It Feels Good to Be Free of the Cycle of Freedom

Romans 7:15-25 It feels good to free of the cycle of freedom July 4, 1999 Wesley United Methodist Church I borrowed this joke from Fred, so if he tells it again, you have to promise to laugh as if you never heard it. There Rev. Harriette Cross Romans 7:15-25 It feels good to free of the cycle of freedom July 4, 1999 Wesley United Methodist Church I borrowed this joke from Fred, so if he tells it again, you have to promise to laugh as if you never heard it. There was a church somewhere, who had just changed pastors. They wrote a letter to the bishop requesting to have their own pastor back. When the bishop paid them a visit to ask why, they replied: We didn't like the old pastor because all he ever did was preach about fire and brimstone. In every sermon he told us that we were going to hell. The bishop responded that was also the style of the present pastor. The congregation agreed with that, but they told the bishop. yeah, but the first one didn't seem to enjoy it as much. I tell that joke because today I will talk about something that we in mordern mainline churches don't talk about much anymore, and that is sin. Today we can come up with all sorts of psychological, anand social explanations for the problems of hte world, yet we are not will to acknolwdge the presence of good old fashioned sin in the world. Sin and its affects on us as people. the hold that it can have on our lives. The book of romans is full of sin. Romans 7:15-25 is a very familiar passage, spoken by Paul. He starts out by saying that he doesnt understand his own actions.He does things that he knows are wrong, and even though in his heart, he doesnt want to do them, he does them anyway. Commentators ask two important questions about this text, first they wonder if when Paul uses the term I, is he talking about himself or is he jsut making an example of himself. And then also wonder if this is a statement about his struggles before his conversion or after. As we think about this scripture, I think that those are two important questions to keep in mind. To use Paul as an example, you will remember that Paul was trained to be a pharisee. He was trained to keep the jewish law to the letter. And his training taught him that what christians were doing, so he openly helped the persecutre and kill them. Until one day God met him on the road to damascus and asked him why he felt he needed to kill, and told him that he had been chosen for a special purpose, to bring christianity to those who would otherwise not know of hte good news. And as a result of Paul's ministry we have many of Paul's letters to give the new disciples giudance. So manuy would argue that perhaps Paual's sturggle between doing the right thing and the wrong thing was a condition of his past. It was something that he did in his old life, before he was a christian. But let me ask you, how many of you can relate to Paul's struggle? How many of you have areas in your life taht you know need to be improved, yet you do not give them attention. How many of you know what sinful things are, yet they are somehow a part of your life. If I were to ask for a show of hands, I bet that each of you would bre able to raise your hand becuase you can relate to Paul's struggle. Of course I wouldnt have to raise my hand, because I am the pastor, so I don't have those types of struggles. I am always rigth, I always do the right thing. Hell and brimstone is something that we pastors have to talk about, but we never have to experience. Because we are not a part of the human race. It is human to struggle between right anf wrong. There are two natures inside of all people. One is the will to do wrong, the other is the will to do right. Paul's words point out three things. The inadequacy of the knowledge of sin, the inadequacy of the resolution of the human will alone, and the limitation of the huma ability to diagnos. Knowing what is right is not the same thing as doing it, having the will to do right is not always of any help, and being able to diagnose the problem does not mean that you are able to find a cure. The history of humanity has discovered a lot of things, we have come a long way. The wave of the future is information. With technollogy, computers, the internet, encyclopedias, and everything else, the future of our world is wide open. We feel that the more that we know about the world the better we will be. In the midst of all of humanities knowledge about everything else, the one thing that still has no answer, rhyme or reason is the human heart. There is still no way to explain the senseless violence, hatred and greed that comes from the human heart. If we live in a society where Christianity is so prevalent, why are there so many angry people? Why are there starving children in america, when in this country tons and tons of food is thrown away everyday? Why do we have to hear in the headlines where human lives have been wasted over someone else's hurt feelings? It seems that we live in a world of self-fullfillment. the story of sarah is typical of our times. Sarah went to her therapist complainging about how her life had become self indulgent, she did whatever she wanted to do. she drank, she partied, she had lots of fun. But now it had gotten to the point that she all of her fun was becoming self destructive and she didn't like herseld anymore. the thrapist suggested that she stop- that answer shocked her, you mean I don't have to do what I want to do? That is good news for all of us, I mean all of you. There is a way to get free of the cycle of sin and the frustration that it brings. And it has nothing to do with knowledege of sin, or the will to do right or the ability to diagnose the woes of the world. it has everything to do with the life of Jesus Christ. Paul is willing to risk himself by making himself an example, because he wants to tell the world that Jesus Christ is the only person who can deliver humans from the cycle of sin. Morality deals with the knowledge of right and wrong, religion deals with the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The will to do the right thing is of no use, but the will to follow Christ is the will all that we need. A dcotor can sometimes diagnose a problem, yet cannot always find the cure. Jesus Christ will not bother to crticize our faults, he is always to cure to whatever may be going on in our lives. The will to do the right thing alone will get you know where. As a matter of fact, selfrightouesness is really an acknowledgment of the presence of sin in our lives. There were a group of friends who went to see a hypnnotise. One of the men participated in the public demonstration. HE was told to go home, take a potted plant from a table, wrap it in a towel, place it on a couch, then bow three times. then he was told to awaken from the spell. Later his friends took him home, secretly wanting to see if he would do what he had been told in the spell. He did what he had been told to the letter. When his friends asked him why he had done it, not knowing that he had been hypntized to do this, he matter of factly explained that he was afraid the plant was cold, so he wrapped it in a towel and placed it on the couch away from the breeeze. then since he was so happy with what he had done, he impulsevely bowed three times. Not only do people do things that they know are wrong, but they find reasons for it, we rationalize our behavior so that we can live with it. People need to make themselves right. In that case, I guess that puts me and other pastors on the same level as all of you and Paul. We are all people. The need to make ourselves right is a sin. Because it is a dependence on our knowledge, will and diagnosis. When we all need to have a dependence on the love of Christ in our lives. the conflict between right and wrong continues in all of us no matter where we might be in our Christian journey. I started out by telling you the two questions of commentators to Paul, when Paul says I, in the text who is he talking about. And does this struggle apply to before he was a Christian or after. I think that we can all relate to what Paul is saying. We know that I applies to all, and when means forever. It is most important to remember that Christ is always the goood news. Because if we trust in Christ, then we will always know the outcome of life. Amen. The book of romans is full of sin. Romans 7:15-25 is a very familiar