Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.40 – October 2005

 

Where the Buck Stops!

 

A Sermon by Rev S Bajema on Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 5

Scripture Reading:  Hebrews 2:5-18

 

Congregation in our Lord Jesus Christ…

The story is told of an American President Franklin D Roosevelt who insisted on a particular plaque on his desk. Roosevelt was actually the longest term American President ever, being in power from 1933 until his death in 1945. So what would this famous man, who was the American President for the longest time, who was re-elected a record three times, and who through his war-time leadership set up the economic boom that so richly benefited Europe after the war – what would he have written on his plaque – that sign on his desk? Which great philosophical statement would he always be reminded of in the White House office?

Well, it said: “The buck stops here!” The buck stops here!

In other words, it all comes down to him – when all is said and done, he’s the one! That was leadership – a gift Roosevelt most definitely had. And as President he ultimately had to take the rap; he was responsible.

But as much as Franklin D Roosevelt was where the buck stopped then for American politics, there is another, even more devastating thing, for which each one of us has that same plaque hanging on us. You see, when it comes to the thing that has caused all the misery and human devastation in this world, the thing that is even the cause of the great storms and catastrophes in nature – that thing called ‘sin’ – we are responsible!

Yes, you and I are responsible – we deserve punishment in this world and forever. Paul said it clearly, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). As a result God’s Word is clear about the consequences: His justice must be satisfied. In some other words from the apostle, “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil…”.

The Catechism confirms Scripture’s teaching. God says that the guilty must be punished. God is the Truth. Truth cannot stand in the presence of sin. The purity of God demands nothing less than perfect holiness. There are no exceptions. The buck stops here!

Mind you, not that we haven’t tried to avoid our terrible situation. We desperately try to live the lie. Because we don’t like to be found guilty. Isn’t that true? And when you got copped for doing something wrong, it’s not as bad as what that other person did. But, still, you can’t pass the buck. You did that wrong – you know it! “Yea, but, we can’t be right all the time. Come on, try to be a bit loving. Anyway, it’s all over and done now, isn’t it?” We could even throw in the mercy of the Lord. Hasn’t God forgiven us in Jesus Christ? Excuses…excuses…excuses!

Now, just think for a moment. What are we doing when we use excuses? Someone once said an excuse is like a sausage – it’s a thinly stretched tiny piece of truth covering a big fat lie. It won’t take much on the searing barbeque of God’s justice and that sausage will burst and it’ll all come pouring out. And what was your excuse then? Why hide what your life’s really like underneath? Admit it – I did it! I am wrong.

And so we have the first aspect to the text, congregation: WE ARE WRONG. And we have to admit we are wrong. Which is really the only way to grow, isn’t it? When we have wronged, we need to turn right around and restore and build up what we so hastily tore down. That’s hard. “Sin in haste and repent at leisure” is our nature. Then we think just about ourselves. No one else! But that’s copping out. That’s not being honest.

You see, God is fair. His love actually demands that He’s fair. Yes, that love of God which is so often used as an excuse. Because love is fair. It wouldn’t be love if it wasn’t. Just like parents are truly loving when they set the right boundaries for their children and stick to them!

At the beginning of man’s time on earth God showed He is the truest loving parent. He gave the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, some very clear directions. He laid out a map for us which would have meant the most supreme and eternal happiness. But we threw it away! We rejected the way to having joy forever.

So here we are – in this huge city of our tangled humanity. We’re lost. And the more we travel on, the worse it gets. We can’t blame God. He was fair. And even now He’s still the same. He told us what would happen if we disobeyed. His standard hasn’t changed. We have!

Answer 12 is quite right: “God requires that His justice be satisfied. Therefore the claims of His justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or another.” The buck stops here. And we can keep on trying to look elsewhere but that leads nowhere. On our own we are terribly alone.

And doesn’t this world show that? For example, after forty years of the Eastern religions of self-fulfilment, is there lasting peace and joy? Or have they so turned us to navel gazing that no one and nothing else matters anymore?

That’s actually the character of sin. We place self first. We try to make gods of ourselves, giving to ourselves all the love of our heart and soul and mind and strength. But God? And our neighbour? We only do them wrong. Again and again and again and again… .

It all seems a bit like depression, doesn’t it? Where’s the Gospel’s light in all this? Doesn’t Christ’s saving grace shine through the darkness of the night of our sin? Of course it does! But our eyes need to see, our ears have to be able to hear, and our hearts must be open. And we certainly wouldn’t ask a question like Number 14!

