You are free Romans 6:12-23 6/29/14

You are free

Romans 6:12-23

RUMC 6/29/14

(Slides 1-8) Forced labor, sex trafficking, bonded labor, debt bondage, involuntary domestic servitude, forced child labor, child soldiers, child sex trafficking.        

(Slide 9) For 29 million of our brothers and sisters around the world, Slavery is a modern reality: a modern, ugly, shameful, hideous, appalling truth.

Slavery is morally repugnant to each and every one of us, yet the truth that Paul points out in our passage from Romans 6 is that each and every one of us is a slave. Oh, not this kind of slave, thank goodness, but a slave nonetheless.

If a slave is one who is “strongly influenced and controlled by something.”^[i] He is right.

·         Do you work your tail off every day just to keep the mortgage or rent paid and food on the table… you are a slave to modern economics.

·         Do you spend most of your life worried about one thing or another… you are a slave to your worry.

·         Do you start thinking about your next drink as soon as the class or can is empty?... you are a slave to your alcohol.

·         Do you spend day after day under the dark cloud of depression… you are a slave to your mental illness.

·         Do you live in fear that someone will come home drunk or angry and smack you around again?... you are a slave to that relationship.

·         Do you spend half of your life trying to get something that is bigger, better, or newer than your neighbor? And the other half keeping up with maintenance on all of that expensive stuff?... you are a slave to your possessions. They own you rather then you owning them.

·         Do you really need to have another one of those pills the doctor prescribed after your surgery even though that was a year ago? You are a slave to your legal drugs.

·         Do you find yourself driven by your calendar, just going from one event to another, one ball game to another, one meeting to another?... you are a slave to your overscheduled life.

·         Do you do most of what you do because you feel guilty?... you are a slave to your guilt.

·         Do you resist all outside influences saying, “I am a free spirit. I am a slave of no one. I do whatever I please, whenever I want”.… let me suggest that you are probably a slave to your own ego and hedonistic desires.

Get the idea? To get away from the emotionally loaded language of slavery, let’s say we all have a boss. Whatever controls your life is your boss. As we approach the fourth of July this week, there will be a lot of talk of freedom. I will be the first to give thanks that we live in America with the political freedom it affords. But I have to tell you that even those of us who live in the freest country in the world still have bosses.

That is what Paul is saying. We all live our lives for something. In the small picture that might be any of the things I just described; economics, worry, alcohol, mental illness, relationships, possessions, prescriptions, calendars, guilt or self-centeredness.

I want to back up one more step, however, and take a look at a bigger picture. Human beings are spiritual creatures and each of us has made a choice about what is of ultimate importance in our lives. I am talking about more important than economics, and worry, and alcohol, and mental illness, and all those other things. I am talking about why you get up in the morning. Why do you keep breathing? When everything else breaks, fails, or disappears, what will be left for you? As your pastor, the question in which I am most interested is whether, “you live for God, or do you live for something else?” Who is your boss, the God of creation and the God of the universe, or do you have some other ultimate concern.

Being a Christian means turning away from all other ultimate concerns, whatever they might be, and turning our ultimate faith to God alone.

That’s where we connect with Paul in Romans.

He begins the 6^th chapter talking about sin. In this passage, sin is making anything but God our ultimate concern.

Paul says that in baptism we die to our old selves. We die to the old boss of our lives, whatever that was. But that isn’t all. He goes on to say that because of baptism, we are now alive for God. He writes, “Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Then in our reading from this morning he starts, “THEFEFORE…” So this reading is predicated upon what Paul has just said. It assumes that we are dead to sin and alive to God through our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus.

He writes, “^Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.” In other words-in baptism you fired the power of sin saying, “You are no longer my boss.” Why then, would you go back and behave as though Sin is still your boss?

·         Once you are well you don’t stay on the respirator.

·         Once the tire is fixed, you don’t leave the spare tire on the car.

·         Once the sprained ankle is healed, you don’t continue to limp.

