Sermon for the 2 nd Sunday after Trinity – June 1, 2008
“ And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. ”
GOING along in life you encounter many ups and downs, turns in the road, and byways and forks. And you take some. You make choices. Your life takes directions you never expected. No one's life seems to ever have gone the way they once imagined. We make new friends, find new interests, suffer losses and setbacks, feel attacked and overwhelmed. We adapt, retaliate, build walls, change course again. All this seems inevitable, but stage by stage we're calling shots. One more turn and suddenly we're all alone in a desert. How'd I get here? I finally get out a map and I'm not on it. This is nowhere. Reproach and recriminations ensue, but are met with a snarl and a proud glare, for now come the excuses …
Excuses are where we run to when we find ourselves off base and uncovered. It's all our fault, but we desperately want to find ourselves a scapegoat, a reason, how it was really a good idea, how everyone else was doing it. Confront us with our faults, mistakes and sins, and the first shot our minds bring forth is “But I…” But I, but I, but I . It sounds like the ricochet the old westerns sounded with every gunshot made among the rocks between lawmen and bad guys. But I!
It's the oldest game of the guilty sinner. Eve and Adam after forbidden fruit and immediately they felt wrong. God showed up in the garden and they hid. “God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?' So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.' And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?' Then the man said, (now here comes the excuse) ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.' And the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?' The woman said, (here's her excuse) ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'” Gen 3:9-13 Excuses, diversions, rationales, the bounce back. “ It isn't my fault, God, it's yours!” “I was tricked. The devil made me do it.”
I have pity on Adam and Eve. After all they really didn't know what trouble they had started, but could feel the world coming apart as they spit out the seeds of that fruit. Uh oh. This was going to need a pretty great excuse. Theirs, as it turns out, were so lame.
Moses, confronted at the burning bush with the hardest assignment anyone would have until Jesus was given the job to save the entire world, tried to find an excuse for himself, “‘O my Lord, I am not eloquent, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.' So the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord ? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.' But he said, ‘O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.'” Ex 4:10-13 Again, it's hard for us to fault Moses. He was supposed to go in Egypt with a walking stick and challenge the most powerful man in the world to give up his slave workforce.
But when all that happened, the children of Israel, so used to living in the land of idols, were tempted to return to their idolatry while Moses was off on the mountain top. As he returned, there was his brother Aaron leading the worship at the golden calf. He screamed at Aaron, demanding an explanation. “You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.” Ex 32:22-24 Right. Of course. This was like the excuse of King Saul for taking plunder from the Amalekite's destroyed cities against God's command in calling it animals for sacrifice, but then admitting he was simply afraid of his people.
The Son of God walked the earth, and men's hearts yearned within them to change their lives and follow this holy man to their souls' health. But their lives tugged at them and they hesitated. One said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:60-62
The Gospel today illustrates God's disappointment in mankind when He invites us to so rich a banquet at His table, so generous a salvation if only we'd humble ourselves to receive it, so high a calling, if we might find room in our busy lives to follow it. The banquet is free. It would be so easy to go. The guests had already accepted his invitation, so the word went out to them to come, the great man's party was ready. And they all made a lame excuse. A new piece of land to see, some new cattle needed testing, a new wife. Excuses. Choosing the wrong thing and then justifying it with excuses.
St. Paul's flagship Epistle to the Romans begins with a broad canvas on which the Apostle paints the fall of mankind. He declares: “ I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith… For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse , because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 1:16-25 He goes on to illustrate the course of sin, from homosexual and perverted sex to idolatry, malice, envy, murder, lies, evil invention, broken families, loveless and merciless lives.
And just when the Christian is congratulating himself for not falling for this tale of misery, chapter 2 opens: “ Therefore you are inexcusable, O man , whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” Romans 2:1
What God wants us to get fixed in our minds is that when we are confronted with our sins, as we are just about every day, don't run for excuses. We act as though we're going to be executed on the spot if someone is able to find a flaw in us, some act of selfishness, of pride, of thoughtlessness. We may think we've sheltered this little corner of our lives from God and everyone, but then it's exposed and we want to run back into the bushes and find a path toward plausible deniability . “I have no recollection of that, Senator.”
St. John's great Epistle is wonderful for our aching consciences, as we heard today: “ And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart , and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” Do you hear one word of reproach in that? In another place, John says, “ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins , He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:7-10
If we say we're innocent, it's plain as day we're liars. Everybody wants to look good, and be approved. But we're not that good, not perfect, not nearly so squeaky clean as we want people to think. But who ever said we were? Did God send His Son only for the worthy? He said, as a physician, He was sent only to the sick. Now, reading between the lines, Jesus knew that we are all sick. But those who called themselves “well” weren't going to take the salvation He offered. Those who claim to be “just fine thank you” aren't going to want our Savior, and He can do nothing for them. The refrigerator has to break down before Sears sends out the repairman for a warrantee service call. Our refrigerator is broken. Call already.
Or, we can make excuse. “This milk will keep until tomorrow. I think it's still cold, maybe it's working and we can't hear it.”
If we say we have no sin… But God gives us a free way out of this charade. Come out with your hands up. Surrender. Sign your confession. Fingerprints, booking photos, shoes and socks please, empty your pockets… Now, through this door please, thoroughly without pride or pretence, with no excuses anymore, and enter… paradise.
Come off the desert. We've found you. Welcome home at last.
PFH+