Ecclesia Princeton
Ecclesia Princeton
Romans 5vv12-21- Andrew Ojeda: Where Are You From?
Andrew Ojeda contrasts the story that we tell ourselves vs the greater story of God’s grace in Christ.
Good morning. Good morning, I well, I'm so filled with emotions today. I had an image in my head and this was given to me by the former President Barnes of Princeton Seminary and he taught this class. That was probably the best class I took at seminary and it was who cares what the name was? Essentially best class I took at seminary and it was who cares what the name was? Essentially it was Storytimes with President Barnes and it was how does a former pastor of over 30 years kind of impart wisdom to students who are studying to prepare for ministry? One thing he told us was make sure you tell your congregation I love you enough because you do, because you love the congregation, you love the community that you're in, and that carried me a lot through seminary.
Speaker 1:There were some moments that were very difficult, more difficult than perhaps I wanted to fixate on. I know what you're thinking, andrew. You look so cool and calm. Well, not everybody can make it look this good.
Speaker 1:But I had this image of when school was getting tough, of when spiritual life was getting tough, of when finances were getting tough, social life was getting tough. I just thought were getting tough, social life was getting tough. You know, I just thought the Lord has me here for a reason and at one point I will look at a congregation and say I love you guys. You know, and all that kind of carried on that I had to carry on through seminary, through this experience of these three years, would be worth it because I could say it and quickly, during my time here, I realized that it's not some, I don't know some distant congregation that I had in mind when I was telling a congregation in my mind oh, I love you guys, but it was very much you guys.
Speaker 1:It was this congregation. It's my first congregation and so I do. I love you guys so much, and so thank you for letting me be part of the team, from leadership all the way to the elders, to all of you. Thank you so much. It's been more than a privilege to be here and so, with that again, it is the greatest privilege and honor, with all the joy in my heart and just a little bit of grief and sadness, that I get to bring a word of the Lord this morning to you all. So our passage today comes as a continuation of last week's message. I want to invite my friends at, ben and Alexa, who are actually going to read scripture for us this morning. Scripture is coming from Romans 5, verses 12 through 21. Let's get the reader mic.
Speaker 3:Good morning. Our scripture today comes from Romans, chapter 5, verses 12 through 21. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned.
Speaker 2:For sin was indeed in the world before the law. But sin is not reckoned when there is no law.
Speaker 3:Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam. But the free gift is not like the trespass.
Speaker 2:Much more surely have the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man, jesus Christ, abounded for the many, and the gift is not like the effect of the one man. Jesus Christ abounded for the many, and the gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin.
Speaker 3:For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation.
Speaker 2:But the gift following many trespasses brings justification.
Speaker 3:If, because of the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one?
Speaker 2:much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, jesus Christ. So one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. So through the one man's obedienceience, the many were made sinners. So through the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous.
Speaker 3:But law came in so that the trespass might increase.
Speaker 2:But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. So that, just as sin reigned in death so grace might also reign through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Thanks be to God. Thank you so much, friends. Please join me in prayer, god, I thank you for this community, for this family, for the opportunity to call this place and these people home. Unity for this family, for the opportunity to call this place and these people home. Pray, lord, that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you. O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.
Speaker 1:Where are you from? Where are you from? No one has to answer unless you feel very poetic. Where are you from? My father grew up in East Los Angeles, california. What do we know about East Los? About the Vatolocos? Anything. Hopefully not too much. Honestly, if you grew up there, someone might stop you on the street and ask you hey, where are you from? You would have to think very carefully before you answer that question. Where are you from?
Speaker 1:I went out to Philadelphia my first summer here and saw one of my favorite artists, leon Bridges. After the concert, I made my way to the Rocky Steps, and outside of these steps there was an ice cream truck, and so at 11 pm on a hot Philly Saturday summer night, I walked up to the ice cream truck, apparently with all the California sunshine that I could muster and I said hey, man, how's it going? His immediate response was where are you from? Because you're not from here. Where are you from? I've heard it said. Perhaps you have to.
Speaker 1:It is important to know where you have been so you know where you are going. There is great importance in knowing your past. Your future is almost dependent upon your knowledge of yourself and your past. How many of us have either used or intrigued by stuff like Ancestrycom, genetic history, right? Why are we so fascinated by our makeup, by our ancestors and our history? We desire to know where we're coming from, and it informs our present, right. But why is that the case? Why are we just so fascinated? Well, I'm glad you asked, because here I stand in front of you at the wise age of 26 years old, with a Master of Divinity degree just fresh off the press, and I'm going to tell you why you're so fixated on the past, why it's important to know where you're coming from. So the truth is, I don't know, but no, I'm kidding, I'm kidding Kind of. The reason why it is so important to us is because it informs our story, our story. Where do we fit in? The story, where you come from has a lot to say about your role in the story. Where we come from has a lot to say about who we are, and where we come from also includes these stories and narratives that shape us. This is more or less what culture is, right.