·         Once the power comes back on you don’t continue to sit in the dark.

·         So WHY… Why for heaven’s sake do we give our lives to God and let sin continue to influence our behavior?

You know what I am talking about. We don’t have to look very far. In fact, no further than our own pews.

·         We all know people who sit here Sunday after Sunday and then go home and cheat on their spouse. The sin of adultery is their boss.

·         We all know people who come Sunday after Sunday, drop a dollar in the offering plate and then go home to count their mattress full of money. The sin of greed is their boss.

·         We all have the same number of hours in our weeks, but you know there are people here who won’t spare an hour to serve anyone but themselves. The sin of selfishness is their boss.

·         We all know the people who are sitting here right now looking at other people, nodding their heads and in their judgmental hearts saying, “thank God I am not like that sinner.” Well if you look a little closer in the mirror, you might discover that you are. Perhaps the sin of judgment is your boss.

If any of us look in the mirror, we will discover that to a greater or lesser degree we have fallen into the very sin from which we thought we were free.

There are some who would say, “Don’t worry about a little sin. It’s OK.” In verse 15, Paul enters into a dialogue with himself. He says something like “some people say, “don’t worry about it. Since we are under grace instead of the law, it is OK and we can sin without consequence.” In other words, God’s forgiving grace is infinite; why not keep sinning when we know we will be forgiven anyway?

·         The same logic applies when we are eating chocolate. Well, I’ve eaten half a box, why stop now.

·         The same logic applies to our taxes. I pay enough taxes; they won’t notice this one more little omission.

·         The same logic applies to speeding. You know 9 your fine, 10 your mine.

We can get by with a few little sins in our lives can’t we?

Paul writes, “By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey.” In other words if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… you have to at least consider the possibility that it might be a duck. If you walk like a sinner, and talk like a sinner… you might be a sinner. You may have given yourself to God yesterday or 50 years ago, but if you still walk like a sinner and quack like a sinner… sin is still your boss. You have a new boss, but you are still following the instructions of your old boss, sin.

The problem we have is that when we enter the new life with its new possibilities, the old patterns and systems do not shut down. The destructive ruts and routines are still there. BUT… BUT…Paul is saying: you don't have to surrender to those habits, ruts, and routines because God’s grace can lift you beyond them. You are no longer trapped by the past. Sin is no longer your boss.”

Sin is no longer our boss, but for some reason some Christians hang on to it as a comfortable friend. After all, they had some good times together. Let me tell you sin is the kind of friend that would sooner stab you in the back than pat you on it. We need to get as far away from it as possible. Sin is not your friend and sin is not your boss.

That whole process of weeding the sin out of our lives is called sanctification in which we grow to be more and more Christ like. But that is a sermon for an upcoming week.

There are two things we need to take away from this.

1) Previously, we sinned because we had no choice. Sin was our boss and we had to do what the boss said. If sin is no longer our boss and we still sin… do you see where I am going? If sin is no longer our boss and we still sin that makes the sin our choice. The new boss sent his only son to die for our sins, to set us free from our sins, to set us free from the old boss, and here we are once again showing loyalty to our old boss of sin and death.

God hates all sin, but when it is one of his own children… how much more must it grieve God to see one of his own… one whom he has marked in baptism saying, “This one is mine.” How much more must it grieve God to see us fall to sin after we have been saved from sin?

Thanks be to God that no matter what, we are forgiven sinners. Thanks be to God that even this sin is covered by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Thanks be to God that God’s forgiveness is bigger than any sin we might commit. Thanks be to God that we are not trapped in that place of sin and by God’s grace; we can be turned back to the path of righteousness.

2) The second thing I want us to take from this passage is that since we have a new boss we have a whole new set of marching orders. The Kingdom of God doesn’t look anything like the kingdom of this world. The Kingdom of heaven is a radical departure from the world we know. We have to get used to that. We have to understand that everything we thought we knew has been turned upside-down and our behavior needs to reflect that.

