Grace Over Law

Sermon 5 in Portraits of Grace Sermon Series

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Scripture:  Galatians 5 (J.B. Phillips translation)

Plant your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery.

2-6 Listen! I, Paul, say this to you as solemnly as I can: if you consent to be circumcised then Christ will be of no use to you at all. I will say it again: every man who consents to be circumcised is bound to obey all the rest of the Law! If you try to be justified by the Law you automatically cut yourself off from the power of Christ, you put yourself outside the range of his grace. For it is by faith that we await in his Spirit the righteousness we hope to see. In Jesus Christ there is no validity in either circumcision or uncircumcision; it is a matter of faith, faith which expresses itself in love.

22-25 The Spirit however, produces in human life fruits such as these: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, fidelity, tolerance and self-control—and no law exists against any of them. Those who belong to Christ have crucified their old nature with all that it loved and lusted for. If our lives are centred in the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit.

Scene Setup

In our final installment of our Portraits of Grace series – we are introduced to character of Javert.

·         Javert is Jean Valjean’s nemesis – his pursuer.  They first meet in the slave galleys of Toulon where Javert is impressed with Valjean’s extraordinary strength.

·         Javert is the only person to suspect Monsieur Madeleine, the mayor, might be the real Jean Valjean.

·         Javert purses Valjean to Paris, where Valjean and Fantine’s daughter, Cosette, disappear in a convent. 

·         Years go by until in 1831, there is an insurrection – a revolution on the streets of Paris.

·         In a strange set of circumstances, Javert has been taken prisoner by the young revolutionaries, and Valjean has joined the revolutionaries.

·         Valjean takes the prisoner away – presumably to execute him. 

·         There they stand – Javert, the purser, representing the law, and Valjean, the pursued, the ex-convict on the run.  Once again – this is Valjean’s opportunity to be free from the fears of being pursued, to live a life of freedom.  Very similar to his choice we saw last week to let the man go who would have gone to prison in his name.  Unlike last week, though,  this time, Valjean does not struggle to the do the right thing.

·         Valjean frees Javert – with no demands – with only the expectation that Javert will continue to do his job.

·         Inspector Javert – mr. Law and order – cannot comprehend this act of grace.  It makes him question all that he has ever known.

·         Then, in a final mysterious act – even to Javert, Javert comes upon Valjean as he escapes the revolution with a wounded young man, Marius.

·         Without knowing why, Javert, betrays the law that has defined him, and allows Valjean to proceed to get help for the young man.

·         This act of grace which goes against his understanding of the world – sends Javert into a moral and spiritual crisis.  Why has grace succeeded over his law?  What will now define his life? 

·         This song today – memorializes Javert’s struggle between grace and the law.

Sermon

            We come to the end of our portraits of grace sermon series with final question – how will we live with the grace which we have received?

            This is one of the overarching themes throughout the work of Les Miserables.  We see it in the life of Jean Valjean who receives grace from the bishop and chooses to allow this grace to shape him into a new creation.  Grace shapes him into Monsieur Madeliene who becomes the portrait of a generous and compassionate industrialist in a world dominated by greed.  Grace shapes him into a man who willing gives up his life for the sake of another man – by revealing his true identity.  In parts of the story we didn’t see, Grace shaped him into a man who spent his life to caring for, loving and raising Cosette, the poor orphan of Fantine.  Throughout this story – the author, Victor Hugo – paints a beautiful portrait on the canvass of 19^th Century France of the formation of a man shaped by grace.

            To draw a distinction to Valjean’s response to grace, Hugo also paints another picture on this same canvas.  This is the portrait of Inspector Javert.  If Valjean is a portrait of Grace, then Javert is a portrait of the Law.  Javert provides the central tension and conflict in the plot.  Like Marshall Samuel Gerard in the TV and movie versions of The Fugitive who chases after the falsely convicted Dr. Richard Kimble, Javert spends the entire novel pursueing the convict Jean Valjean.  For Javert, there is a rule and order for every matter that must always be followed.  There is no hypocrisy in Javert – he expects of himself exactly what he expects of everyone else.  For Javert, there is not grace.  Everyone must suffer the consequences of their actions.  If Valjean is a portrait of grace – Javert is the portrait of the law. 

            In the song Zach just sang – we see Javert’s response to grace.  After Valjean bestows grace upon Javert by releasing him at the barricade instead of killing him , Javert gives grace back.  When faced with the opportunity to arrest Valjean, Javert has compassion on him and doesn’t.  Grace does not fit Javert’s order of the world.  Here is how he phrased this struggle with grace in the song:

This desperate man whom I have hunted

He gave me my life. He gave me freedom.

I should have perished by his hand

It was his right.

It was my right to die as well

Instead I live... but live in hell.

            Instead of grace leading to life in Valjean’s life; grace for Javert has imprisoned in the law and led to death. 

Grace and the Law – this is also the great theme of the Letter to the Galatians.      

As we have seen throughout the study of the book, the Christians in Galatia had been infiltrated by Judaizers – conservative Jewish Christians who believed that everyone – Jew and Gentile – must live under the Law of Moses.  This meant all of the men in the Galatian churches must follow through with the rite of circumcision in order to be fully Christian. 

Paul has been arguing through both personal stories and persuasive rhetoric that the grace of Jesus is enough.  The Men in Galatia don’t need to become Jews.  Still, the surgeries have already scheduled.  Paul says to them – “if you consent to be circumcised then Christ will be of no use to you at all. I will say it again: every man who consents to be circumcised is bound to obey all the rest of the Law!”

For Paul, the age of spiritual maturity has now arrived and God’s people are no longer under the law.  If the men of Galatia assume they have to observe one law – then they will be bound to them all.” 