Speaker 1:I grew up listening to stories that my dad would tell me. These stories they made me. Many of these stories I would later find out are they would be summaries of actually his favorite movies, right, yeah, I turn on Roadhouse and I'm like this looks really familiar, and some of them would be American ballads that he would tell me in a narrative form. And so one of them is a Kenny Rogers song and it's about a little boy who races to a baseball field with a bat and a ball in hand. It's completely empty. He goes to home plate and he sets the scene perfectly.
Speaker 1:It's the bottom of the ninth inning. The home team is down by one, the bases are loaded, two outs. Anyone else would be worried, but not the little boy. Why? Because the greatest hitter in the world is up at the plate. So the little boy steps up with excitement. He imagines a sea of people just cheering him on. Right, he gets up there with all the suave in the world. Just cool, calm and collected the ball in one hand, the bat in the other. He tosses the ball in the air and he takes a mighty hack. But just underneath the ball a little bit so it pops up foul, just right behind. Strike one. But this isn't a big deal. This is the greatest batter in the world, right? So he takes a step back, picks up the ball, dusts off a little dust from his shoulders I was a little rusty, but I'm the greatest batter in the world Takes the ball in his hand again.
Speaker 1:He tosses it up a little bit higher, wants to give himself a little more time, grips the bat, mighty whack, just, and it's going and it's going and it's going, but it's tailing a little bit. So there he is, he's waving it, he's waving it. Come on, bend, bend, bend, but just foul. Strike two, all right, he thinks. Well, I have a flair for the dramatic, anyways. So he goes to go pick up the ball and on his way back the crowd is a little uneasy, but still, this is the greatest batter in the world. He gets up there and he's more determined than ever. He decides to grit his teeth a little bit harder, pulls his hat down just a little bit tighter. He really squeezes on that bat Last strike. But all he needed was one pitch anyways. Ball in one hand, bat in the other, he tosses the ball in the air and he's waiting. The entire crowd is just completely silent. He's waiting, he's waiting and with the force of a thousand lumberjacks, he takes this mighty hack and then he watches where the ball lands, strike three. The crowd is completely speechless. All the lights have turned off. The little boy stands there pondering what has just is more or less a miracle the greatest batter in the world just struck out. So he looks at the ball, takes some time, he picks it up and in a moment of reflection to himself, he tells himself I just struck out the best batter of all time, put the ball in his pocket and he raced home to tell his parents about how he was the greatest pitcher of all time.
Speaker 1:What did this story do for me? Made me a serial optimist, at least right. What did this story do for me Made me a serial optimist, at least right? Why am I spending so much time emphasizing stories and narratives? Well, I like stories Because I see the power of story in this passage. I say we have two narratives. Both have a lot to say about who we are and what we believe of ourselves. Did we catch this in the reading, ben and Alexa? Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Going back and forth between the scripture reading, we have a story of the human race Caught up in sin and death through the story of Adam, and we have the story of grace and justification in the righteousness of Christ. Paul tells the story of our common humanity, the story of the fallenness of humanity, that sin had come into the world through one man and, as a result, death came into the world. Furthermore, all have sinned, making death supreme over us all. In fact, pick any one of our great ancestors. Paul is saying Adam to Moses. All of them have fallen to the dominion of sin. So much for an exciting Ancestrycom report, right? So much for an exciting Ancestrycom report, right. Imagine what that has to do to one's psyche.
Speaker 1:To be a child of this narrative, to be human, is to be a descendant of Adam, and to be descended from Adam is to have your history be fallen. Your history, your story of origin is nothing other than the fall from perfection. You once had it great and you blew it. There was once a time when all was perfect. Harmony and peace were the daily routines of life. That sounds great. Right about now? Right, you walked hand in hand with the creator, your God, and you blew it. What is your story? Your story is fall. Who can amount to anything from this narrative? If doom and destruction are our native stories, then we only expect to get doom and destruction right. I can attest to this as a long-suffering Cowboys fan. I've spent 26 years on this earth just talking about how great we were and how we blew it, and that's all we have. So now we can understand why the inclusion of Adam right, an emphasis on the origin of our story.