It is one thing to say in baptism, “I reject the evil powers of this world and repent of my sin.” It is quite another to “accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves! “ And it is even another to actually carry through on those vows in our everyday lives.

That, however, is what the Christian life is all about living into the new order of God’s kingdom. Living into the upside-downness of Jesus way of looking at the world. Living into the reality that sin is no longer our boss… God is.

KNOW THIS

·         Life is no longer about us. It is about God  

·         It is no longer about pleasing yourself, but pleasing God  

·         It is no longer about what you can get, but about what you can give  

·         It is no longer about what you can do, but about what God can do through you

·         It is no longer about collecting things, but it is about receiving grace

·         It is no longer about domination but about serving

·         It is no longer about winning, but about having peace

·         It is no longer about time, because we have eternity

·         It is no longer about success, but about faith  

·         It is no longer about luck, but about hope

·         It is no longer about taking, but about loving

You know what, God sounds like a pretty good boss to work for. I think that is what Paul is trying to say when he ends this passage saying, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Live that eternal life starting here and now.

AMEN
Life is no longer about me, it is about God.

·         It is no longer about pleasing myself, but pleasing God.

·         It is no longer about what I can get, but about what I can give.

·         It is no longer about what I can do, but about what God can do through me.

·         It is no longer about collecting things, but it is about receiving grace.

·         It is no longer about domination but about serving.

·         It is no longer about winning, but about having peace.

·         It is no longer about time, because I have eternity.

·         It is no longer about success, but about faith.

·         It is no longer about luck, but about hope.

·         It is no longer about taking but about loving.

·         It is no longer about me, but about the free gift of God which is eternal life in Christ Jesus my Lord

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[i] Websters new world dictionary

Encounters with Jesus: the ascension (#5)

Encounters with Jesus: the ascension (#5)

Rumc

June 1, 2014

The story is told about the Ascension Day celebrations at a particular seminary. A special Ascension Day service was held and the whole seminary in robes and regalia gathered for the big celebration. It was quite an event. The service ended and, the assembly emerged from the chapel singing some great ascension hymn. Unknown to the worshippers, a somewhat creative student had found a life-size statue of Jesus - the hollow, plastic painted kind - and stuffed it with fireworks – the skyrocket type. As the procession marched into the courtyard, the student lit the fuse, sending the statue soaring up out of the shrubbery through a cloud of smoke and sparks. It buzzed over the scattering members of the procession, finally taking a nosedive on to the roof of a nearby building. There the rocket Jesus sputtered and died. The dean of the seminary was not impressed when the student explained that he was simply trying to dramatize his faith in the ascension of Jesus.

Whatever you may think of the student’s method, I have to say one thing. I bet no one ever forgot that Ascension Day.

For the most part, however, Ascension Day is barely remembered. There is no special holiday to mark the occasion, no three-day weekend, and no parades. It was work as usual for most of us on Thursday. I have to admit that it didn’t occur to me until Friday that Thursday had been Ascension Day. Not very many Christians remembered Christ’s ascension to heaven as they went about their busy lives.

We hardly even talk about Jesus ascending to heaven very much anymore because to our modern minds the image of a man suddenly lifting off the ground and disappearing behind the clouds conjures up images of Superman who had the ability to just lift up his arms and take off into the sky.

That’s not the way the world works. As some have said, "Nothing in our world goes up except rockets, the cost of living, and unemployment statistics.”[1]…oh and Jesus on Ascension Day.

The whole prescientific concept that Jesus went up to heaven defies modern understanding of the universe. "Up where?" people ask. "Into outer space, a planet, a star?" The ascension story doesn’t fit into modern thinking anymore; it’s not mentioned in the Bible very much and anyway, it falls on a workday. Who needs it?[2]

Let me tell you who needs the ascension of Jesus…we do.

