In This World, But Not of It

Tanya Eustace
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

June 29, 2008

In my opinion, psalms are like a person’s journal or in more modern language- our blogs. These are the moments when the Hebrew writers poured out their hearts and soul, they “bared all,” so to speak- becoming completely open and honest with God. When they’re angry- they admit to being angry, when they’re frustrated they lash out at God, when they’re lonely the cry “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me,” and when they are joyful they praise God for all that their Lord has done. Perhaps this is why I’ve always loved reading and/or singing the psalms. I love the honesty and the open dialogue- because it helps me become more honest, more real before God. Reading the psalms helps us dig deep- discovering the true emotions that lay inside us.

In today’s psalm, our designated blog for the day, this psalmist is responding to God in the midst of a Judean disaster in which the king has suffered military defeat and lost his throne… it’s a song of lament. But in today’s pericope we skip over the lament, the woe is me, and all we read is the happy stuff- “I’m forever telling everyone how faithful you are. I’ll never quit telling the story of your love.” This personalized statement of verse 1 and 2 as interpreted by Eugene Peterson in “The Message” gives us a glimpse into the history and the emotion of the Israelites. This piece of this person’s blog helps us realize that in the midst of tragedy there’s hope, in the midst of chaos, there’s faith. This writer truly believes that no matter what happens—God will do what God has promised.  Because the psalmist knows God, has a personal relationship with God, and has experienced God through tragedy and joy, he declares (from personal experience): “Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise… delighted, they dance all day long; they know who you are, what you do—they can’t keep it quiet… all we are and have we owe to God.”  This person knows the truth, knows God’s promises and experiences the joy that comes from having this faith and trust in the Lord. Whether you go with the new revised standard translation of Psalm 89:15: “Happy are the people… who walk… in the light of your countenance, or with the NIV: blessed are those…. Who walk in the light of your presence or with Eugene Peterson’s summary: “blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise….” They all leave one question- what does it mean to walk in the light of God’s love/countenance or to know the passwords of praise? How do we come to know God this intimately?

For us, modern day Christians, the answers are found throughout scripture. The Old and New Testaments reveal God’s love, God’s faithfulness, and God’s desire for us. In the Old Testament, the Hebrews depended on God’s covenant to bring them mercy, justice, and peace. God would say to them- if you do this, then I’ll do that. It was a relationship built on law, right action, and faithful living. For the Israelites- they knew that blessings would come if and when they followed God’s directions. The New Testament completes this story and takes us in a new direction. No longer are we called to live according to the law, but instead we’re called to have faith in God’s grace and love. There are no more “if-then” contracts, but instead there is a new understanding that brings us a new hope through faith in Jesus Christ. As Paul so eloquently puts it in the verses of Romans that precedes today’s pericope: For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. (Romans 3:28). Paul speaks clearly about how we have died to the law, and that we are justified by faith alone. For Paul- walking in the countenance of God, in the light of God, is accepting our justification, realizing that we indeed are free through Christ Jesus. But what does this really mean?

In order to further emphasize/clarify his point, Paul uses opposing words creating a dramatic and clear articulation of his theology. In today’s pericope, Paul juxtaposes sin verses righteousness, freedom verses slavery, and wages verses gifts. This becomes a trend in Paul’s writings. I know many of you have taken some sort of standardized test: PSAT, SAT, GRE, etc… honestly I’m not a big fan of the verbal section of these tests- because I end up going around in circles in my brain- cat is to dog as bird is to ______? Typically all answers seem to make as much since as the next one and I find myself saying- who cares? However- today those tests will come in handy as we try to dissect paul’s message in the book of Romans. In these standardized tests you often find an “antonym section.” This is the “find the opposite” game, where the test taker is asked to find the word most nearly opposite in meaning to the given word…. In order to answer these questions correctly and efficiently you must first define the words and then put them in relationship with each other. In Paul’s writings he does this very successfully- Using opposites, Paul is able to compare and contrast the readers choices, calling them to a specific way of life. This is such an influential literary technique found in Paul’s writings—that we could spend several weeks unfolding Paul’s use of antonyms in his writings. However, since I only have one Sunday, we’ll have to focus our efforts. As we begin to uncover what it means to “walk in the light of God,” I believe the most influential antonym relationship is that between sin (amartia) and righteousness dikaiosu,nh (dikaiosune). For Paul, these words are opposites that cannot be reconciled… they are alternative forms of obedience… a person must choose between them.

So let’s look at our choices a little closer. For Paul, sin (amartia) is a vast realm of power, a personified and active force that came into human history with Adam. It is one that has reigned over human beings up to the time of Jesus’ coming, and seeks to continue to reign, by enticing Christians too respond in a negative manner. According to Paul, in today’s scripture, sin leads to death. This understanding is reflected in Christ’s words as found in John 8:21- “you will die in your sin.” If sin is death, then (according to Paul), freedom from sin is being liberated from a real and dangerous force. This is a freedom that brings rescue and salvation.

