"A SURE THING"
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15)
August 20, 2017
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
The gifts of God and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Romans 11:29 (NIV)
The story has been told about a group of Americans who were touring some of the magnificent cathedrals of Europe, when a young woman in the group summoned up the courage to ask a question that had been bothering her throughout the tour: “Why is it, do you suppose,” she asked the guide, “that people today don’t seem to invest as much time and effort and expense in building beautiful houses of worship as people did in earlier times?” The guide’s face became a little downcast as he sadly replied: “I think it’s because in times past people had convictions about God and His glory, and today they only have opinions.” There is a lot of truth in that. Not only in spiritual matters, but everywhere in life, so it seems, the whole idea of absolute truth or absolute certainty has disappeared. Everything in life seems to be negotiable. There doesn’t seem to be anything that people feel so strongly about as to count on it as being a sure thing.
In this morning’s Epistle reading Saint Paul speaks of one happy exception. There is something, he tells us, that never changes and never will change, and that is God’s infinite love for lost sinners like us. We and the things under our control may change--and they constantly do, because we are fickle--influenced by sin and subject to the decay of sin. But God is infinitely better than that. His love--His grace--is perfect. It isn’t influenced by us, by our selfishness, by our sin, or by our disobedience. God’s love for us is constant and permanent or, as our text puts it, "irrevocable." In particular the apostle reminds us in this short verse that “the gifts of God and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
The irrevocable gifts of God are far too numerous for us to count. There are first of all the gifts of creation: life and all that life requires, the companionship and love provided by family and friends, the resources to be and do our very best, thereby showing that the Lord’s blessings are not wasted on us. We also have the greater gifts of redemption: the forgiveness of our sins, our acceptance by God, the power to overcome sin in our lives, and the assurance of everlasting life--all given to us freely in the Savior Jesus Christ. And don’t forget the gifts of sanctification--that glorious work of the Holy Spirit that was begun in each of us when we were baptized in the name of the Triune God and will continue until we breathe our last and rest securely in the arms of our Savior. All of this--and infinitely more--is ours. And it is ours not because we deserve it in any way or because we’re likely to be grateful for it. The truth is that we don’t deserve it by any stretch of the imagination and we can’t even begin to fathom how grateful we ought to be for it. No, all of this is ours for no other reason than that God loves us and showers us with the gifts of His love. It is His very nature to love because, as John the evangelist tells us in his First Letter: “God is love” (I John 4:8).
These gifts of God are irrevocable. He doesn’t hold out His hand of blessing with gifts only to withdraw it a short time later, nor does He offer them to us with a whole list of requirements and conditions through which we have to prove ourselves worthy of His gifts. No, He simply gives. We can’t fully understand or appreciate that, because that’s certainly not the way in which we deal with one another. We are willing to give only if and when our conditions are met or we can afford it after we’ve taken care of ourselves or our giving is reciprocated or there’s something in it for us. But God is altogether different: He gives and gives and gives--“without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1). He gives to those who don’t deserve it--to those who can’t pay Him back (and who wouldn’t pay Him back even if they could). There is no one on the face of this earth to whom God hasn’t given. And if there are people without the grace of God--and, believe me, there are--it’s not because God hasn’t given; it’s because they have refused to receive.
God’s calling is irrevocable as well. He calls us to be His people--to receive His gifts with thanksgiving and to use those gifts to His glory by sharing them with others. He calls through His means of grace: His Word and Sacraments. He calls every time congregations of His people all over the world gather together for worship around these means of grace. He calls every time a Christian shares his or her faith with someone who hasn’t yet heard the Gospel of Christ--or at least has not yet let it sink in. He calls every time an act of kindness is extended by a Christian in the Savior’s name. He calls everyone, but how many really hear that call? And yet that call is irrevocable. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying “once saved, always saved,” as some misinformed people believe and as some church-bodies erroneously teach. It is possible for a person once called through Baptism into the fellowship of Christ to forsake that call and later live and die outside the grace of Christ. But when that happens, it’s not because God has revoked His call; it’s because that person is so determined to destroy himself that he tunes out God’s call to repentance and faith so that he no longer even hears it. When I say that God’s call is irrevocable, what I mean by that is that God continues to call the straying person back to repentance and faith until the day he dies.
The irrevocable calling of God in Christ Jesus is extended to you and to me every day. It is a call to repentance--a call to forgiveness--a call to victory over sin and death. Every time we do something that we know is contrary to God’s will for His people, He calls us to realize our sin, to confess it, to grieve over it, and to ask His forgiveness for the sake of our slain and risen Savior. He calls us to trust solely in Jesus’ merits, for it is because of these merits that He forgives. And He calls us to use the power of the Gospel to turn away from our sinful and selfish ways to glorify Him. That call--that forgiveness--that power for change--is ours, and will be ours as often as we need it. It is irrevocable. We needn’t fear that we’ve gone too far this time or that we’ve asked for His forgiveness once too often. We can count on Him. As often as we desire forgiveness--grieving over our sin and honestly seeking change--His love and His power are a sure thing for us.
A troubled young Christian once became so distraught that he went to see a wise elderly pastor for some spiritual encouragement. “What seems to be the problem?” the pastor asked. “I’m not really sure,” the young man replied. “I was raised in the church and my faith has always been very important to me, but lately I just don’t feel as close to God as I once did.” “Well,” the elderly cleric said in an understanding voice, “if you don't feel as close to God as you used to, then who moved?” The old pastor’s advice could just as well be taken to heart by all of us. If you don’t feel as close to God as you used to, who moved? Surely not God, for His gifts and His calling are irrevocable. It must, then, be you. But all is not lost. He forgives you even for this in the grace of His Son. And His Holy Spirit calls you back again and again to greater faith through His means of grace, offered to you constantly because of the redeeming love of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.