This is the last week of the series about post resurrection appearances of Jesus called “Encounters with Jesus.” We have been looking at original art created by some of our friends. We have looked at

1.     the resurrection,

2.     the appearance in the garden,

3.     the appearance to doubting Thomas,

4.     and the appearance by the sea.

This week, I have to admit that I don’t have an original piece of art. It didn’t occur to me to ask specifically for one for the ascension. I found a work that I love though. It is called “Ascension of Christ” by Salvador Dali.[3] I will post it on the side of the sanctuary when we are done today, but since the original is about four feet square, the screen is the best place to view it.

Let’s look at the story. There are actually two stories of the ascension in Dr. Luke’s work. One at the end of the Gospel of Luke, the other at the beginning of the book of Acts. The two stories, however, have completely different purposes. In Luke, it draws the ministry and mission of Jesus to a close, and in Acts, it opens the age of the church. There are, therefore, some important differences between these accounts of the ascension.

There is, however a common thread woven into each of the stories. Actually, I think there are three common threads in the stories and together they point to the reasons that the story of Christ’s ascension is important to us today.

First, and most obviously, in both stories Jesus RISES TO REIGN. In Luke, Jesus does the superman thing, you know “faster than a speeding messiah.” In Acts Jesus takes a cloud elevator and heads for home. The effect is the same. The Disciple’s last view of Jesus would have been something like Salvador Dali’s perspective. The last thing the disciple saw was the bottom of Jesus dirty feet.

In the ascension, Jesus is both returning home and taking his work to the universe.

The ascension is the completion of the incarnation story. Jesus emerges from heaven via the womb and returns to heaven via the empty tomb.

St Augustine expressed his opinion about Ascension Day like this: "This is that festival which confirms the grace of all the festivals together … For unless the Savior had ascended into heaven, his Nativity would have come to nothing ... his Passion would have borne no fruit for us, and his most holy Resurrection would have been useless." 

The ascension is the affirmation of all that has come before. If you were still in doubt after the miraculous conception and birth; if you were still in doubt after the mysterious magi; if you were still uncertain after all the healings and miracles; if you were still undecided after the fulfillment of the prophecy in the crucifixion and resurrection; if you were still doubting after Thomas touched his hands and after brunch on the beach… this ascension was intended to seal the deal that Jesus really was who he said he was. He really was God himself in human skin come to love and save people from their sin. He really was the Son of God risen to reign at God’s right hand for all eternity.

The second thread running through both accounts of the ascension is Jesus’ Promises of power.

·        In Luke Jesus says, “And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with POWER from on high.”

·        In acts Jesus says, “You will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”

Both of these references point to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit of the high God, which hovered over the waters in creation, will make a home the disciple’s hearts and the church. From that indwelling will flow the power of the Holy Spirit to do as Jesus said, “even greater things than I do.”[4]

This promise of power comes to a church that faces a future without Jesus’ physical presence. The Feast of Ascension doesn’t get the attention that Pentecost gets, but it is a pivotal moment in the gospel story. Without it, there is no Pentecost.

The ascension is a reminder that there is a separation between God and us. After all, Jesus did go “up” or “away” from the disciples. This language of transcendence reminds us that God lies beyond our control. We can’t manipulate God with our rituals and our words, but God can and will empower us to be the church God needs us to be.

Jesus is risen to reign. He promises power to his people. Finally, he “Challenges them to change the world.”

In Acts, Jesus says, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In Luke, he says, “repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Jesus was taken up into heaven, his earthly mission was completed, but that does not mean the mission of God is completed. For with Jesus’ departure – the accounts in Luke and in Acts agree – the disciples (which includes us) were to become witnesses to what they have seen and heard.

Witnesses have a story to tell – a story with meaning. The story tells about the events of Jesus’ life – and points to repentance and forgiveness.

·        We are witnesses of what Jesus has done in our lives and in the life of the world bringing repentance and forgiveness.

·        We have stories to tell of the power we have received from him to do things we could never do on our own.