For Paul, the opposite of amartia (a`marti,a)/sin is dikaiosune (dikaiosu,nh). Although some translate this Greek word as “righteousness,” I prefer the translation “what God requires.” This reflects the Old Testament cry- “what does God require?” and helps us answer the question: “what does it mean to walk in the light of God.” For Paul- all God requires is faith. According to Paul, through Christ, God offers us a free gift. We often hear of this gift as “Prevenient Grace.” This is the love that comes from God before we came into existence, it’s the love that fashioned us, formed us, and “knew us in our mother’s womb.” According to Paul this gift, this grace, is given to Christians by God himself. You can’t do anything to earn it, but through faith you come to accept it and live into it. Again- let’s work with the antonyms for a moment. According to Paul- the wage of sin is death. When we sin, when we make bad choices, our actions “earn us” our death… the consequences come immediately after we choose. On the other hand, when we choose God through faith, we “receive” the gift of sanctification. It’s given to us freely. As Paul describes, this freedom leads to sanctification (holiness). This is the result of, righteousness, doing God’s will.

This new covenant gives us a choice- we can accept God’s gift or we can choose to sin. As we wrestle with this choice, our “humanness” causes us to ask: if we are no longer under law, if we are free- why can’t I continue to sin and just ask for forgiveness later? Paul responds whole heartedly in verse 16: “By no means” can you continue to sin! This is why I love Paul….so straight forward… he continues his argument in verse 16: “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” Again- we are called to choose. In order to support his argument that a choice must be made, Paul uses the slavery metaphor, arguing that we can either become slaves to sin or we can become slaves to God. This contrast between slavery and freedom is drawn from the Greco-Roman world, in which freedom denoted the privileged condition or social status of citizen… although they may have had privileges as the top class, they weren’t truly free, they still had to answer to somebody. Paul understood this… he knew that everyone had to choose their master. Bob Dylan sums Paul’s theology up well in his song: “Serve Somebody):  You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody… well it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody. Again- it’s all about our choice. To be bound to sin is to be a slave to sin. To be bound to Christ is to be a slave to righteousness. A couple of weeks ago, at Preteen camp, I found myself saying “a lot”- you can choose not to keep your cabin clean, but then your cabin might not do well in room inspection and you’ll have to eat last…etc…. we all make choices on a daily basis… as Joshua 24:15 tells us: we must “choose this day who we will serve….” Will it be the sin that leads to death or righteousness that leads to life?

As the psalmist reminds us- when we walk in God’s light, when we choose to follow God’s will we are blessed by God’s faithfulness. This doesn’t mean it will be easy.  We know, just as Paul knew that epithumia- our desires, longings, lusts, passion, still exist. We have moments where we are prideful, greedy, envious, and bitter. But as Paul reminds us… these are the desires of the flesh- they promise life, but deliver death. The new covenant, calls us to fight these desires and to choose life… we are called to be in this world, but not of it. We may still be in the sinful body, easily seduced or swayed by its cravings, however being enslaved to God means a dedication to the Lord that demands a withdrawal from the profane and from the attachment to sin. Such dedication does not remove one from this world, but makes one live in it as one dedicated to God and his service.

As I reflected on this passage this week, trying to wrap my brain around Paul’s rhetoric and his theology, I continually tried to picture someone walking in the “light of God.” I tried to imagine what one looks like when they are walking in God’s countenance, and each time I would envision Dobby- the faithful house elf in Harry Potter. If you aren’t familiar with the Harry Potter books- let me explain. House elves are creatures that are bound to a master for life long service. Long story short- Harry tricked Malfoy, Dobby’s master, into releasing the house elf. Traditionally, house-elf’s view freedom as shameful and once freed they try to find a new master. In Dobby’s case he remained “free” yet become the faithful friend of Harry. Out of gratitude and loyalty to Harry (who saved him from a horrible fate with a spiteful and vicious master) Dolby continued to “serve” Harry and his friends, helping them when necessary, and rescuing them from danger. According to elf code- Dobby was a free elf, but in Dobby’s mind he served Harry out of gratitude, loyalty, and love. We too are “free,” but yet enslaved. When we accept the gift that God has given us, when we truly understand God’s will for us, when we “get” the passwords of the faith, we respond with an obedient heart. We are filled with gratitude, loyalty, and love. The new life God offers us is not an outward pattern of behavior- thoughtlessly adopted by the convert. The depth of the new allegiance proves how genuine it is; we become obedient, says Paul, from the heart. 

Although people often equate this scripture with a call to servant hood and hospitality, I want to argue that it’s more than that. It’s not about checking boxes off a to-do list, but instead it’s an attitude change. When we truly accept what God has given us we are changed inside and out, our priorities are different, our focus is different, our choices are different, and can I say “our lives are different.” We are not free to do anything we want—to curse or sin—but we are free to be obedient to God. We become agents and instruments of God’s righteousness. Through this new covenant, God empowers us to live in response to God’s free gift, we begin walking in the countenance of God, we become free from the chaos of this world, and we are able to experience the blessings and the peace that God promises us. This is what the psalmist describes- it’s not a joy that comes from knowing that everything is o.k, it’s not a peace that comes when everything in our world is perfect, but instead it’s an overwhelming emotion that causes us to pour out our hearts to God, to write blogs that reveal our deep and intimate understanding of God’s love for us.  We sing God’s praises, proclaiming God’s faithfulness and testifying that although everything may not be alright in this world, that in the midst of chaos, God is faithful, true, and trustworthy. We walk differently, we act differently, and we respond with humility, gratitude, and love. We are faithful because we trust God to do what God has promised. When we choose God, our chains of sin are loosed, and we experience the freedom to attach ourselves to Christ. Through Christ we are baptized and sanctified into this new life, and although the road is bumpy we continue to walk in the light of God’s presence.