As we continue to experience the Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Gracious God of righteousness, you are the one who assures our salvation. Grant unto us now the ability to receive, so that we may truly be your children. Use this time to further your mission in this world. Speak Lord, your servants are listening. If these words are not Your Word, may they be forgotten and come to naught. But if they be Thy Word, may they adhere to our hearts, forever transforming us from glory into glory, into the creatures you would have us be, Thou who art our Rock and Redeemer, Amen.

How we want to earn our salvation. O how we long for it. It will prove we are worthy creatures, good in and of ourselves. It would give us something to work for, give us goals at which to aim. We could measure ourselves against the bar, against other people in our lives, against the people of history. It would give us control. Oh how we want it.

Deep down, somewhere inside our very core, a place to which we don’t often go, we know that earning our own salvation isn’t a good idea. We know the freedom that comes with grace is a wonderful thing. But we will eagerly sacrifice it, just to earn a piece of that which can only by obtained through receiving the free gift of grace. We want to earn our way so much, we invent new manners of measuring what makes us worthy. And this passage in Romans, meant to show the grace of God, has been used instead as another measuring stick. So, hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in Romans. Listen for the good news of God. Romans 4.1-17. The Grass withers, the Flower falls, but the Word of the Lord endures forever…Thanks be to God.

Some have argued that Romans is Paul’s version of the Institutes, or his collection of Dogmatics. Which is to say, some think that the letter to the Romans is Paul’s summary of his theology. Romans is essentially Paul’s version of the basics, how to become & be a Christian, and what right belief is. And to that, some think that Chapter 4 of Romans forms a complete unity of Paul’s thought in all of Romans. So, this chapter is the crux of Pauline theology, which as the writer of more of the New Testament than anyone but Luke, is an important theology. Paul’s theology forms what is Christian theology.

In verses 1 – 8, Paul treats the justification of Abraham by faith. Verses 9 – 12, left out of the lectionary but read anyway today, further that point by showing that Abraham was righteous before completing the most symbolic work, circumcision. And verses 13-17 use Abraham’s story as a point of departure for reflecting on the dynamic relationship of promise and faith.

Paul is working hard at showing proof that one is saved by faith, not works. He cites Genesis 15.6 to show that Abraham’s belief in God was the occasion of his being reckoned righteous. Then, he quotes Psalm 32 to pronounce a blessing on those whom the Lord forgives.

Paul’s point in chapter 4 is that one is saved by grace through faith. It is an old tune, but one that may not be repeated enough. The human reaction is to hear this good news and immediately try to assist God in saving us through our own good deeds. Good deeds are fine. Good deeds are important. Good deeds should be the outcome of a life transformed by Christ. But good deeds do not save. Yes, it is an old tune. We’ve all heard it before.

A couple of weeks ago, I finished my series that was titled Stewarding the Protestant Tradition. Part of the goal of that series was to make us feel pride in our heritage, to make us straighten up our backs and thrust out our chests when we say, “Yeah, I’m Presbyterian.” And you know what, when it comes to this passage, we as Protestants are especially gifted. You see, we have practiced turning “faith” itself into the single essential saving work or act of the human will. How we want to earn salvation. And what makes us great as Presbyterians is that we have found a way to make faith into a work. Good for us.

Read Paul. Abraham trusted the God who justifies the ungodly, and his faith was reckoned as righteousness. We do not believe our way into salvation. Instead, we are saved. Faith is a nice thing, a necessary thing. Faith is a gift folks. Having enough belief does not get you any more in with God. But, faith is the window into which you can see the good of the world. Faith is like a set of 3D glasses you put on in the movie theater. The movie is otherwise good but hard to understand, jumbled. But put on those glasses, and you will see wonders coming at you, all around you, to where you swear you could touch them. Faith does the same thing for life. Life is pretty good, but often jumbled and hard to understand. By definition it is good, since the good God created it, and then called it good. But put on faith, and your eyes can be opened to the wonders coming at you, all around you, to where you swear you could touch them.

Long before trilogies were written about rings, and movies made based on trilogies written about rings, and Oscar awards given to movies made based on trilogies written about rings, there was this story.¹ “Once there was a magic ring which gave its bearer the gifts of grace, kindness and generosity. The wearer of the ring was naturally the most content, joy-filled person in the land. When he was on his deathbed, each of his three children came separately and asked for the ring. The old man promised the ring to each of them.

“He then sent for the finest jeweler in the land, and paid to make two rings identical to the original. Before he died, the father gave each child a ring without telling about the other two.

“Inevitably, the three children discovered that each one had a ring, and so they appeared before the local judge to ask for help in deciding which one had the magic ring, and who had the duplicates. The judge examined the rings and found them to be alike. So, in wisdom, the judge declared, ‘Why must anyone decide now? We shall know who has the magic ring when we observe the direction your life takes.’

“Each of the children then acted as if they were the wearers of the magic ring by being kind, honest, and thoughtful.”

So, who actually had the magic ring, the one in which the gifts of grace, kindness and generosity flowed freely through them. The answer is easy. All three.

But equally as important is this question. Which one of the three children did the father who bequeathed the ring love most? Which one was enabled to enjoy life the most? Through grace, not a series of tests determining who was most worthy, the answer is the same. All three of them. All children were beloved by the father, and all were enabled to enjoy life to its fullest.

God’s love courses through our very being. There is nothing you can do to change that, to make it more, or to make it less. Faith puts you in touch with it, but it doesn’t mean that you earn it any more than anyone else. Faith is something, should we do it right, to which we would love to get addicted, because we can benefit from seeing life from God’s point of view.

And how does God view life, how does God view you, for all our faith, and for all of our lack of same. For all the times we try to make even faith a system of works righteousness. I leave you with the words to this song, titled “Burgundy Heart Shaped Medallion.”²

If I had a spell of magic I’d make this enchantment for you. A burgundy heart-shaped medallion, with a window that you could look through. So that when all the mirrors are angry, with your faults and all you must do, you could peek through that heart-shaped medallion, and see you from my point of view.

May we be given the gift of faith-sight, and not try to make even it a work. Amen.