By wondering if there was anyone or anything else that could pay our debt only shows that we’re still not ready for the LORD to move in our lives. Instead, the only answer can be, in the words of our second aspect… IT’S MY WRONG AND TERRIBLY SO.

Boys and girls… if you do something wrong at school and someone gets the blame, and perhaps even the punishment for it, that doesn’t mean you’re free, does it? You did that wrong. And despite whoever else might have to be punished because of it, it remains your wrong.

In fact, if someone else gets the blame, and especially the punishment, you’re actually quite unhappy. Apart from them perhaps finding out it was you, there’s also that uneasy feeling we have when we do wrong. We know we should’ve been honest, and taken our punishment. Pretending it wasn’t us has only made things worse.

God is a lot fairer than any of our teachers. He knows we are wrong. But because He’s so fair He’ll also punish us. You and me! The Psalmist cried out this experience in Psalm 130: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you O LORD, kept a record of sins, O LORD, who could stand?”

Yes, if God kept account with us, we would be doomed. If we were left to find our own way out of our lostness, we’d still be wandering about in confusion and the deepest unhappiness. Then everything would be reminding us just how terribly alone we were.

Do you see – it’s our wrong! We are the ones to take responsibility for our actions. No one else can do it – because it’s our fault. The buck stops here! Brothers and sisters, we have to restore what we have so devastatingly broken. We must mend that tragic rapture between God and man.

Boys and girls, cast your minds back to that story about doing something wrong at school. Now how would you feel if the teacher found out that it was you who did the wrong after all? And she found that out after she had punished the wrong student? Do you think that teacher would be softer because someone else had already been punished for it? Wouldn’t your teacher actually be very angry that you deceived her for so long? You didn’t own up! And you should’ve been the one to try and fix up whatever was wrong. What you thought you were clever to do because you got away with it falls flat on its face!

Well, here we are, people of God! Can we escape God’s judgment and return to His favour? We know that we’re responsible – we have to sort things out. But we can’t; and don’t we know it! So – can we be saved?

Brothers and sister, young people, we come to the heart of the Gospel. Answer 15 is spot on about the only One who can save us from this spiralling vortex of complete and utter annihilation. For our Saviour must be one “who is truly human and truly righteous, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God.” So, in the third place, WE HAVE TO RESTORE AND YET ONLY GOD CAN DO IT!

When we are lost in that huge and strange city, we need someone else to guide us out. We can’t do it – we threw that map out. Only someone else can help.

That other person can’t be another man caught in our same sinful web. Nor can it be any other being, from this planet or anywhere else! It cannot be anything from this darkness. Only the light of life Himself can shine! He is what the apostle John described in his first letter to the churches: “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, who was with the Father and has appeared to us.” It was this light of life, who, in the words of Hebrews 2, “had to be made like his brothers in ever way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

He had to be God! And praise the LORD, it was Him! The darkness of our sinful night was penetrated by God’s own bright light.

The Old Testament records the promise God gave to His people that this would happen. By faith those saints saw that God Himself would act. He would redeem His people.

‘Redeem’ means to buy back. So Jesus Christ bought back His people by the price of His own sacrifice. And it’s this price which makes all the difference to our lives today! Because God didn’t only come to save us for a day but to make us His everyday!

Congregation, that’s why we show we’re not a part of this world. For in the midst of this dark, depressing, selfish and suffering world, there’s light! A light that’s coming exactly from those who used to be so dark, depressing and selfish!

You see, we’ve met the Light! We’ve seen the One who came and saw and conquered that dark power at its very heart. As Hebrews 7 says, “Such a high priest meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”

Jesus meets our need! Whatever there was between you and God He’s met it! Didn’t He so love the world that He gave His one and only Son? Wasn’t it Christ who came so that we would have life not death, light not darkness! And now, in Him, the whole destruction under sin is being turned around under Him. We’re becoming the glorious reflection of Himself that we were originally meant to be!

No wonder the prophet Jeremiah exclaimed with such keen anticipation, “This is the name by which we will be called: The LORD our righteousness.” Indeed He is! You’ve heard it again today! And you can know and show it everyday!

Amen.

PRAYER:

Let’s pray…

LORD God, how we thank and praise you for what your Spirit has done within us. That we share in your Son’s victory – that we are new men and women, boys and girls, in Him! O Lord, do help us to live as the Body of which He is the Head.

May we be turned and directed by your Word and Spirit. And use us to do that to others, too.

Amen.