05 Sep 9/8/24 Romans 2:1-16 “Don’t Eat the Hot Peppers”
9/8/24 Romans 2:1-16 “Don’t Eat the Hot Peppers”
We are going to be in a new series this fall which will take us away from our most traveled roads. I’m going to spend some time on some of the passages that aren’t in the Lectionary. The Lectionary, as you may recall, is a series of 4 readings for every week of the year and it goes for 3 years before it repeats itself. These are just suggested readings for pastors and we are not required to follow them. There are many reasons why certain passages are left out of these suggested readings. There may be the same story in Luke as in Matthew or Mark. By doing the Lectionary for only 3 years, some things have to be left out simply because there isn’t enough time or room in 3 years. Also, it is hard to get many sermons out of some books like Numbers. So I think we will have some fun with these over the next few weeks as we tread in places we don’t usually go. Today, we are going to a section of Romans where there may be a little controversy. The first chapter of Romans tells us what is wrong. Sin is wrong and it is rampant. I urge you to read this chapter on your own as it spells out many sins including homosexuality that are wrong. I know I’m not politically correct to say such things but I’m just saying what is in the Bible. Then we move to the Chapter 2 where Paul turns us upside down by telling us we are all sinners and no one is any better than the next person. Let’s see where you fit in all of this together and get some tips on how not to judge others.
Being judgmental can be a little tricky. This is supposedly a true story of a certain Bishop Potter who was sailing for Europe on one of the great ocean liners as told by James May. He went on board and found his cabin. He was going to share it with another man he had never met. After meeting the other man and seeing the cabin he went to the purser’s desk and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the ships safe. He explained that ordinarily he never availed himself of that privilege, but he had been to his cabin and had met the man who was to occupy the other berth. Judging from his appearance, he was afraid that he might not be a very trustworthy person. The purser accepted the responsibility for the valuables and remarked, “It’s all right, Bishop, I’ll be very glad to take care of them for you. The other man has been up here and left his valuables for the same reason!” Just when we think we are rolling along pretty well, we get a good slap in the face.
This is sort of what Paul was doing to his Roman audience. In the first chapter, he has been telling them all the sins that those other people have been doing. He is quite explicit and he names specific sins. He has his audience leaning forward nodding their heads yes and shaking their fingers at others. He has them thinking that all those other people are terrible sinners. Why can’t they be more like us? And then, like the purser in the story, Paul drops the other shoe.
How dare they judge someone else? When they do, and they all did it, then they condemn themselves because they are doing the very same thing. Can you imagine that? We are the same as those terrible people who never go to church. We are the same as those people who are wicked and evil. We are the same as the arrogant, boastful, slanderers who are all around us. Worse yet, we are the same as our politicians! What in the world is Paul trying to say?
Let’s look at this for a minute. Most people today would say that the opposite of being judgmental is to be tolerant. I’m afraid that I would have to disagree with this. Some of the most intolerant, judgmental people in the world are those who promote tolerance. Have you ever noticed that if you aren’t tolerant of everyone and everything, then you are hated by those promoting whatever views or lifestyles they are backing in the name of tolerance? I’m afraid some of the most judgmental people we have are the ones pushing tolerance.
I have a better term for opposite of ‘judgmental’ which is to be humble. The humble person knows that he/she is a sinner. They know for a fact that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Some of the most tolerant people in the world are those who humble themselves before the Lord because they know that they are no better than anyone else.
Now we have to realize that God’s judgment is perfect. It is based on the truth. We are not in the position to judge because we are sinners. We are not perfect like God. Therefore whenever we try to judge, it doesn’t work. The only thing we have going for us that most other people don’t have is that we can go to Jesus and ask Him to take away our sins. But this isn’t just for us, it is for everyone. There is one thing we have to realize is we have to keep confessing. One time is not enough. Seven times seventy isn’t enough. However, even if you take our sin to Jesus every day, you will still not be in a position to judge because you aren’t perfect.
Then these people and some of us who think that we are so much better than most other people, get lulled into a false sense of security. We think we are so good. We think that our ways are so much better. We think we have earned our place in heaven. Well, here’s a news flash for all of us. You cannot earn your way to heaven. The only way to heaven is on your knees. It is when you are humble that you are your best. It is when you love the lowest of sinners. Personally, I cannot find a lower sinner than me. You see pride puffs us up to something that you are not. Tolerance builds us up for a great fall. It is only Jesus who can give you relief. He does this as He asks you to be humble.
The second part of this is also for all of us. We like to think that we don’t have to obey the Law. Please remember that Jesus came to fulfill the Law and not abolish it. However, many of the people who hear Paul are still good Jewish people who are trying to follow the Law. For these people Paul is trying to say that it isn’t good enough to just hear the Law and know the Law, you must do what the Law says.
