Of Prisoners And Parolees

Romans 2:26-29

Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

Look with me now at certain barbaric human practices such as circumcision together. Some say how cruel it is for man to restrict their freedom and sexual expression. But remember what came of it in the first place. For Abraham's treatment of Hagar, neither he nor Sarah his wife escaped. Abraham's circumcision affected more than just his experience. It spilled over to his wife as well. See, sin never affects just you. As secret and as dark a closet as you may hide it in, trust me. It always comes out. So then when Abraham taught his children the lesson, it went something like this. I can hear him now saying 'son, we are God's people and this is what we do; we do what pleases him.' Notice something with me here. Cutting Abraham's foreskin off did not please God in the slightest. Rather like the ankle bracelet placed on a parolee, such a thing was necessary. By his own inability to behave he brought this on himself. Are we not all like that even from birth.

You know how you have to teach little Johnny not to hit his sister, slap the playground kids, and take everybody's toys. So, you see the situation found here is almost like that of a bunch of prisoners placed on house arrest. Even Paul says it is akin to the judgment of the law. The original offense might have been the cruel mistreatment of a family. But what came after was far greater as these things often do going from bad to worse. Here Paul says it was done much as fasting to afflict the soul. Some of you really ought to follow him and walk in his ways of your own accord before he snaps that ankle bracelet on. Trust me, it is no fun to not get far before the beeping occurs whether spiritual or no. Imagine every move you make being monitored by none other than the Lord.

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Now your ethnicity matters little nor yet how you mistreat your own body. There is a saying for that today which maybe you have heard. It goes something like beauty only being surface material. What is on the inside matters to God a whole lot more. Notice here how God speaks of yet another thing, the circumcision of the heart. Some of you might have heard of the song called a complete eclipse of this thing which my lawyer has advised me not to repeat for fear of copyright. Yet see how God does. He is more effective than any prisoner and parole system in the world. He comes into your heart, probably because you left the door open. Then he cleans up all the dirt, mess, and distress that has accumulated. Next, he moves on to your spirit to leave with it a guide, even that of his Spirit. So, when your prison warden or your victims come knocking, you can show them the blood of Jesus. See, man writes an awful lot of letters and some rather official looking documents. But how many of you know that God has the final Word.

Now I can give no man praise for all this, not even myself. Nothing I could have done would have made me a spiritual guide, open heart surgeon, and Heavenly lawyer all in one. It is all his doing. Thus, we walk in his ways and always give him praise. So, I also listen for his "well done." But before he has done, he changes your citizenship to that of Heaven. Now you are no longer of this old world down here below. Such a thing as the law was based entirely on a system of trust in man to honor God and to do the right thing. Yet now he has need of neither ball and chain of the old married couple nor yet an ankle monitor at all. See, God is not your big bad parole officer so high up there in the sky. Even now he makes his dwelling with man by the basis of need rather than by do rightly to thus inherit the earth. Granted, the meek will still inherit it. But oh, how we need him yesterday, tomorrow, and every other day in between. Today we are merely held captive by the grace of God.