'cause honey with you

is the only honest way to go

A reading from Romans 1, 

the book that rearranged Martin Luther’s theological furniture. And it was all because of three little words; righteousness of God…

Luther was the son of a miner; and just as his father’s mining enterprises showed promise, so did Luther. Seeing this potential, his folks planned to have Luther study law. And Luther, to his credit, did well in those studies. 

In those day the only way a common person could climb the ranks, was to work in the courts for the royalty. Which was the path Luther’s folks wanted him to travel…

Only, after a while Luther began having doubts about this route. Yes, he was making his way in the world; but what about his way with God?

Even before his vow to enter the monastery, Martin was wrestling with these thoughts. He had nearly died from a wound himself earlier that year, and tragically one of his friends did suddenly die. These experiences seem to have sown doubt into Luther about the path he was on… 

So when he found himself caught in that storm, fearing for his life; he decided to quit hemming and hawing. He vowed if God would get him through, he’d enter the monastery and dedicate himself to the path of godliness.

Good to his word, after making it out alive, Luther did entere the monastery. Which was by no means an easy thing. His father wasn’t keen on this new route, and Martin had to essentially part with his old life. 

Every challenge paled in comparison to all Martin gained in the monastery, though. Those first years in the monastery, were some of Luther’s happiest…

At least, at first.

At first, everything was cut and dried. There was the regimented routine. The disciplines to follow. The prescribed path to making progress. And all that gave Luther comfort. 

Until it stopped…

After a while, the progress Luther made began to tapper off. He started to feel stuck. Until eventually, even the vigor he had once felt, gave out… 

Stalled, Luther began to question everything. Perhaps the peace and joy he had felt at the beginning, was only superficial. After all, all it had lead to was this dead-end… 

Now, luckily there was no shortage of advice about how to get back on the path. …The only trouble was, none of it worked. Like a car stuck in the road, the harder Luther tried to get out, the deeper he dug himself in.

And we’ve all been there, haven’t we? 

Those times in our life when we feel stuck. Worse than being stuck, though, is the way everything we try to do to free ourselves only puts us deeper in the hole…

For us, that’s the worst; but that very real human experience is what led Luther to the evangelical break-through we’re founded on. And it can be what leads you to it, too!

Luther had fled to the monastery under the pretense that it was the path to making everything come out alright. Only, it led to a dead-end. And we, too, have all taken paths that promise to put our lives together. Yes, for a while these path seemed to lead onward and upward. But when the path trails off, there’s no more progress left to make. Nowhere else to go…

Eventually, Luther saw he and all his efforts were the problem. But before he could see that, he needed to look away from himself. 

Which is never easy for the likes of us to do. Is it?

Luther had thought if he did this, that and the other thing; he could make progress. But eventually he saw that path, was just a fun-house of mirrors! The way forward wasn’t really a way forward, it was just another trick-mirror!

Stuck there, Luther was worse-off than ever! 

No longer was he just stuck, now he was angry, too! He felt he had been tricked! Sold a false bill of goods! His whole life he bought into the story that there was a path to making everything come out alright. The only problem was, he had walked that path to the utmost of his abilities, and it had lead to a dead-end!

And I bet you can relate to that, too. The feeling you get when one those solutions that promise to fix everything, fails. It’s a crummy place to be…

Personally, beginning in December, when Grandma Jean died; it’s felt like we’ve been dealt blow after blow. Things would seem to get better for a while, but then something would come and take the wind out of our sails.

After a while I started to long for a little reprieve. A break. And when it didn’t seem like we were going to catch any, I tried doubling-down on those things they prescribe for keeping up your mental health; exercise, diet routine. Only, none of it helped… Which just made matters worse!

It turns out, adding things to your to-do list, isn’t the best way to give yourself a break. 

…Saying that aloud, it sounds obvious. But, when we’re in the thick of it, that’s always the FIRST thing we try. Isn’t it? 

Like Luther, we always think if we just try a little harder, maybe we can make everything better. But that’s rarely how it goes. Isn’t it? Usually our efforts don’t move the dial much. Which just creates another, new problem! The resentment we feel…

I know it’s not fun to name these emotions. But here’s the Good News; this experience was part and parcel to the evangelical break-through Luther experienced. And it can be the building blocks to yours, too!

Because that’s how it went for Luther. Things just got worse and worse. He grew to despise the righteousness of God, the path that promised progress, but only led to dead-ends. 

Noting this turmoil, Luther’s superior promoted him! 

Ordered Luther to go and teach the Bible at the newly formed Wittenberg University!

Of course, Luther protested. Giving a list of reasons why he was wrong for the job. Not the least of which, was the dead-end he had been stuck in. (We usually keep our struggles under wraps, but not Luther.) Finally, Luther said the job would kill him. To which his superior casually replied, “well, God has plenty of uses for good monks up in heaven, too.”

See, Luther’s superior realized the cure for Luther wasn’t in any more effort; it was in the Bible. And promoting Luther to teacher would force Luther out of himself and into the Bible! Out of himself, and into the Bible…

This solution was an elixir of healing for Martin. Just as it is for you, too!

Teaching exhausted Luther, kept him busy, and out of his own head. Best of all, though, it made Luther reckon with, not his own efforts, but God’s.

Studying Romans, Luther finally heard what Paul had been saying all along, that God’s righteousness is revealed, not through effort, but faith!

Luther had always thought the way to making progress had to do with effort! But in Paul he heard the promise that it happens in an altogether different way, by faith! Faith!

The truth is, we’re all like Luther before the break-through. We always think we’re the ones who have to make everything work-out. But that’s not how it works when it comes to God, and the promises God has for you!

That works by way of faith; by God’s doing!

So as we wrap up, here’s the deal: you can take my Word for it, which the Word of God for you today. Or, you can experience if for yourself. But, the place where you experience this will be the dead-end where all our paths invariably lead. 

First, because when we find ourselves in yet another dead-end, we might finally see we can’t to fix everything and look away from ourselves. Secondly, and more importantly, because God can use dead-ends the same way God used a dead body on Easter Sunday!

We’ve been through the wringer. But hidden in these dead-ends, is the place where faith is born. The place where we look away from ourselves, and to God!

Which is all faith is; looking away from ourselves and to God.

And the promise you have is when you look there, away from yourself and to God; you will see the righteousness of God. And he has a name, we call him Jesus!

This is a hard faith, I know. It is born from suffering. Yes, I wish there was an easier way, but for creatures like us there seems to be no other way. 

Like Luther before he came to his dead-end, we will always try and make it by our own efforts first. So God must let them come to nothing. 

But, blessedly, nothingness is God’s favorite thing to work with! It’s what God used to make all this. On the first day, all there was, was nothingness. And from that, God made all this.

And it’s what God used to make new life! On Good Friday all there was, was the void of death. And from that God made The new day, the eighth day; Easter!

And God can do as much with the nothing of all your dead-ends, too!

It turns out, dead-ends the perfect place for God to reveal true righteousness! The perfect place for faith to be born! Which means, you are closer to God and the righteousness thereof than you could every bring yourself!

For in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed through FAITH for faith; as it is written, the righteous will LIVE by faith!

Now, let’s sing about where our faith bids us to look; “My Faith Looks Up to Thee”