Now this is a rather unique thing. These people sent their kids to school to learn the Torah and the Law. They studied and studied so that they would know. I would bet if I wasn’t a Methodist that is, that Paul could recite every law there was. After all, he was a Pharisee, a good Pharisee and that is what they did. They learned the law and tried to make sure that everyone knew the Law. Now he is saying that this isn’t enough. In order to be a good Jew you had to do the Law. The same thing goes for us.
It isn’t good enough to know all about Jesus. It isn’t good enough to be able to recite Scripture verses. It is not good enough when we try to be like Jesus. Here is what I mean. There are two things that really drive me crazy. There are probably many more but that is a whole other topic. The first is when we get evangelical groups like the one that came to our area few years ago. Do you remember the ones that had skateboarders, bikes and other things that young people like to do? To begin, I think they did a pretty good job of presenting Jesus to the young people. That part was good. It was a very good exposure to Jesus Christ. But a few weeks after the event, I got a letter from them where they congratulated themselves because they got 150 young people to give their lives to Jesus that night. I say 150 because I don’t remember the exact number but it was high. I then realized that these people were Christian bean counters. All that mattered to them was how many came to Christ that night. In verse 8 we read that the self-seekers will invoke the wrath of God on Judgment Day. Even when we are trying to do the right thing, we have to make sure it is for the glory of God and not ourselves. This type of thing happens often where the evangelizing side is stressed to the point of forgetting about caring for others.
The other side of this you can find in many mission trips or projects. This is where we get people to go out and help others. We feed people, we cloth people, and we help people to become independent. Once again there is nothing wrong with these programs because they help a lot of people. They are very good. However, why are you doing this? Are you helping so you look good to others? Are you helping because I asked you? Or are you helping to further the glory of God in this world? When you are doing missions or anything, you should begin and end with prayer. That way you can at least try to be in the right way. No matter what you are doing, you need to have balance between evangelism and mission.
Now the third thing I want to bring up here is related to all of this and Paul talks about it in verses 12-16. We talked about this last week when I said that we all have a place for Jesus in our hearts. God made us that way. We can also see this mentioned in Ecclesiastes 2. Whether you have Jesus living in your heart or not, you have a space for Him. Everybody in the world knows that murder is wrong. We know this because it is written in our hearts. All of our basic moral codes are universal, in every society. Many of the morals we cling to in our society are the same as those of primitive tribes in South America or Africa or anywhere. Those who argue differently probably don’t know Jesus in a personal relationship.
What God is telling us is that there will be no excuses that are good enough when we face Him at judgment. Whether you like it or not, you know right from wrong. In this world you can cry that you didn’t know the law in Minnesota because you are from North Dakota. That is the trouble with man-made laws. They are always changing. But the Law of God is written on your hearts and you innately know right from wrong.
And this will not be only for our actions. It is also for our thoughts. You cannot have a secret from God. I will let that one sink in a little. There is not a single thought that Jesus doesn’t know about. You will be judged on your actions and your thoughts.
I would just like to say that you should all go home and read Romans 1. However, don’t ever read Romans 1 without reading Romans 2 followed by Romans 3! I think that we are all humble enough in our churches to realize that many times we are the other people who are always doing wrong things. None of us are even close to perfect and we all understand that. What I would like us to do with this is to be very careful when we talk about those other people, those who are different from us. I have heard people talk about minorities like they are second class citizens. I have heard talk of many other things that just shouldn’t be. I want you to begin a new attitude and that is this. There is not one person in the world who is not better than me in some way. In other words, look at yourself as the lowest person you know. I think that if you do this little thing, you will be surprised at how your life changes. Jesus, who has all the power of the world, came to serve us who have no power. Learn this attitude.
When our girls were young, we went to a Chinese restaurant. I ordered something that said it was a little spicy. I had no idea that they meant on fire spicy. Anyway, there were these little peppers that were super-hot. I couldn’t even eat them. So I set them at the side of my plate and told everyone not to touch them. Wouldn’t you know, one of the girls reached over and put one in her mouth? Almost instantly, she was crying and her mouth was on fire. We tried everything and finally the fire subsided. Now I still loved her immensely even if she had disobeyed me. I had warned everyone not to do this because I loved everyone at the table.
It is the same way with Jesus. He wants to spend the rest of eternity with all of us in heaven or the new earth. Jesus gives these warnings to Paul to write to us because He loves us so much. Yes, you are going to put a hot pepper in your mouth once in a while. Our job is to realize that it is too hot for us and to try not to do it again. He will help us get this out of our mouths. He helps us because He loves us. He warns us because He loves us. Everything He does is because He loves us. The world doesn’t understand this but I hope that you do. The love we receive from Jesus is as great as it can get. Try to love Him back with all your heart. We thank you Jesus for first loving us and always loving us. Let’s pray.
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