  

Pachinko faith

The pachinko paradox in japan after WWII and to present day

The catholic church has been playing pachinko far longer. Part of why we remember this month as pastoral appreciation month is because of the rich protestant history that pastoral occupation owes to Martin Luther. The reformation wasn’t just the start of a shift in how we viewed ministers however. It also marked a shift in the catholic church toward adopting the following doctrine: Salvation by Grace only.

The trick?

They pachinko’d the idea of grace.

•    in Catholicism, you only come to being saved by god because of his grace.

•    but there’s a qualification on the word “grace” here.

•    we only mean “grace” as in the sacraments.

•    eucharist

•    confession

•    confirmation

•    infant baptism

•    in short: works.

We say saved by faith but actually just pachinko the faith out for works down the line when we think there’s enough distance

we pachinko’d the idea of faith.

•    in Adventist churches we say righteousness by faith

•    but we talk with a big asterisk on the word faith

•    we only mean “faith” as in the grateful obedience of the love law.

•    sabbath

•    tithing

•    bible study

•    prayer

•    treating your neighbor with respect and kindness

•    voting against abortion

•    speaking out against transgender issues (don’t get triggered)

Why obey then?

This is where you need to wrestle this morning.

Why do any of this stuff?

• Why read the bible

• Why pray

• Why attend church

The law is the end goal, not of your efforts but of god changing you. If you don't like that, quite frankly salvation is not for you. Not because god doesn't like you or isn't gracious, or because of anything you do, but because quite simply, you don't actually want to be saved.

Be changed

there is only one distinction at the end of time and it’s not those marked and those not marked. it is those righteous and those not. That’s no coincidence. either your life will change, or it wont. Keep coming, maybe it’ll soothe the aches of a tired week of dissatisfaction with your work, of fighting with your spouse, of loosing to depression, of hiding your addictions, of losing your temper, of feeling aimless, of knowing nothing you try will make a difference. Maybe. But there is only one sure way to see real change in your life.

You must be born again.

the ingredients for the bread of life are all there. The only thing missing is your Faith. Desire to see real change. Be changed by god. all you need is to trust him. Trust it will be so

(callback to the intro)

God makes a promise, you will have questions because you are right about the impossibility of the situation.

God will give reassurance, reiterating the promise, will you believe?