“I Fought the Law and Faith Won” Romans 4:13-25 6-8-08 Dr. Sloan
In 1989 Manuel Noriega, then dictator of Panama and famous for his drug dealing, hid himself inside a Panamanian church and refused to come out. U.S. Forces surrounded the church and blared rock music into the church to flush him out. They played one song over and over and over- “I Fought the Law and the Law Won.” The Press Secretary for the president said that this was a humorous attempt to say that the law will eventually get you.
It is hard to fight the law. Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “You can fight gravity, but you’re still going to come down.” It doesn’t take much common sense to know that there are principles built into life that shape us. Lying (and it s corollaries- gossip and slander) is not good for society nor for us. Stealing (and its corollaries bribery and cheating) are not good.
II. THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW- The law serves a purpose, but it also has a weakness that points to the need for grace and faith.
I am not a tea totaller, but let me use the idea of prohibition to illustrate the usefulness and limitations of the law.
In the late 1800’s alcohol abuse was a real problem. It was a health problem- people were dying by cirrhosis of the liver, and many families were breaking up because of alcohol abuse. So the legislation was enacted and a constitutional amendment passed to prohibit alcohol. The prohibition illustrates what law does even by its name. It prohibits.
In fact, alcohol consumption did go down during prohibition- it went down 30-50%. The number of alcohol related deaths went down as well. Deaths from cirrhosis of the liver for men fell from 29.5 per 100,000 to 10.3 per 100,000 a 66% decrease. This is the good thing of the law, it helps solve some of our common problems, and shows us over-consumption of alcohol can have devastating effects.
However, prohibition also illustrates the weakness of the law. That is, we are by nature rebels against the law. In trying to help people get their drinks illegally, moonshiners ran the back roads in the mountains, gangs flourished- like Al Capone’s gang in Chicago, and illegal bars opened up by the thousands- these were called “speak easys.” In Cleveland, for example, before prohibition there were 1,200 bars. But during prohibition there were 3,000 speak-easys! People didn’t want to keep this law, and it become unenforceable, so it was repealed. A law cannot necessarily change our inside- our hearts and minds.
Many times I hear people say, “You can’t enforce morality.” But laws are really just agreed upon morality. If we decided that gangs were fine- as some sections of the United States obviously have decided- (East St. Louis, East LA, some sections of Harlem) then we could not enforce laws on gangs and their violence. Yet, there is a difference between laws and morality. Something can be immoral yet there is no law against it- like greediness, or rudeness, or selfishness. But when our moral actions affect the good and actions of society as a whole, then there should be law. The law has a purpose, but it also has limits- and Paul was trying to say that in this passage. Someone said, “The law is the light that reveals how dirty the room is, not the broom that sweeps it clean.” We need faith.
II. HOW FAITH FITS IN- The law reveals our weakness. Faith gives us strength.
Fact is, none of us keeps the law. We break it. Sin is irrational, Brunner said. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense for the wealthy person who doesn’t need the money for basic necessities to cheat on their taxes. But it happens. It doesn’t make sense for the person who has a wonderful wife and great children to just walk out one day- but sin is irrational. It doesn’t make sense for someone who is in high esteem as a politician to lie to make themselves look good. But it happens. Sin is irrational.
But I think the greatest counterweight to sin, is not the law, but something else that is irrational and doesn’t make sense- that is faith. Real faith shows itself when it doesn’t make logical sense. Abraham didn’t even have a child, but God promised him as many descendants as the sand on the shore and the stars in the sky. It was irrational for Abraham to believe. It is irrational to believe that we should keep the law in order to honor God. Faith is what motivates us to keep the law. You find a wallet on the ground, no one else sees you. You can put the money in your pocket. But you know there is someone else who sees you. It is not rational to believe God is watching you. It is a matter of faith. Faith gives you the energy to call the person and bring them their wallet. Faith gives us confidence when the odds are against us. Faith gives us hope when things seem hopeless.
David goes to fight a giant- in faith; When all the world is in famine and drought- Elijah is fed by ravens- by faith.
III. REAL FAITH
How do we make our faith real? Two things in this passage point to faith-
1) Being fully persuaded (21)- Faith means we are sold on the idea. It means we have bought into it, and invested ourselves in it.
My favorite illustration is about Blondin the tightrope walker who strung a tight rope across Niagora Falls in the days before TV. People gather to watch him walk across. He went back and forth. He came up to the people and said, “How many of you think I can put a human being on my back and walk across these falls? Raise your hands if you believe!” Many raised their hands. Then he went up to the people who had raised their hands and said, “How about you? Will you get on my back across these falls?” The hands quickly went down. It is one thing to say, “Oh yes, I believe.” It is another to be persuaded enough, as Abraham was, as Paul was to invest ourselves in that belief.
2) Believing the promise enough not to waver in the face of odds against us.
We believe God’s promise not because it makes sense. In fact, many times it just doesn’t make sense at all. You will not know all the intricacies about predestination, or the trinity, or why God allows evil. Sometimes things do not make sense. This is why we have to walk by faith and not by sight. It takes faith to believe the beatitudes. The beatitudes are the closest thing to a law of faith- most of the beatitudes turn common sense on its head: Blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who are persecuted for my names sake. Is your goal in life to survive or thrive? Is your goal just to survive until you die, or do you take risks?
I will tell you I need more faith. I had my doubts about what we could do as a church- when we bought that house property. But we did. A church whose goal is just to survive will not. But a church that walks by faith does amazing things. Same with individuals.
On the front page of the comic section today is a great story about faith and fear. Linus says that he only finds peace with his blanket. Lucy, as The Counselor” proceeds to tell him. Maybe you have … Isaiah says, “Fear not for I am w/ you. Do not anxiously look about you.
I will strengthen you and help you. Not I might but I will. Faith replaces law and replaces fear.
You know there are people who are still telling you that you can get your life straight by doing the right thing. Dr. Phil. Oprah. Confucius. You can pick up any magazine and it has all kinds of laws in them. Oh, they won’t tell you that they are laws, but they’re there: 10 things to do to have a happy marriage. The ten commandments of child-raising. Three things to do to avoid going into debt. Five ways to a healthy you. Six healthy habits of successful people. The basic problem, though is not that we need to know more. We know a lot that we can’t even do! I know advice, guidelines, even laws are helpful to us, but they don’t get us to the happy life—only the safe life. If you obey the law, you are not guaranteed happiness by staying out of trouble- you avoid some heartache. But real peace comes with faith. The problem is we need to change our hearts so we want to do our best for the glory of God- not just for our own success, or to avoid failure or death.
Faith and the things that go with faith- especially God Himself and grace are what we need. Faith to hold onto the promise when like Abraham it doesn’t look good. You know the thing that caused the bank runs in the 1930s? It wasn’t really that the banks didn’t have the money. It was that people panicked and were afraid and lost faith. Maybe you are panicking in these tough economic times. Maybe you are scrambling trying to make ends meet and your lifestyle and pride are going down the tubes. We are living in humbling times, I believe. If you live by law, humbling times are extra tough. If you live by faith, humbling times are healthy, and God can see us through them.