Sermon: “In That Case”

Introduction: There is a lot of condemnation going on. The blame game
is familiar to all of us. We blame our parents for the mess we’ve made
of our lives. We blame the auto industry for the gas guzzlers that pollute
the air and fill the highways. We blame the rich people who work on Wall
Street for the present economic problems. We blame the politicians for
the tension in the world. We blame our bosses, our fellow workers, our
neighbors, our spouses, our children. We can find somebody to blame for
nearly every problem we face. Sometimes we even blame ourselves.

Our text for today indicates that the apostle Paul understood the blame
game only too well. He had been on both sides of the game. He had blamed
the woes of Israel on the Christians; and now that he was a Christian
he found others blaming him. Of one thing he was sure—that God is not
in the blame game. Oh, he could talk about God as the judge of all humanity,
but when it came down to the verdict he was sure that there will be no
condemnation for the followers of Christ.

How could he be so sure? We would all like such blessed assurance. Well,
here is his explanation. He begins with a simple question, based on the
fact that he has already established—that “all have sinned.” We have
no right to condemn one another, since we are all in the same condition
before God. Only God can condemn justly, and God has given Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, for us. That leaves only one possibility. To get the
impact of Paul’s statement, we must read the text very slowly. Let’s
follow his thinking carefully.

Only one person can condemn us:

1. “Christ Jesus.” The sinless one is the only one who has the right
   to condemn. The sinless one is the only one who can condemn justly.
   You and I have no right to condemn others, since we are sinners just
   as they are. The answer Jesus gave to those who brought to him a woman
   caught in the act of adultery applies in many situations in our lives:
   The one who is without sin may cast the first stone. Jesus has the
   right to condemn us.
2. “Christ Jesus, who died.” The one who died because of our sins has
   a good reason to condemn us. Death, Paul has said, is the wages of
   sin. The corollary of that would be that the one without sin does not
   deserve to die. But Jesus died; and Paul said he did it for our sins.
   The apostle has reminded us that humanly speaking a person would find
   it very difficult to die even for a righteous person, if such a one
   existed. But he points out that “while we were still sinners Christ
   died for us.” (Romans 5:8) That’s not an even trade. Christ has a reason
   to condemn us.
3. “Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised.” Only a living person
   can condemn somebody, so Christ has the ability to condemn us. He’s
   alive. We sometimes forget that. We remember at Christmas time that
   he was born. We remember on Good Friday that he died. We sing on Easter
   about his resurrection. But the rest of the year we tend to forget
   that he is alive 24 hours a day, 7days a week, 365 days a year. Christ
   has the ability to condemn us.
4. “Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right
   hand of God.” In the minds of Paul and those he was writing to, to
   sit at the right hand of the ruler was to have power nearly equal to
   that of the ruler. Christ has the authority to condemn. He could issue
   the edict of condemnation from his position of divine authority. We
   are told that he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
   Christ has the right to condemn. Christ has the reason to condemn.
   Christ has the ability to condemn. Christ has the authority to condemn.
   That makes for a very logical answer to Paul’s question, “Who is to
   condemn?”
5. “Christ Jesus, who died, yes who was raised, who is at the right
   hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.” This last clause contains
   all the good news we ever need. Christ intercedes for us. He is the
   one who could condemn. He is the one who could be the prosecuting attorney
   in our case before the divine Judge. And what does Paul describe him
   as doing? What is Christ’s role in this court case? He is acting as
   our defense attorney! When we come before God’s judgment seat, it is
   the only one who can condemn us who is whispering in God’s ear: “I
   love that one. I died for that one. Please forgive that one.”
6. Conclusion: Our case is finished before it begins. The only one who
   can bring an accusation or present damaging evidence is our defense
   attorney, who is mediating on our behalf with the Judge. The judgment
   is “Righteous.” The prisoner is set free. Let’s celebrate.

Prof. Bruce E. Shields
Emmanuel School of Religion
Johnson City, Tennessee, USA
ShieldsB@esr.edu