Thoughts on life's experiences and God's nature by Robby Hyche…

Well it is now September 3^rd, and I made this big plan back at the early part of summer to trudge through Romans.  And of course I’m at chapter 3 (smile) and it’s taking longer than I thought.  The summer has brought quite a bit of change for us and with Thailand and other work, I have not taken the time to write.  Notice, I said, “have not ‘taken’ the time….”  The time has probably been there but I have not taken it as I should.

But this morning I had an urge to go back to Romans and we come upon Paul’s instruction regarding what Theologians commonly call “Total Depravity.”  Few like this doctrine.  Some relish it like vampires relish blood.  The rest deny it.  The fact of the matter is, Paul is quoting an Old Testament (OT) passage as he lays out his summary of the human condition.  Paul asserts the Jews were blessed to have received divine revelation through Abraham and Moses (and thus scripture) therefore anyone who denies God or his scriptural revelation (and I believe he meant the OT law) fell under condemnation.  Paul then leaves no stone unturned by pointing his finger of truth at (we) gentiles, saying we are guilty because we have denied our conscience.  

Here is where we are this morning…

Romans 3:9-20

No One Is Righteous

⁹ What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, ¹⁰ as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

¹¹ no one understands; no one seeks for God.

¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

¹³ “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

¹⁴ “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶ in their paths are ruin and misery,

¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.”

¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Paul begins building his case from Psalms 14 and 53.  Psalm 14 begins, “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”  Paul links to several passages in Psalms 5, 140 and Jeremiah 5:16, Isaiah 59:7,8, and Psalm 36:1.  He uses scripture that would have been familiar – or easily found – so that he could prove his point.  

In reformation circles, the doctrine which surrounds this passage is called Total Depravity.  St. Augustine and John Calvin both espoused and helped define this teaching.  

Many of my friends cringe at this doctrine.  “But isn’t there something in man that is redeemable?” They ask.  “Isn’t there something here that made God want to save us.”  Uh, “no.”  God did not have to redeem us.  In one sense there was nothing in us that required God to redeem us.  Sometimes that’s what I hear in my friends voice: “I know that God would want to save me if he really knew me.”  No, I think that’s Paul’s point – God made a way through conscience and scripture but we rejected it.  God knows us all too well!

[STOP - before you stop reading because of what I just wrote, keep reading and let me spell this out.]

God indeed LOVES YOU.  This is why you are worth redeeming.  God placed his love upon you and wanted you for his own.  So Jesus volunteered to come and die on our behalf so that we may be saved.  Scripture is clear about this.

I like what R.C. Sproul says about this passage.  Let me see if I can spell it out.  When we say “total depravity” sometimes what comes into our minds is the idea that we are all “worms” and are SOOOO sinful that there is no way that we can sin any more than we do.  In other words, we have reached the bottom.  That’s wrong.  That is a lie.  Look carefully at what Paul says: the person he is describing is constantly inventing new ways to sin.  That would mean by elimination that all sin has not yet been invented.  We’re constantly in the business of finding new ways to sin.  We are idol factories and make more every day.

What we’re talking about (thanks Dr. Sproul) is maybe better described as utter depravity, not total depravity.  I think that’s what Augustine and Calvin meant when they tried to define this doctrine for us.

Here’s how Sproul puts it, “Utter depravity would mean that every human being is as wicked as it is possible to be, and we know that this is not the case. As much as we sin, we can always contemplate sinning more often, or more grievously than we presently do.”

So what we’re saying here is that we are totally affected by sin. “Totally depraved” means that there is NOT a place in our lives where sin has not come in and touched us. Every time that a child first sees porn, or a kid gets angry with his sister, or a person tells a lie, or someone flips me off for no apparent reason – every time something happens to me or that I do something wrong – it is evidence that sin has had a sort of “dominion” over me or into my domain of existence.

And Satan is rather proud of that.  

His entire plan was to totally corrupt the creation God had made.  On the surface, he seems to be doing a pretty good job.

So how can we positive about the human being or the Christian’s walk, or life itself since sin has touched, affected, or destroyed every aspect of who we are?  Aren’t “reformed” people morbid about the situation and moaning about the loss of Paradise?  Sometimes.  But I think we need to see this more clearly.

Let’s hear again from Dr. Sproul, “The very fact that Calvinists take sin so seriously is because they take the value of human beings so seriously. It is because man was made in the image of God, called to mirror and reflect God’s holiness, that we have the distinction of being the image-bearers of God.”

That’s a marvelous distinction. God made us to be reflectors of his image and his likeness. When we sin, we distort that image. So we want to come to the point where we are ever combating the sin that affects us and our world. Justice, mercy, gratefulness, peace, and grace are all attempts to rid our world of sin and impact it for heaven.