Speaker 1:But the beauty of Paul's letter is not in the sorrow of Adam's origin story, but the redemption in Jesus's story story. As Paul writes, adam's origin story is challenged by a much greater story, which is the grace of God that is found in Christ Jesus. Greater than the origin story of Adam is our origin story found in Jesus Christ. Paul is saying there is the trespass bringing death to many, but how much greater is the grace of God that is found in Christ Jesus. We may be all too familiar with the condemnation of sin in our world. But condemnation is not our beginning nor our end, for we are being called into justification through Christ Jesus. We are surrounded by the fact that through sin, death exercises its dominion, but in Jesus and his abundant grace we receive righteousness and dominion in life. We are not the product of man's disobedience into sinfulness, but we are the receivers of Jesus' obedience, which makes us righteous. We are called into the beautiful reality of overabundant grace, one of the most powerful lines in this section I want you to hear it again. It says when sin increased, grace abounded all the more. And who doesn't need overabundant grace right now? A grace that flows freely and lovingly, cleansing us from our sins and baptizing us into righteousness. A grace that rewrites the origin story of our lives, that overcomes sin. Sin seeks to exercise dominion in death, but the grace of God invites us into dominion through justification, leading us into eternal life with Jesus.
Speaker 1:This is the good news of the gospel. This is the metanarrative of scripture, but more so, this is the arc of all humanity's history and this is the arc of all our individual stories. It does not begin and end with the fall of humanity and Adam, but it is rooted in the love of God, god who says I will stop at nothing to be God with you. God pursues us radically, passionately, lovingly and without hesitation. Our beginning is not in a fallen Adam. It is not in a fallen sense of self. Our beginning has always been, and always will be in the grace and love of God that is found in Jesus, who, though he was blameless, took on sin and was obedient to the point of death for the sake of us. This is where your story begins and also, friends, this is where your story is headed.
Speaker 1:If it is true that our beginnings influence our future, then give me this beginning. Give me a story that is filled with eternal life and not death. Give me a story of grace and love. Give me a story that says even before the dawn of time, the creator of all things says to us I thought of you and my thoughts of you are so lovely. I have made a paradise just to delight with you. And even though you walk away, even if cosmic forces of death and destruction seek to tear us apart, I will race for you. I will find you and I will love you. I will be your God and you will be my people. My grace is sufficient enough. Believe me, before the origin of our time, god chooses to be with us. We may walk away.
Speaker 1:We sing that we can be prone to wander, but our story is one of God's pursuit of us. Our story begins with a God again who will stop at nothing to be God with us, begins with a God again who will stop at nothing to be God with us. If this is our origin story, then this is our story. So then, where are we headed? This is our assurance for tomorrow. I'm reminded of the hymn Blessed Assurance. It goes Blessed Assurance, jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory, divine Heir of salvation, purchased of God, born of his spirit and washed in his blood. What is my story? This is my story and this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. See, friends, our story has always been and always will be rooted in the salvific work of God through Jesus Christ. Where are we from? We have always been, we always will be from, and we are eternally destined to the deepest love of God, from a deep well filled with grace that meets us new and fresh every single day.
Speaker 1:I want to go ahead and invite the worship team to make their way forward, to lead us in a time of worship and of prayer, ekklesia, friends, family. I urge you adopt this story, the greatest story that has ever happened, the greatest story that has ever been told, the story that says greater than the dominion of death is the dominion of eternal life that you are being called into, where your sin may be great, god's grace and love abound even greater. If you are hearing this for the first time, welcome Welcome to your intended reality, what you were made for One not in brokenness, but one that is focused on redemption and salvation. In a moment, we will have a time of response and meditation. If you are feeling called to prayer, to accept this story as your own story, we have a prayer team in the back ready to receive you with open arms, ready to pray with you wherever you are in this story.
Speaker 1:And for us in the room today, who have said yes to this grace, who have adopted this narrative of this story as our own story, the challenge today is to be moved by this grace. This grace is not a static grace. It is a grace that moves. We read that. It moves us from condemnation into righteousness, from death into life. A grace that will declare its victory over the grave death is not the end of our story, because God's grace is our story.
Speaker 1:So, as grace-filled people, let us then go out proclaiming the grace of God and the invitation into eternal life in our communities and the world around us. Because as long as there are people willing to live into this story of grace, college students will find a place of peace and comfort in a space that will demand everything of them. As long as people are willing to live into this story of grace, international students will find a sense of home in a place like Princeton. As long as we are willing to live into this story of grace, the evils of food insecurity in our community will be met with the generous love of God and God's people. As long as we are willing to live into this story of grace, a little girl surrounded by pain and brokenness is given a gift of love through a church community that will say, yes, we will surround you.
Speaker 1:When we are willing to live into this story of grace, we are compelled and called to help our immigrant neighbor so that, yes, when immigrant officers come to disrupt their lives outside of our own, very own meeting space, we can meet them with love and support. When we are willing to live into this story of grace, we proclaim love and peace to a nation that desperately needs it. The story of God's grace has the power to transform our lives and the lives around us. May we be a people of this story. I pray that we come to live in this story, that we are recipients but also participants in this story of God's grace-filled story for us, carrying us from death into life. This is my prayer, friends, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.