September 1, 2024 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Deut 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord. Amen.
Please be seated.
The Cambridge Online Dictionary defines paradox as “a statement or situation that may be true but seems impossible or difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics.” Now, this does not include direct contradictions, such as “1 plus 1 equals 2 AND, simultaneously, 1 plus 1 equals 3.” That is a contradiction, and both statements can’t be true. But if I say, “Last Sunday was a sunny day” AND “Last Sunday was a rainy day,” both statements might be true. For example, last Sunday was a sunny day in Wiesbaden, which made our picnic memorable. But in Hawaii, not only did it rain, but the big island got hit by the edges of Hurricane Hone. When I was a schoolchild, we read a story about a spoiled prince who wanted a dessert that was both hot and cold. A contradiction? Well, he was served a hot fudge sundae, which was both hot and cold, so it was a paradox, not a contradiction. For contradictions, we talk about “either-or.” For paradoxes, we talk about “both-and.”
Christians are familiar with paradox. The nature of God, the Holy Trinity, has a paradox at its core. In the Godhead, there are three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But the three persons share the same Being or essence, hence God is one. Similarly, the nature of Jesus appears at first glance to be a contradiction: How can Jesus simultaneously be both truly God and truly human? God and humans are of two very different natures, yet Jesus combined both natures in Himself. Christian theologians have struggled with these paradoxes for centuries but have been unable to find simple answers that satisfy the human intellect. That’s because God is so much greater than our finite human intellects can comprehend.
Today’s readings present a similar paradox when it comes to our salvation, although this is not immediately apparent. The Old Testament reading tells us that we should not add or subtract from God’s commands and must observe them diligently. A bit later, in Deuteronomy 6:5, we are told to Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength. Jesus repeats this later in Mark 12:30. He then adds, quoting Leviticus 19:18, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.
Today’s Psalm tells us, “Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, who speaks the truth from his heart” may abide on God’s holy hill. In the epistle, James tells us we must rid ourselves of all sordidness and wickedness. Religion, he continues, consists of caring for orphans and widows in their distress and keeping ourselves unstained by the world. In the Gospel reading, the Pharisees confront Jesus, because some of His disciples were eating without washing their hands, which contradicted the tradition of the elders. Jesus replied that it is what comes out of our hearts that defiles us, not what comes from outside. Simply following rules is not enough: Our hearts must be righteous.
So far, you might wonder, “Where’s the paradox?” God is telling us we need to obey His commands, put Him first, love our neighbor as ourselves, lead a blameless life, and have a righteous heart. That sounds clear enough! Here’s the problem: we can’t do it! The first of the Ten Commandments tells us, we should have no other gods before Him. Well, we don’t worship Baal or any other deity. But if a “god” is whatever we put first in our lives, do we worship money, success, power, fame, social status? If so, we’ve broken the first Commandment. Let’s not even talk about the other nine! Have we observed God’s commands diligently? Have we led blameless lives? If we’re honest, I think the answer must be “no.” Have we done enough for the needy and kept ourselves unstained by the world? For most of us, very much including myself, the answer again is “no.”
Do I love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength? Realistically, no. I might ask, is half of my heart and soul and strength enough? The answer should be obvious. Why should my Creator settle for half? Do I really love my neighbor as myself? No, not even close. I might comfort myself and point to someone who is even worse than I am. But does God grade on a curve? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us to be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48). Perfection is God’s standard, so He doesn’t grade on a curve. We might also comfort ourselves by saying there are some terrible sins we have never committed, such as murder. But God’s standards are higher than ours. Jesus tells us, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment” (Matt 5:21-22). Have I ever been angry with a brother or sister? The answer is obvious. And James writes, “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (Jas 2:10, NIV).
So, to sum up the problem: we can’t meet God’s standards. And realistically, there’s nothing we can do to meet them. That’s what God’s Law and today’s readings teach us.
Here’s the paradox: God demands that we obey his Law perfectly, but we can’t do it. But God loves us and wants everyone to be saved and spend eternity with Him. Jesus tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). So, even though I don’t come close to meeting God’s standard, I can still “abide on God’s holy hill,” in the words of the Psalmist. I have been promised everlasting life. Why? Because God loves me, so He offers me the gift of salvation if I believe in His one and only Son. That’s it. Paul writes, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8-9, NIV).
Now it’s important to be clear: faith is more than just intellectually accepting some propositions, although that’s part of it. To have faith means to enter a relationship with Jesus, in which we accept Him as Both Savior and Lord. Accepting Him as Savior is critically important but not enough. It’s not enough to just receive the gift of salvation that Jesus earned for us on the cross. We need to follow Him as Lord. What does this mean? Jesus tells us, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15). His commands can be summarized in the Law of Love, mentioned above: Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Gospel singer Amy Grant recorded a song called “Fat Baby,” in which a man “knelt at the altar and that was the end, he’s saved and that’s all that matters to him.” He accepted Jesus as Savior, but as Lord? No. Is he really saved? I don’t know.
And so now we return to today’s readings. In these passages, and many others, God lays out His standards, which we can’t meet. God offers us a way out: He sends His only son, Jesus, to bear the consequences for our sins in our place, and so offers us the gift of salvation. But God expects us to make progress to meet His standards. That’s what accepting Jesus as Lord means. We should strive to follow Him and do what He wants us to do.
And so, our salvation and God’s standards are a paradox. Salvation is a free gift that Jesus offers to sinners: We can do nothing to earn it, and we need do nothing to earn it. God accepts us as sinners but still expects us to meet His standards, which we can’t do on our own. The good news is that God doesn’t leave us helpless in our efforts to meet His standards. The Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, helps us not only to believe but to move along the path of sanctification.
In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes, “God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy.” God is “delighted with the first feeble, stumbling effort you make tomorrow to do the simplest duty. … On the other hand, you must realise from the outset that the goal to which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal.” [1]
May God work in us to make us more like the people He wants us to be: People who love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Amen.
[1] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (London: William Collins, 2012), 203