No One lives in this world without being affected by Sin. But no One loves us more than Jesus. He died for us and wants to redeem us. That’s what gives every person worth in this world.

Tomorrow, I’ll finish this section…

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God’s Righteousness Upheld

3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ² Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³ What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? ⁴ By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” ⁵ But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) ⁶ By no means! For then how could God judge the world? ⁷ But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸ And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

Let me phrase Paul’s question in a 20-century sense, “What advantage then is there in being a church member? Or what is the value of baptism?” These seem like new questions to some of us but they have been around at least since Paul’s day. There are many, many in our congregation who ask the same thing. Very often we see people joining here who have been coming for years. But they fail to join the church. When we ask “why” they simply respond (most of the time) “I didn’t see any need or benefit to it.” Very sad.

There is a song called, Walking in Memphis. In one point of the song, the musician says he walks into a small church. The folks are singing and he’s enjoying himself and singing with them. One of the women singing in the choir says – “Tell me if you’re a Christian, child.” To which the musician says, “Ma’am, I am tonight.” The idea is that I can be a part or not when I want.

I read an article today that said Anne Rice “quits” Christianity. She quit? Can you really do that? I always thought that being a Christian is kind of like becoming a color like white or black. I can’t just quit being white. Even though I am sure our African-American friends would say that there would be a benefit to that. Actually, Anne didn’t quit Jesus or God. She just doesn’t like American Mainstream Christianity. I kind of see her point. I think that’s why even our own Buddy says he is a “Jesus-Follower.” Unfortunately the “Christian” label has become confused with politics, pandering, bigotry, bellowing, boycotts, and bad-hair. Yes, I see Anne’s point indeed.

There is also a move among younger evangelicals to start new churches and leave the traditional denominations alone. Again, I see their reasoning because of the problems behind our big ecclesiastical systems. They were created in the days when things were simpler and no organization existed. So a little bit of a organization made sense. Now many decades and billions of dollars later, what we have is a big green money machine spewing tradition and philosophy.

The rhetoric in the song, the frustrations of Anne Rice, and the antiestablishmentarianism (how do you like that – I have finally figured out how to use that word in a context) of the younger generation all touch a nerve with me. But… this is dangerous to be sure because when we become a Christian, we’re not becoming part of a club just because we want to be. We are wooed by the Holy Spirit of God. When we receive the Holy Spirit and Christ at Salvation it is not our own will which keeps us in the hands of God. Paul is not making a superficial point here about politics or even synagogues, church structures, or circumcision. Paul is speaking of the oracles of God – the very words and life of Christ which give us life. When we handle scripture and think on the things of God, we are speaking of spiritual things, not earthly constructs. The Church is given to bring this spiritual aspect into play on earth.

I think Paul senses that the Jewish brethren there in Rome were looking at the logic more than the life of the Jewish people. In the words of __ from Fiddler on the Roof, all they saw were tradition. At the time of the writing of Romans, the Jewish people had endured the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. This is difficult for us to fathom today. It would be paramount to suddenly an announcement being made Jesus’ body had been found and verified – that Jesus was dead. The Jewish Temple represented the power and presence of God in the lives of the Hebrew people. Without that physical reminder and place to go to the people felt empty, defeated, and hopeless. “Well what’s the use in all this Jewish tradition and stuff we do!?” They asked themselves.

Paul says that they are still given the Oracles of God. The Jews were entrusted with the Oracles of God – the prophets, priests, and the Word of God. There were also many synagogues still in operation around the world. [note:That is how Christianity was able to spread so quickly. Paul would go to these and preach the gospel and people would get saved. So Paul sees this as an important piece for the Jews to relish.] The synagogue system (and later churches) gave a place for the gospel, sacraments, preaching, and scripture reading to be conducted.

So what if people are unfaithful? God is faithful. What if churches or synagogues are unfaithful? God is faithful. God is true – man lies.

In a similar way the church today is entrusted with the same thing. But, many churches are apostate. Some of them – many of them – fail. Doesn’t that prove that I can have my own church and do my own thing? Does it make “Christianity” untrue? Does that mean I “quit” Christianity because I don’t like the people who are running the show? Nope. Paul says, By no means – this is the most stringent, forceful word in the Greek. In English, it would be HECK NO! Paul is not cussing here. He is loudly proclaiming that God needs to be true and every man a liar. Don’t forsake the assembly because the Temple in Jerusalem was ground to powder by the Romans. Don’t quit worshipping because the leaders are hypocrites (news flash you are too). God still works through the church.

The Church is given to us as a community-event where we submit ourselves to it to be held accountable, challenged for growth, and organized for action. We come to the church as a way to further the movement and progress of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sure, today we have a lot of churches with a lot of problems but those problems should not prevent us from gathering together.

