Showing Respect For God: Romans 2:3-4

Romans 2:3-4 “Showing Respect for God”

When you have done wrong, forgiveness is a very gracious thing. But, forgiveness comes from outside of you, from someone else to you; repentance comes from within you. And, repentance means a change from sin to righteousness. To experience forgiveness, causes and encourages repentance; but, repentance can begin before you experience forgiveness. In human relationships, if you’ve done something wrong, you usually are going to have to change your ways, before the one wronged can begin to forgive. In many ways, I think forgiveness is overrated. What is important is turning from what is wrong towards what is right. If you are really repentant, and someone withholds forgiveness, well, you can’t do anything about that. The most important thing is to be at peace with God, acting righteously before God. We would do better to speak of repentance and reconciliation, and leave off talk of forgiveness for a while. If you really desire reconciliation, you will repent/change towards the good, and you will forgive] The yearning for reconciliation or peace with others motivates us to change towards what is good, and motivates us to set aside disagreements, forgive wrongs done. If you love someone, there is a strong desire towards reconciliation; but, what if someone wrongs you, and you don’ tcare much at all for them? The motivation to forgive must come from somewhere other than your yearning for reconciliation.

Paul has begun this letter to the Romans by explaining that God has made himself known in the things he has made, and that there is some reflection of God in the conscience of every human who has a sense of what is right and what is wrong. But, here in this second chapter, Paul turns towards those who believe in God, those who count on God’s forgiveness. And, he has some pretty sharp things to say.
“Do you think that you will escape judgment when you are doing the very wrongs that you judge others for?” “Or, do you despise the richness of God’s mercy, that is meant to lead you to repentance?”

What Paul is saying here is “you cannot mock God and get a way with it.” And, it is mocking God when you take his forgiveness for granted, and continue in those same sins with no change in your life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer called this “cheap grace” which is taking God’s mercy for granted, and failing to realize how costly that grace really is. Grace that couldn’t overcome sin in the world until Jesus, the Son of God, was put to death, buried, and raised as the first-born of a new creation. The people of Israel knew the One True God; they heard the teaching of the prophets, experienced the liberation from slavery; but, the grace of God could not find a resting place among the people, only a few here and there. When Jesus came, the grace of God shone on the earth, but there was no resting place for the Son of God, because the power of sin was so strong in human beings, that they could not receive the Saviour. They rejected that grace of God that they needed so badly. There was something twisted in human beings, that couldn’t be straightened out, except by that one person, Jesus, who shared the divine and the human experience in his flesh and blood. In him humanity was true, God’s grace found a resting place in Jesus human flesh. And, Jesus leads us in that way on this earth. A way in which God can be honored in human flesh. But, there is a cost on this way. Because, God’s grace does not find a resting place in us until we take up the struggle against sin; until we turn against the sin within and without.

What Paul is saying here is: “if you aren’t really bothered by sin, and if you let sin come and go as it pleases in your life without a fight, then you have no business with God’s forgiveness.” Because when you are open to God, when you receive God’s grace, you are filled with respect for God, and a desire to please God. As Paul says: “Don’t you know that God’s mercy is to bring you to repentance.” If you think you are receiving God’s forgiveness, but you are not turning against your sin, then it may not be God’s forgiveness, but just a cheap substitute, cheap grace, which God has nothing to do with. God’s forgiveness comes with the power of repentance, the power to change. Now, change doesn’t come all at once; it is usually a step at a time – with a stumble or two along the way – but, the change keeps going, the eyes of the heart are fixed upon the glory of God.
False religion is built on cheap grace. And, yes, sometimes that cheap grace is accompanied by a lot of false, sentimental preaching. True religion is built on costly grace. And, James gives a good description when he says: “True religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows and keep yourself unstained by the world.”
And, it takes some effort and some struggle to do those things: care for those in need; remain holy/dedicated to God, not lesser gods. I would like for all of us to come before our Holy God this morning, face God’s holiness, to know God’s power, and to give God the pure praise of our hearts. And, if we can come before God in this way, to truly come with that deep reverence for God’s wisdom and power and goodness, with deep gratitude that we are able to seek God and to live before him. If we can start right here, then the grace we will find will comes as forgiveness, and the power of repentance, the power to overcome sin and become living examples of God’s goodness and grace.

But, don’t think you can tell God what to do, when to do it, and don’t think God is waiting around to serve you and me. God is about his business, and we need to come before God with a concern for God’s business/God’s will, and ask humbly that we could be humble workers in God’s business. When we do that, God’s Spirit begins to move within us and through us. We experience ourselves drawn to love and honesty and life, and we experience that there is little room within us for sins like condemning, lusting, envying, and hating.

Can you rest just a minute in prayer? Can you draw near with me and seek that Holy Presence that created all that is and that sustains all that is? Can you let that reverence/ that deepest respect for God awaken in your heart, and guide you?

Let us pray.