Sermon for October 8th, 2017
Romans 9:10-26
10 Nor is that all; something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac. 11 Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue, 12 not by works but by his call) she was told, “The elder shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written,
“I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.” 14 What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses. 19 You will say to me then, “Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”
20 But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction; 23 and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
25 As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” 26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they shall be called children of the living God.”
The Doctrine of Unconditional Election
An older couple had a son, who at the age of 25, was still living at home with them. He was a good-natured young man, but lacking a strong sense of direction or purpose. Understandably, his parents were concerned about his future. So one afternoon, the father decided to organize a small test. He placed on the kitchen table a stack of twenty-dollar bills, a bible, and a bottle of whiskey.
He told his wife, "When our son comes home today and passes by this table, if he picks up the money, it means he is destined to be a businessman. If he chooses the Bible instead, it means he's destined to be a preacher. But if he chooses the whiskey, I'm afraid our son is destined to become a drunkard.
Then the couple hid in a nearby closet, with the door cracked just enough to see the table. When the son walked through the door, he paused for a moment in front of the table, and then picked up the stack of twenty-dollar bills and put them in his pocket. In the closet, the father gave his wife an approving smile. But then the son picked up the Bible, leafed through some of the pages and put it under his arm. Just as he was beginning to walk away, he reached out and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, took a swig, and carried all three items with him up the stairs to his room.
The husband turned to his wife and said, "This is worse than I could have imagined. Our son is destined to be a politician."
Today's sermon is about destiny and choice. In honor of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, this month I'm preaching on the five points of Reformed Calvinism, which we remember using the acronymn, TULIP. Last week we talked about the doctrine of Total Depravity. Today is Unconditional Election. Next week is Limited Atonement, then Irresistible Grace, and on Reformation Sunday (October 29th) we'll conclude with the Perseverance of the Saints.
So. Unconditional Election. What does that mean? Let's start with the second word, "election." That's a pretty polarizing word in our culture today. Some of us are still getting over the last one, others are still celebrating it, some can hardly wait for the next one, and some are dreading going through all of that again.
The Doctrine of Unconditional Election is not that kind of election, although the words are similar. When we, as a society, elect a person it means we have "chosen" that person through our electoral process. When you as an individual elect to do something, or elect not to do something, it's another way of saying you have chosen to do that thing, or chosen not to do it. So to elect is to choose, and election is the act of choosing. Unconditional Election then, is the act of choosing something or someone unconditionally.
TULIP, the five points of Calvinism, is all about the relationship between God and humanity. So when it comes to election, the most important question is "who chooses whom?"
Most Evangelical churches today seem to think the answer to that question is that we choose God. That's why the entire focus of an Evangelical worship service is to convince you to make a decision--to choose God, to raise your hand and come down the aisle during the altar call where you will be given an opportunity to give your heart to Jesus. The emphasis is on saving your soul, and for that to happen, you have to start the process, you have to make the choice. You have to do something. The weight of your salvation is on your shoulders.
This is what the Apostle Paul fought so against in the 1st century--for him it was the idea that in order to counted among God's chosen people, you had to either be born Jewish, or else become Jewish through the process of circumcision.
This is what the Reformers of the 16th century fought so hard against--for them it was the idea that you had to pay money for you or your relatives to get into heaven. There was even a popular rhyme at the time: "When a coin in the coffers rings, a soul out of purgatory springs."
To this idea, Paul and the Reformers said, "No." We don't choose God; God chooses us. And God chooses us unconditionally--we don't have to do anything (in fact there is nothing we even CAN do) to earn or deserve or even cause God to choose us as his own. Not being born into the right family, not getting circumcised, not paying money, not walking down the aisle, kneeling at the altar and not even saying the "sinner's prayer." None of these things ultimately influence in any way God's sovereign choice of those who are his people.
Sometimes a well meaning fellow Christian will ask me, "So when were you saved?" The answer they expect is for me to name the date when I chose to surrender my life to God and become a Christian." I usually answer that question, "When were you saved?" in one of three ways:
Sometimes, I'll say "Before the foundations of the earth were laid, before time and the universe began, when God called and chose all of his children." Of course, that answer is a little bit presumptuous. So when I'm feeling a bit more humble, when someone asks "When were you saved?" I'll say, I don't know if I am saved, and neither do you. I can believe I'm saved, I can hope I'm saved, I can trust that I'm saved, but in the end only God knows. I'll let you know when I find out.
But mostly these days, when someone asks when I was saved, I'll just turn the question back around and ask them, "Saved from what? Or whom?" I actually do know what they mean--they generally mean "When were you saved from eternal damnation and the fires of hell?" but most people are too polite to say that.
When the 16th century reformers spoke of election, they really did mean that God chooses some people for eternal salvation in heaven up in the sky, and God chooses others for eternal damnation in hell somewhere down below. That was the universally accepted cosmology of the time. The reformers just asserted (like Paul before them) that God does not choose which group we're in based on anything we say, or do, or believe. Hence "unconditional election."
I think the Reformers were right about the way God works, but their cosmology is now about 500 years out of date, and in need of a refresh. So to follow in their footsteps, to reform the reformers, we go back to the same source they did: The scriptures. In particular, today's passage from Romans 9.
