Righteousness Is as Righteousness Does - 5th Sunday of Lent 2019

7 April 2019 – 5^th Sunday of Lent

Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:4b-14

“For United Methodists, the ultimate goal of doctrine is holiness.  Right belief aims at righteous living.”  Rebekah Miles’ (associate professor of ethics, Perkins SMU) review of United Methodist Doctrine: The Extreme Center, Scott J. Jones

I’m always inspired after watching a really good movie.  Last night I saw pieces of “Heaven is for Real”.  In the preacher’s sermon after coming to terms with his son’s near-death experience and visions of Heaven, he conveyed the reality of Heaven in the here-and-now; in the abiding love of parents, in the laughter of children, in the helping and healing hands of righteousness we experience in so many ways – when people put their lives aside, if only for a moment, to help others who have been beaten down by life. 

So if “Heaven is for Real”, then “righteousness is as righteousness does”.  These are not mutually exclusive concepts; they are intimately and deeply connected, but I think for too long the Church has gone for the cheap and easy in saying whatever is most “marketable” rather than to dig in for the long haul, do the hard work of discipleship, and simply Tell The Truth.

But what is “righteousness”, exactly?  It’s a big, churchy word that is used as often as “love” and “grace”.  N.T. Wright, retired Anglican bishop and highly regarded New Testament scholar, teaches the “righteousness of God” and “righteousness from God” are distinct concepts that have been confused and sometimes even blended together to the point that a clear doctrine, a concise and useful understanding, of righteousness has probably been lost to most of us. 

Bishop Wright uses the ancient Jewish court metaphor to make the point (“What St. Paul Really Said”).  In the ancient Jewish court there were three parties; the two in dispute, and the judge.  There is no prosecutor or defense attorney; the two parties make their case, and the judge renders a verdict.  In this verdict, one (the ‘winner’) is declared “correct” and is, therefore, “righteous”.

The righteousness of the judge (righteousness of God) is not imputed or imparted to the winner; rather, the term refers only to the judge in his role.  Righteousness from God refers to the “vindication” of the one whose case was ruled in his favor. 

What this means is we do not “receive” the righteousness of God through Christ nor is it “infused” in us.  The righteousness of God remains His alone, and our righteousness from God means we have been “vindicated”, “justified”, “saved” (I still say “called”, but that is another sermon). 

There is still more, however.  That is the moment, in Wesleyan theology, of justifying grace – still an act of The Lord, still His to offer and still His to withhold (“I will bless whom I will bless”).  As previously stated, in prevenient grace we have experienced a stirring, an awakening in having stepped upon the front porch of a house that is beckoning to us.  Once we knock (“knock, and the door will be opened to you”), the door is opened and we are invited in.

Once we enter through the door, we are invited to explore the house and make ourselves at home.  We go through every room, check every closet, open every cupboard, and come to know the house intimately.  Knowing we are welcome, we become of the house, an extension of the fullness of Divine Grace; and we order our lives according to how the house is built.  This is sanctifying grace; and as we grow more and more familiar with the house and learn to live within the house’s parameters, we take upon ourselves the righteousness of The Lord – when we participate.

That is, rather than to think the righteousness of the house’s Owner as becoming our own only because we are in the house, we learn to live into the house according to its rules (Divine Law).  And perhaps this is most important of all for us to understand: we do not take ownership of the house, thus we cannot choose to remodel according to our own demands, desires, or personal preferences. 

When Paul wrote, “I press on to make it my own” (Phil 3:12), he did not mean he would be magically infused with the righteousness of Christ with no effort on his part.  Rather, he was expressing the reality of having become one of The Lord’s own and learning to live within, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.  I press on to make it my own”.

What this means for us, and within a sound understanding of the doctrines of the Church, is our active participation is required of us in order to grow in faith and in a greater understanding of our roles in the house.  The house is still the house.

Here is why this is all important, mind-numbing though doctrine can sometimes be.  Through all this spiritual growth and maturity in the faith comes a greater wisdom that everything outside this house and behind us is transitory, more an illusion than the real thing simply because it is all fading.  What is in the house, however, is everlasting.  Inside this house, living into this redeeming and sanctifying grace is revelation.  More and more of the very Kingdom of Heaven is being revealed in every new discovery.

We always talk of Heaven being this wonderful place too profound and mysterious for human words and expressions, yet the Promise of the Kingdom having come near means there is an open invitation to see and experience more and more of Heaven’s reality.  The very idea that these visions will have to wait until we are dead denies the Promise of Christ’s presence in our day-to-day living for those committed to the work of Christ in the here-and-now.  Simply being a “good person” on one’s own terms is not good enough.

The righteousness of The Lord will not fall into our laps, and it will not be magically infused into our being if we do not pursue it, if we do not ask for it, if we never “knock on the door”, if we do not try to live into it.  What it boils down to is this: if we are unwilling to experience the Kingdom now and let the Light of Eternal Truth shine forth, Heaven will remain an unbelievable concept – and we will be condemned to the darkness of our own denial.

This is not what The Lord of the House wants!  Why else would He have sent His Messiah, His Anointed One, to bring us Good News??  Why else would He endure the limits of humanity if not to share in His Divinity, His Eternity?

But we must choose to live into it, or it will never become a part of who we really are.  And if it never becomes a part of who we are, there will always be a void in our lives.  We can call ourselves “saved” all we want, but if righteousness never does, righteousness never is and never will be our deepest desire.  In The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.  Amen.