·        We have stories to tell. Stories of forgiveness.

·        Stories of healing.

·        Stories of love.

·        Stories of Hope.

·        We have stories to tell in the way we forgive and accept forgiveness.

·        We have stories to tell as we witness to the healing power of God in our lives bring others into the great physician’s healing light.

·        We have stories to tell of being loved when we were sure we were unlovable.

·        We have stories to tell by loving those who are so beaten down by life (and the people around them) that they can’t even dream of being loved.

·        We have stories to tell. Stories of “hope for the helpless, rest for the weary, and love for the broken hearts.”[5]

·        We have stories to tell of lives changed,

o   relationships restored, c

o   ommunities transformed,

o   families strengthened, and

o   death defeated.

·        We have stories to tell … stories of loving the unlovable,

·        remembering the forgotten,

·        feeding the hungry,

·        lifting up the poor,

·        helping the crippled,

·        surprising the disheartened,

·        clothing the naked,

·        refreshing the thirsty,

·        freeing the prisoner,

·        strengthening the weak,

·        giving joy to the depressed,

·        comforting to the sick,

·        giving a smile to the embittered,

·        mentoring the young,

·        caring for the aged,

·        challenging the comfortable,

·        confronting injustice,

·        correcting the deceived,

·        bringing down the haughty,

·         building bridges for the disenfranchised,

·         offering justice instead of judgment,

·        healing instead of hatred, and

·        acceptance to the unacceptable.

·        We have stories to tell, by the way we live to change the world.

This third thread is Jesus’ command to go out and change the world for Jesus Christ. What have you done to change the world this week?

·        If you have touched a life and made a difference bless you… Bless you.

·        If you have thought only of yourself and no one is better off because they met you this week, shame on you… Shame on you.

·        If this community (which is our Jerusalem) and the world for which God has made us responsible are better or different this week because this church is here, thank God… thank God.

·        If we have failed to reach out to even the people who are like us and near us, let alone those who are far away and very different. God forgive us. … God forgive us.

In his poem “Beginning in Jerusalem” Andrew King writes

Begin in the brightly painted kitchens.
At the table set for supper and on the wide couches
where we watch TV. Begin while we are sorting
the laundry, writing out the shopping list.
And in front of our bathroom mirrors.

Begin in the barns among the warmth of animals
and the smells of grain and manure.
Begin in the growing fields, and in the flooded
pastures, and where the rains have not come
and the soil is cracked and hard.

Begin in the gleaming office towers, the shiny
shopping malls, the sweaty factory floors.
Begin on crumbling sidewalks and amid
the rumble of subways. At machines, at our desks,
by the coffee makers and computers.

Begin with the rich, the comfortable.
Begin with the poor, the desperate.
Among the successful, the self-assured.
Among the failed and the floundering.
In the glitter of the halls of power,
and in the cold and shadowed corners
of tragedy and defeat.

Begin on a day when the sun is brilliant;
on a day when the sky is gray.
In a time when economies are favorable;
in a time when all is rust;
at the moment when leaders are caring;
or amid indifference, hostility, despair.

Let us begin beginning again. And whether
we have begun and triumphed, or begun
and struggled and faltered, we will continue
our beginning, as we have from our beginning,
at Jerusalem,
which is wherever
and whoever we are.^[6]

Go Change the world for out risen and ascended Christ.

AMEN

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[1] © Pastor Vince Gerhardy, St Luke's Lutheran Church, Nambour - 12th May, 2002, E-mail: gerhardy65@hotmail.com 

[2]  © Pastor Vince Gerhardy, St Luke's Lutheran Church, Nambour - 12th May, 2002, E-mail: gerhardy65@hotmail.com 

[3] “The ascension of Christ” 1958 Salvador Dali

[4] John 14:12

[5] “cry out to Jesus” third day

[6] Andrew King, “BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM” (Luke 24: 44-53) http://earth2earth.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/poem-for-the-sunday-lectionary-the-ascension/