Sermon - Habakkuk – Righteousness by Faith

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon - Habakkuk – Righteousness by Faith

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

November 6, 2016

This morning we turn to the Prophet Habakkuk. We don't know much about Habakkuk, but we do have an interesting story about him from rabbinic tradition. So listen to this story from Bel and the Dragon 1:33-39

33 Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea; he had made a stew and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going into the field to take it to the reapers. 34 But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, “Take the food that you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions’ den.” 35 Habakkuk said, “Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the den.” 36 Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head and carried him by his hair; with the speed of the wind[d] he set him down in Babylon, right over the den.

37 Then Habakkuk shouted, “Daniel, Daniel! Take the food that God has sent you.” 38 Daniel said, “You have remembered me, O God, and have not forsaken those who love you.” 39 So Daniel got up and ate. And the angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his own place.

So Habakkuk seems to be a good person and useful to God. He must have been a pretty good cook. Let's pray and then we will hear what he has to say.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Habakkuk was a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah. So he clearly saw the moral decay of Judah and Jerusalem as it abandoned God's law. He also clearly saw the threat Babylon posed to all the nations in the region. But that is where the similarity with Jeremiah stopped. Jeremiah was an outsider who was called and empowered by God to proclaim a word of warning to the nations. Habakkuk was not an outsider. He was an insider, a temple musician and song writer. He was probably a Levite, an important church leader. And rather than God giving him a warning for the people, Habakkuk, like a priest, takes the people's concern to God in prayer. He asked God why he allowed this moral decay to continue. Listen to his prayer.

Habakkuk 1:2-4

2 How long, Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    there is strife, and conflict abounds.4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice is perverted.

So from his position of leadership, Habakkuk has seen corruption at all levels of the government and temple leadership. God's law is ignored. People coming to court for justice are turned away with no satisfaction. The Government is engaging in violence against their own people. Official corruption has run amok. And the only place Habakkuk can turn is to God. But when he turns to God it is with a complaint. “2 How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?”

This is a prayer I have often prayed. I have prayed for many things in my life. Sometimes God answers quickly. But often my prayers seem to go unanswered. I have prayed for healing and watched people die. I have prayed for jobs, and watch people go through unemployment. I have prayed for reconciliation, and watched people go through divorse. But I keep praying and praying and hoping that God will hear my prayers and will act quickly.

Habakkuk is in the same the boat. He has been praying to God over and over to change the situation Judah is in before it is too late. He prays over and over for divine intervention. But with each prayer Habakkuk wonders when God will act. But after today's prayer, God is ready to deal with Habakkuk’s complaint. And here is God's answer.

5 “Look at the nations and watch—
    and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
    that you would not believe,
    even if you were told.6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[a]
    that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
    to seize dwellings not their own.7 They are a feared and dreaded people;
    they are a law to themselves
    and promote their own honor.8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
    fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
    their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;9     they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind
    and gather prisoners like sand.10 They mock kings
    and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
    by building earthen ramps they capture them.11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—
    guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”

So God has told Habakkuk exactly what he is going to do. God is going to let Babylon to sweep away the corrupt government of Judah. But Habakkuk was not satisfied with this answer and he prayed again.

12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?
    My God, my Holy One, you[c] will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment;
    you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
    you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
    Why are you silent while the wicked
    swallow up those more righteous than themselves?14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
    like the sea creatures that have no ruler.15 The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks,
    he catches them in his net,
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
    and so he rejoices and is glad.16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and burns incense to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
    and enjoys the choicest food.17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
    destroying nations without mercy?

Habakkuk 2

1 I will stand at my watch
    and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
    and what answer I am to give to this complaint.[a]

So Habakkuk is not satisfied with God's answer that he is sending the Babylonians to destroy them. Habakkuk wants to know why God has allowed this corruption to go on and on. Why didn't God act to solve these problems long ago before they got so bad that destruction was the only remedy? I don't know about you, but I have certainly prayed like this. I have been angry with God. Sometimes I want an explanation. Sometimes I need to know why God letting bad things happen. Habakkuk expressed this complaint to God and got an answer. Here it is.

2 Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald[b] may run with it.3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
    it speaks of the end
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
    it[c] will certainly come
    and will not delay.

4 “See, the enemy is puffed up;
    his desires are not upright—
    but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness[d]—

So God's answer to Habakkuk’s complaint that God did not act sooner to rid evil from the world was because evil exists because people desire it. Evil so permeates our hearts, and is so much a part of who we are, that we really have no choice but to be evil. We are totally depraved, unable to do good even if we wanted to, which of course we do not. This situation was caused by Adam and Eve's disobedience. Original sin so stains us that we are incapable of desiring or doing good. This was the problem in Jerusalem. The people had abandoned God and their own deprived natures were all that was left. So wickedness was the result. God didn't cause the wickedness; we did.

This is the situation we find ourselves in today. As people in our country abandon God, his law and his church the only thing we are left with is our own deprived natures. We see this in our current election. Both candidates are stained by sin. One Candidate and the other's husband have treated women atrociously. One candidate is being investigated by the FBI for corruption. And Christians are crying out “How long will this go on?” to Jesus

Habakkuk cried out God. And God responded to Habakkuk, “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.”

By Jesus' time people had interpreted God's answer to Habakkuk to mean that by being faithful to God's law a person becomes righteous. So they held people to high personal standards of obedience. Jesus had numerous interactions with people who demanded strict adherence to the law. The Apostle Paul was trained as a pharisee and had first hand experience trying to get people to be righteous by obeying the law. But Paul saw that this didn't work because people were so depraved that they neither did nor desired to the good. They were all stained by original sin, and thus condemned by their nature as evil. Advocating faithful adherence to the law did not bring about righteousness among people totally depraved.

But God revealed to Paul what he really meant when he told Habakkuk “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness” God told Paul that the righteous will live by faith in Jesus Christ. That was God's answer. The answer to total depravity, our inability to be righteous as a result of original sin, is not by faithfully keeping God's law. That doesn't work. The answer to depravity, is to have faith in Jesus Christ.

It works this way. God makes faith available to you through his Holy Spirit. You can accept it or reject it. If you accept it the Holy Spirit begin the lifelong process in you of purging the stain of original sin from your heart. You are forgiven for the sins you have committed, You make Jesus your Lord. And you are free from slavery to sin. This frees you to live the life you were created to live as a righteous person. So, righteousness comes from the faith in Jesus Christ you received from the Holy Spirit.

So what is God's solution to evil in the world? We have been praying to God “How long will you let evil continue?” And God's answer is that evil will continue until all people on earth are made righteous by the saving faith in Jesus Christ. So if you want to make the world a better place, the only way is to help people receive faith in Jesus Christ. Here is what you do: Talk to people about Jesus, and demonstrate Jesus' love in your actions. Help people to see the blessing from God that our offered. And urged them to respond positively when the Spirit comes with the gift of faith. As more and more people accept Jesus as Lord and receive the Holy Spirit in their hearts, our nation will become more and more righteous.

Just as Habakkuk was lifted up by God to provide life sustaining food to Daniel in lion's den, so too does the Prophet Habakkuk provide us with the life sustaining food of the good news that righteousness comes from faith, in Jesus Christ. Let's pray.

How long, Lord Jesus, will you allow our nation to become more and more depraved. Help us, as your church, to bring your your love to people who don't know you, or have abandoned you. Help us to be your presence in the world through what we say and do. Use us and empower us to bring people to faith in you. This we pray in your glorious name. Amen.