A couple Sundays ago we attended the opening worship service for my daughter’s high school. As it turned out, one of my life-long friends was there to witness his cousin’s installation as a teacher at the school. He reminded me that 25 years ago we were starting our senior year at Fremont Senior High—Go Tigers! Anyway, that (and Facebook) brought back a lot of old memories of what life was like back in “’85, ’85, eighty, eighty, ’85.” One of the favorite movies of that day was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in which the principal’s secretary, while listing all the different cliques in the school, proclaims that they all think Ferris is a “Righteous Dude.” In the eyes of his peers he could do no wrong.
This morning I picked up a book I had started reading a while back and then put down due to various distractions in my life and ministry. The book is “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer; in particular, I was reading chapter 8, The Righteousness of Christ which describes the relationship of the Law to Christians and unbelievers based upon their relationship to Christ. How I wish every Christian could read this book, and especially, this chapter.
We Lutherans are so often accused (wrongly) of being antinomian, that is, unconcerned about the Law because of the grace of Christ which forgives all sin. Moreover, because that grace comes only through Christ (Eph. 2:8-9) we tend to shy away from Good Works which might give the appearance that we are trying to effect our own salvation (forgetting about Eph. 2:10) Though I know this is not what I was taught and not what we believe, I understand how we collectively have become phobic of “works righteousness” and its place on the slippery slope to perceived antinomianism.
What Bonhoeffer does in his book is show, through the Sermon on the Mount, that the Law does not cease to be God’s plan for us as his creatures, but rather, through Christ, our relationship to it does. Before we believed, the Law was a roadblock between us and God, a real burden to us and the source of the schism between God and people. After we believe, the law is still God’s plan. He still wants us to follow it. We don’t just get a free pass (in respect to the Law) because God still has the same expectations of us before and after we receive faith. The difference is in the calling.
When the Holy Spirit brought us to faith we were called by Christ to walk with him (as the blessed in the beatitudes). And since no-one can come to the father accept through Christ, we are totally dependent up on him for life and salvation (by the gospel). By our attachment to Him we are of course credited with his righteousness and therefore the law is no longer held between us and God, because the law has been kept by Christ. Because of Christ the relationship is restored in perfect holiness and obedience. Christ calls us to faith, we cling to Christ in faith, by faith we inherit his righteousness and are saved.
But to prevent this grace from becoming cheap Bonhoeffer demonstrates how the call to follow Christ is inherently tied to our response which is demonstrated by our actions. Christ affirmed the Law as God’s rule and plan when he said to love God and love one another. If we are trusting in and following our Lord in the calling he has extended to us, then we will do what he says. The closer we follow Him, the better we will keep the law. Our righteousness still does not come from ourselves, it comes from Christ, for without our following his call and living out our calling in Christ, the Law is once again placed between us and God, instead of upon Christ’s shoulders. Whenever we place the burden of keeping the law ahead of the gospel of Christ, we take the Law from Christ's shoulders and place it between us and God.
Clearly, Mr. Bueller’s antics were anything but righteous as he broke nearly every school rule there was and yet, the other students thought he was a “good kid.” Their judgments of him seem to be based on something other than the rules they were all to follow. Perhaps because of his ability to talk or sneak his way out of any and all trouble; maybe because he was so smart and used that intellect to help others skirt around getting in trouble, they deemed him as righteous? Of course his sister and his principle knew the real Ferris Bueller and tried to catch him as he played hooky for a day.
I see parallels in real life. We look up to people who seem to be able to skirt around the tax code and "stick it to the man". We let the behavior of those around us determine what is acceptable. We like to romanticize the renegade or maverick who breaks the rules to help out his friends. And we do the same with our own behaviors.
We rationalize the things we do which we know are wrong. We make excuses for not doing what we know to be right. We distance ourselves from getting too wrapped up at church or bible study because that’s what the bible thumpers do. That’s what the hypocrites do. And so we keep on living our lives like we always have; maybe we are a little better than the next guy, but not too good. We keep Jesus at a safe distance so that we can keep a balance in life and not go off the "deep end." If this is a good descriptor of how we are living, perhaps it’s time to examine ourselves.
If we are afraid of being “too good” or not concerned with how “bad” we are, are we taking seriously our calling as a child of God? If we are not seeking to do the will of God and asking for his strength to do so are we hearing the voice of Christ who says, “ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you.?” In Christ we have strength and comfort to do all things and those things are what he has called us to do—without fear, embarrassment or regret.
You and I may never have the panache or charisma of Ferris Bueller, but in Christ, each one of us is certainly a Righteous Dude. To quote another iconic 80’s movie, “Party On Dude!”
In Christ,
RevnPadre
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