Romans 4: 1-5, 13-17 (links validated 2/16/23)

In her book, Not Ashamed of the Gospel (Eerdmans, 2007), Fleming Rutledge tells a story about a Christian activist and theologian named Will Campbell. He was one of the few people who were able to maintain friendships with both members and victims of the Ku Klux Klan. As a result, Campbell was able to be involved in the trial of Sam Bowers, the former Imperial Wizard of the Klan whom authorities tried for the murder of civil rights worker Vernon Dahmer. For most of the trial Will Campbell sat with Dahmer’s family. Periodically, however, he also sat with Bowers, whom he’d known for forty years. There was far more space near Dahmer’s large and loving family. Campbell found much more room near Sam Bower who was virtually all alone in the world. After the trial was over, a reporter from the New York Times asked Campbell, “Why do you seem to be on both sides?” Will answered, nearly as memorably as profanely, “Because I’m a ‘[@#*%] Christian.” In commenting on that, Fleming Rutledge says all members of Abraham’s family are all, in a real sense, “blankety-blank Christians.” We are, after all, by nature under the power of sin. Abraham’s sons and daughters deserve to go to hell. But by becoming a curse for us, Christ freed us from the power of sin. As a result, God doesn’t just credit our faith to us as righteousness. God doesn’t, in other words, merely accept believing Christians. God also longs to remake even people like Sam Bowers … as well as those who proclaim this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson. God is, in other words, determined to raise dead people like preachers and the people who hear us to life.

Will Campbell was a remarkable Christian activist and theologian. He was also one of the few people who were able to maintain friendships with both members and victims of the Ku Klux Klan. As a result, Campbell was able to be deeply involved in the trial of Sam Bowers, the former Imperial Wizard of the Klan whom authorities tried for the murder of civil rights worker Vernon Dahmer. For most of the trial he sat with Dahmer’s family. Periodically, however, Campbell went and sat with Bowers, whom he’d known for forty years. Dahmer’s family is large and loving. Sam Bower is now virtually all alone in the world. After the trial was over, a reporter from the New York Times asked Will Campbell, “Why do you seem to be on both sides?” Will answered, nearly as memorably as profanely, “Because I’m a ‘@#*% Christian.” In commenting on that, Fleming Rutledge says all sons and daughters of Abraham and Sarah are all, in a real sense, “blankety-blank Christians.” God’s chosen people are, after all, by nature under the power of sin. We deserve to go to hell. But by becoming a curse for us, Christ freed us from the power of sin. As a result, God doesn’t just credit our faith to us as righteousness. God doesn’t, in other words, merely accept believing Christians. God also longs to remake even people like Sam Bowers...

On December 12, 2013, a man walked into a Walmart store in central Florida and paid off more than $20,000 worth of layaway bills for people he didn’t know. His name was Greg Parady, a local financial planner. He had heard a lady out in one of the aisles talking about how she needed to pay off her layaway but she didn’t think she would be able to take care of it all this year. So Parady walked back to the offices, pulled out his credit cards, and paid off one bill after another. “I can’t believe his cards didn’t melt, he was running them so fast,” said assistant manager Deb Davis. He used his credit to take care of their debts. They got the credit without actually paying their debt. Many wept in gratitude at the action of that “layaway Santa.”...

("There's a thin line between true righteousness and self-righteousness, between sanctification that beautifies me and sanctimony that blinds me. The losing battle of self-justification is hard to quit. Our Jewish forbears have an ancient ritual to address this problem. It's called Kol Nidre — in Aramaic, 'all vows'. The Kol Nidre is a declaration that is recited at the beginning of the service on the eve of Yom Kippur...")