What about fallacious pastors? God still gets glory. Churches do not exist for the glory or on the condition of the pastor – or they shouldn’t anyway. We are all sinners in some way. I realize some sins make us disqualified for ministry but I am amazed at how the body of Christ plods along in the midst of inadequate leadership.

So if God works through these sinners, then why do I stay clean or pure? Paul answers that question too. This is an absurd argument. God can judge us because he will judge those who misuse the scriptures, the church, or preaching for their own end. Those people will indeed face their own punishment, but it will come from the hand of God. Not you or I.

The point here is “Let God be true and every man a liar.” This is a foundational truth for your heart and head. Repeat it 10 times to yourself. Everything you see around you right now is a vapor. It’s a flimzy, hologram that in a instant will disappear when you die. At that moment what is true will be revealed.

You see I need this truth. Why? Because my “temple” always gets destroyed.

When…

• My world decays around me – Let God be true and every man a liar.
• We fight against a constant and relentless enemy – Let God be true and every man a liar.
• A spouse leaves me for someone else – Let God be true and every man a liar.
• My income becomes “outgo” – Let God be true and every man a liar.
• My children don’t behave – Let God be true and every man a liar.
• My minister fails me – Let God be true and every man a liar.
• My strength and heart fail – Let God be true and every man a liar.

This little phrase is a rock for your soul. There are those who will say to you that God is not true. Please believe me, friend, if we do not hang onto this one your mind will become raving mad.

“God be true in us today! Do not let me believe what man says but believe in your Word.”

Chris Chambers asked me to use one word to describe my feelings or thoughts about my first trip to Thailand and the Mae Saring region of the country. 

I don’t have a word. Perhaps from this list you can help me choose one.

Gentle – the people of Thailand are by nature a gentle people.  You can see it in [most of] their expressions as you walk down the street.  The people are not pushy but kind.  Yes, there are those who make trouble and the country is not without its share of bad people.  But they are a gentle people.

Humble – from the smallest age they are taught to place the palms of their hands together in what we would call a prayer stance, place those hands beneath their chin, and then bow their head slowly and gracefully as they say “Sa wat de kaaaa” [hello, hi, goodbye] – and yes they hold it out like that.  It is both calming and humbling whenever I see it.  No matter how rushed they may be everything stops when they do this and no one fusses.

Different – It’s impossible to walk down the street and see these people who are so beautiful in their own way and not recognize how different they are from me physically.  But then when I walk by a home that has what on first glance might look like a doll house which is ornately decorated, then I know it is a different place.  These little houses are “spirit houses” which contain little “sacrifices,” I guess, that are used to drive away the evil spirits. Oh yes, these people are quite different.  But then again, maybe not.  I keep my lawn manicured to drive off the evil spirit of shame.  I don’t want to be ashamed in the face of my neighbors if the grass gets too tall, [smile].

Respectful – The people are very respectful and it brings that same spirit out in me.

Lost – I listened with wet eyes this morning to the sweet sounds of children singing a song in an unknown tongue.  It was so beautiful that I fought back tears.  As I looked around the room, I noticed a small statue of Buddha presiding over the ceremony.  A cold chill started in my spine and then made its way up my throat.  I coughed to hide my emotion.  Then I thought about how each one of these little ones will die and go to hell if I don’t do something.  Later, I ask “Oh” (the woman leading the song) about that song she sang.  She said a popular actress in Thailand became a Christian and wanted to be a witness to her faith.  That actress wrote that song as both a testimony and a witness.  Oh explained that “God” does not appear in the song because that would be offensive or scary to many.  But in the song, God is speaking.  He asks that they “come back to Him and listen because He is calling.”  Now I really was fighting back tears.  Every child knew every word to the song, but how many know  the God they sing about? [many in this school do but…]  That led me to …

Ashamed – Ashamed that I fought back tears.  I should have let the cry have its way with me.  I should have just let it out because you see I have spent years trying to improve quality, make money, get ahead, study management, apply science, and otherwise “make the world a better place.”  It’s not.  If you look at my pictures on Picasa, you’ll see beautifully manicured rice fields, beautiful children, and beautiful cities.  I love beauty.  A part of me feeds off of it.  But there is nothing beautiful about poverty and lostness.   I am ashamed that I have not done more to win one of these kids to Jesus. 

So I guess my word is unashamed.  Unashamed of Jesus.  Unashamed of the feelings I have for people who don’t know Jesus.  Unashamed of lovely children who need a hug.  Unashamed to ask you to go with me in February to minister missionaries trying to win these people to Christ.  Unashamed that I am ashamed.

Do you have a word?