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Who We Are - Sermon, Wednesday, March 30th, 2003
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Romans 8:1-10 as follows --
Therefore there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, for the control of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the control of sin and death. For what the Law was unable to do, in that it was weak because of the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirements of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk0. according to flesh but according to spirit. For those who are according to the flesh have their mind on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to spirit have their mind on the things of the spirit. For the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the spirit is life and peace; because the mindset of the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the Law of God because it cannot do so. Those, then, who are in flesh are not able to please God. You, though, are not in flesh but in spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, that one is not his. But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
I look a lot different during the week, I mean, compared to what I look like on Sunday mornings. I don't wear this robe when I am working in my office or making visits or going to Fred Meyer's or shoveling my driveway. I also don't wear a clerical collar to visibly identify myself as a Christian clergyman. Most days, I don't even wear a tie. From Sunday noon to the next Sunday morning, most of the time I look pretty much like a normal person.
What do you look like during the week? In dress and appearance, maybe you look pretty much the same as you do on Sundays. More importantly, how do you act during the week? Does your behavior in between Sunday mornings match up with what you say about yourself on Sunday mornings? Is your lifestyle consistent with your profession of faith or are there differences, maybe some drastic differences, between the way you are here and the way you are "out there"? That's something that all Christians have to deal with. And it's sometimes a difficult thing, isn't it, to make sure that I'm the same in between Sundays as I am on Sunday -- to make sure that I am different from the world. And should I not appear to be different from the people around me who do not have faith in Jesus Christ, people who are in fact still spiritually dead? The fact is, if you are a Christian, then you are different, because the Holy Spirit has made you alive.
Lately we've been reminding ourselves of our mission slogan: "Alive in Christ to share life in Christ with all." Today God's Word in Romans 8 gives us something to chew on in regard to the first three words of that slogan, "alive in Christ." St. Paul gives us some food for thought with his words that seem to remind us: "ALIVE IN CHRIST" IS NOT JUST A SLOGAN.
No, "alive in Christ" is a reality. It's what God has already made us. As we heard in the lesson from Ephesians, "God made us alive even when we were dead in transgressions." Here Paul tells us again how God accomplished that. He did what the Law could not do namely, save us, give us life. Contrary to human opinion, God's Law cannot make us acceptable to God. True, in his Law, the Creator sets down the "job description" for every human being. He tells me what it takes to be the kind of person he wants me to be, the kind of human being who is pleasing to him.
Well, all that "job description" does is show us how far short we fall. We can't come anywhere near the sinless perfection and love and righteousness and obedience that the Law requires. All it can do, then, is condemn us; it cannot give us life. But, what the Law could not do, God did by sending his Son in human flesh to fulfill the requirements of the Law. Jesus lived up to this job description for human beings 100%. He always loved, always obeyed, always wanted and said and did the righteous thing in the sight of God. The Law requires righteousness, and the Son of God and Son of man was righteous and lived righteously for us.
The Law also required that unrighteous human beings be justly punished for their sins. That was fulfilled too, when the Lamb of God suffered hell and died in our place, when God condemned his Son in place of us. The result is: "There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus." No condemnation, no way, no how, none of any kind! That echoes Jesus' words in John 3: "Whoever believes in him is not condemned." You and I, plugged into our Savior through faith, stand before God as people who measure up to the job description for human beings -- 100% pure, righteous, holy, obedient, clothed with Christ. And, truly made alive! Paul sums it up by saying, "If Christ is in you... the spirit is alive because of righteousness."
"Alive in Christ" is not just a slogan. It's a powerful and amazing reality. You, Christian, are spiritually alive. You've been set free from sin and death, you are under no condemnation, you match up to the job description for human beings, and you have eternal life. And that means you're different, different from the person you were before God made you alive. Different, also, from all the people around you who do not have faith, those spiritual corpses among whom you live and work and play. Now, that's a difference that really ought to show, don't you think? Well, it does show, as we live lives that are regulated by the Holy Spirit , lives controlled by the new spirit he created in us. You see, you are different because the Spirit made you alive -- and he made you alive so that you would be different!
I guess that doesn't always show. In recent years, more and more studies of Christians in America have come to a disturbing conclusion. When they people's values and morals and behavior, the way folks actually live in real life from one day to the next, what comes out is that in many cases, people who profess Christian faith often closely resemble those who don't. In other words, apart from Sunday mornings, you can hardly tell them apart. Many Christians just don't seem to think or to behave all that differently!
On one level, I'd have to say that's not too surprising. Paul himself, in the chapter before this, admitted: "What I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing." Because of our sinful flesh, we who are alive in Christ do sin daily. We who've been set free from the power of sin do at times allow the flesh to lead us by the nose to do what is evil in the sight of God. Sometimes those sins can be quite appalling. There are times when I as someone's pastor feel like saying, "How could you?!" (I don't say it, though.) There are times when I say to myself, "How could I?!"
Please be sure, though, that in regard to our sins of weakness, when we get tripped up by temptation and do the evil we really do not want to do, when the flesh has reasserted itself, we can cling to this Word: "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Our sins of weakness do not remove us from the grace and forgiveness of God, they do not separate us from our Lord!
The real danger, however, would be if we were allowing the flesh to regulate our behavior, to actually be in control of our lives. If that's happening, you are not going to look much different from a spiritually dead person. That's scary, given Paul's description here. He says, "The mindset of the flesh is death. The mindset of the flesh is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to God's law." The flesh simply refuses to do what is pleasing to God.
When the mindset of the flesh is regulating a person's life, it's going to show. It will show in a disregard of God's will, a refusing to obey God's Law. Even while the person is paying lip-service to the Lord, he or she will be rejecting this or that part of the job description for God's people. It may show in substance abuse, or in the abuse of God's gift of sexuality, or in the abuse of God's material blessings. It may show in the abuse of power or of people. It may be more subtle, less visible to others but just as real, in a heart and mind regulated by hatred or vengeance or unforgiveness, or greed or lust or rebellion or any kind of ungodliness.
The question is, who or what is regulating my daily life? Oh, Sundays are no problem, but what about in between, from Sunday noon until the next Sunday morning? Who or what controls how I think and what I want and the way I feel? Who or what regulates my words and sentences? Who or what influences how I use my hands and my feet and the other parts of my body? Surely we want it to be the spirit, not the flesh!
But let me tell you this: a life regulated by the spirit doesn't just happen. It takes work. It takes unrelenting effort in a daily striving to keep the flesh under control. It takes a daily identifying of sin in all forms in me, and a daily rejecting of it. It takes a constant clinging to the cross of our Savior and Jesus' blood and righteousness. It takes a steady, stubborn use of the means of grace. It takes cooperating with the Holy Spirit as he comes to us through Word and Sacrament to fuel our faith and arm us for battle and guide us in holy living. It takes vigilant prayer. It takes helping each other, being examples for each other in lives guided by the job description for saints. It takes rebuking and comforting and encouraging each other in the love of Christ.
No, a life regulated by the spirit doesn't just happen. It takes an all-out, life-long effort for you and me to "not walk according to flesh but according to spirit." But that's what people do who are alive in Christ! They do live differently because they are different. You are different, because the Holy Spirit made you alive. But don't forget, the Holy Spirit made you alive so that you would truly be different! "Alive in Christ" is not just a slogan. It's a way of life!