Here is the issue Paul is addressing in chapter 5.  It is not “getting in” or “staying in” the Christian.  The Christians in Galatia received the grace of Jesus when Paul preached to them.  They are already in.  However, they have been convinced believing, following Jesus is not enough. 

The real is issue is the means of “going on” in Christ.  By what rule or standard will the Christian community be shaped and live?  What are we supposed to do as Christians? 

This is the exact question the scene from Les Mis asked us - how will we live with the grace which we have received?

Paul says we must be shaped by Jesus and the cross.  We are to follow Jesus’ example, his patterns and principals of living, and choose to walk in and by the spirit. 

For the Galatians and Georgians who are looking for an answer to the question – how should we live if we don’t follow the law - in 5:14, Paul sums up the Mosaic Law for each of us in a single commandment from Leviticus.  Sound familiar?

This is the same way Jesus summed up the law and the prophets in the Gospels – Love the lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind, and the second is like – Love your neighbor as yourself. 

            In these commandments the law is boiled down to its bare essentials.  These essentials should be reflected in the life of every Christian brother and sister - not because we have placed ourselves under the law, but because the spirit produces these essential qualities of the law in our lives. 

As we follow Jesus in freedom, the spirit of God shapes our Christian character – producing the fruits of the spirit which Paul shares at the end of this chapter.  As we live as recipients of God’s grace, the Spirit produces these fruits:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

            Here’s one of the amazing aspects of the Les Miserables narrative:  The longer Jean Valjean lives, the more we see these fruits in his life. 

How should we live once we have received the gift of grace in our lives?  Paul challenges us to follow and be fashioned by the commandments of Christ as we walk in the spirit.

This sounds wonderful, but when it comes to living as the recipients of grace it is not always so easy is it?  Most of the time, we struggle like the Galatians trying to find other things we can do to get into the good graces of Jesus.  We find ourselves somewhere along the spectrum between Javert and Jean Valjean. 

Like the Galatians, we are not struggling with “getting in” or “staying in” the Christian fold.  The real issue for us like them is how do we “go on” in Christ.  How are we to live?

We begin to master the conflict between law and grace with an understanding the concept of holiness.  Holiness literally means “to be set aside for God.”  Through Jesus' work on the cross – God’s costly grace - all believers stand in a position of holiness before God. As God's holy ones, we are also called to be personally holy, rooted in love and demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit.

Oswald Chambers says this about holiness:  “Holiness means every part of life under the scrutiny of God, knowing that the grace of God is sufficient for every detail.  Holiness is manifested when we are crucified with Christ.” 

During this sermon series, we have examined grace from many different angles – from grace that forgives to transformational grace; from cheap grace to costly grace.  Of all of these portraits, I imagine the balance of grace and holiness is the hardest for us.

It is difficult to strive for holiness in our lives without falling into the trap of the Judiazers?  Or we can actually become the Judiazers and require anyone who wants to be part of our fellowship to become like us.  The Jews used circumcision as a physical sign of their covenant.  We might use dress or hairstyle or looks.  To be a part of our fellowship – you need wear a suit or follow our traditions.

  How do we seek to do what is right without cheapening the grace we have been given? 

Recently in Christianity Today, the editors polled three different Christian writers and asked:  What does the church in 2013 need more of – grace or holiness?

William Willimon, a Methodist bishop in Alabama said “Pick Holiness.” 

            “Holiness of heart and life demonstrates to the world that Christ is able to not only love us as we are but also change us into what he would have us be. Holiness is Christ not only forgiving our sin but also redeeming us and utilizing us for his work in the world.”

Holiness, then, is God's grace in action, enlisting us to work for God's will in the world.  For Willimon, the world needs grace filled Christians at work in the world. 

Halee Gray Scott, a professor and author, said pick grace.  “We need grace to see the need for holiness, and grace to desire holiness. Without grace, we get legalism, Christianity-by-rote—hardly worth anything, much less something that can change the world. Without holiness, we get the cheap grace.”

M. Feinberg, a popular speaker and author, said we need both:  Holiness reminds us that though God loves us just as we are, right where we are, his love does not end there. God's love wants to transform us and take us to higher places.

            She coined a new word:  Groliness:  A mixture of holiness and grace. 

            This is how we live as recipients of grace – we live with both grace and holiness. 

            When this happens – when we accept the fact that the grace of God through Jesus is enough – and then allow that grace to set us apart as followers of Jesus, Paul says we are set free. 

I love Phillips translation of Galatians 5:1.  This is exactly what Paul wants the Christians in Galatia and us to experience.  Listen to it again:

            Plant your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery.

Jesus has set us free.  Jesus has released the shackles of slavery which held us as prisoners.  We are free from the prison of always trying to make sure we have done just the right thing at just the right time; the prison of having to be good enough, or beautiful enough; the prison of having the proper up bringing or having enough money – or even less money. 

            Are you free today?  Have you allow Jesus to release you from all that binds you?  Have you accepted the grace of God?

            What about the fruits of the spirit in you?  Have you begun the process of allowing your life to be crucified with Christ so that the Spirit of Christ lives within up?  Have you begun the journey to spiritual holiness where God’s grace shapes you?

            In Les Miserables – Jean Valjean is a prisoner, an ex-con, a fraud living under an assumed name, and a man on the run – in spite of all of this – we see a man free indeed because of the gift of grace.

            On the other side – Javert never broke the law, he sought diligently to do his duty, to obey the law, and to bring to justice to all who had broken the law.  Yet, Javert lived in his own prison of his own making, restricted, unable to receive grace, never able to live freely, never at peace. 

            Because of grace, God has formed you and me into new creations.  Now, God calls us to a higher standard of faithfulness and fruitful living than has been expected in the past. 

To whom much is given, much is required – this is how we live our lives with groliness – Grace and Holiness.  Amen.