Spirit
Learning to Walk
by Linda Rex
September 3, 2023, Proper 17 | After Pentescost—I remember when my husband and I were farming and had to do chores after a week of heavy rain or snow melt. It was such a pain to simply try to walk across the barnyard. If we weren’t careful, the suction of the mud would grab hold of our rubber boots and we would step right out of them, causing us to trip, or worse, land facedown or on our knees in the mud.
There are times when it seems as though we are wading through thick mud in our efforts to live in right relationship with God and one another. We get caught in difficult places and we end up in situations which cause us to suffer or question exactly how to respond. Though our life in Christ is upheld by all Jesus has done for us in his vicarious humanity, is doing now in his mediation with our Father, and is empowered by his Holy Spirit and personal presence, it still requires our full participation, which involves learning new things.
When my children were infants, they had to learn to walk. They didn’t immediately figure out how to do this, but had to learn and practice individual skills which enabled them to eventually be able to walk. They would lay on a blanket on the floor, begin to roll one way and then the other. Then they would get onto their tummies, pull their knees under themselves and rock. Eventually they would begin to discover they could crawl to reach those toys or objects they wanted. Then they figured out how to pull themselves up on the couch and stand. Eventually they were able to take a few tentative steps, which eventually led to them walking. Soon they were running about, getting into all kinds of trouble while I tried to keep up with them.
As you can see, we don’t magically learn new ways of walking without practice, or our full participation in our learning and growth. This also applies to our walk with Christ. This is why we find in the New Testament lists of descriptions of what it looks like to live out the truth of who we are in Christ. And learning to live out the truth of our new life in Christ takes practice.
One of these lists is Romans 12:9-21, where the apostle Paul follows his discussion of the gifts of the Holy Spirit with instructions on how to express God’s love in our everyday lives. We open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit by practicing (notice that it takes practice) spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible study, meditation, silence, contemplation, worship, and service. Note that we do not do these things to make ourselves better people, to impress others, or to get ourselves right with God. Rather we do these things to make ourselves available to God to grow us up in Christ and to participate in his mission and ministry in this world. The first way is turned inward and is self-reliant and self-exalting; God’s way is Christ-centered, open to the Spirit, dependent upon the Father, and turned outward in service and love toward others.
What Paul describes in this passage in Romans are ways in which we allow God’s love to flow into us and out to others, even to those who persecute or harm us in some way. Paul tells us that this love is to be authentic and real, not hypocritical. The genuineness of our love is reflected in our abhorrence of evil and devotion to what is good. God’s love pours out to our brothers and sisters in Christ in familial affection and honor. By the Spirit, we are passionate about expressing the love of God in Christ, serving God even in difficult and trying situations. Our conversation with God is ongoing through constant prayer, and we are generous and hospitable towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. We participate in the suffering and joy of others as Christ does with us, and we are humble in our estimation of ourselves and our treatment of others.
Living out God’s love isn’t just for our relationships with those within the body of Christ. Paul explains that God’s love should shine out in all our relationships, even with those who are hostile or who harm us. He tells us to do everything within our power to live in peace with everyone, but acknowledges that may not always be possible. He tells us to leave vengeance up to God—we are to bless those who are our enemies, overcoming evil with good. These descriptions of our life in Christ resonate with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and so remind us that it is God’s love flowing in and through us that makes this possible—it is Christ’s life lived in and through us by his Spirit that enables us to live in this way. It is not something we are necessarily able to do under our own power.
Our participation in Christ involves practicing these Christlike ways of living and serving others. This is not something we do well at first, but we keep practicing, allowing Christ’s life to flow in and through us by his Spirit, and drawing upon God’s wisdom, strength and power. Over time, we will find that living in genuinely other-centered loving ways has become less like trudging through the mud and falling flat on our face, and more like a celebration of God’s life and love.
We are God’s children, and will always be learning and growing in this life, by the Spirit developing the characteristics of Christ, and becoming more glorious reflections of our heavenly Father. And since God’s kingdom life is how we will be living for all eternity, it only makes since to start learning to live it out now by learning and practicing our new life in Christ.
Father, thank you for making us your very own, and for teaching us how to live this out day by day. Grant us the grace to remain open to you and allow you to form Christ in us. Heavenly Spirit, please make manifest in us and in our lives the love of God in Christ, so that we grow to look more and more like Jesus. Amen.
“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. ‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:9–21 NASB
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Giving the Gift We Are
by Linda Rex
August 27, 2023, Proper 16 | After Pentecost—Recently my son and I took a trip out of state to a part of the United States I had not been in before. On our way home, we drove for a while down the Blue Ridge Parkway simply as an opportunity to see God’s creation and enjoy the view. The scenery was beautiful and worth seeing, but the roads were full of snakelike curves and sharp corners. As we got four hours into the trip, I began to wonder if the scenery was worth the effort we were putting into just trying to stay on the road.
Sometimes we make decisions about our everyday lives which don’t take into consideration the long-range view we ought to have. There are times when we forget the spiritual realities which are meant to guide our choices. The apostle Paul in the passage for this Sunday, Romans 12:1-8, reminds us of where our focus needs to be when it comes to our everyday lives. Having spent much of the earlier part of his letter to the Romans explaining our common need for grace and the generous, undeserved gift of mercy and inclusion in God’s life and love which we all have been given, Paul goes on to explain the impact this is meant to have on the way we conduct our lives.
Since grace is a gift we are given by God, we respond in gratitude by giving our lives away in service to God and others. Paul says this is our “spiritual service of worship” (NASB, NRSV, ESV), our “true and proper worship” (NIV), or our “reasonable service” (NKJV). In other words, rather than offering up animals in ritual sacrifice through death, we offer ourselves to God alive from the dead through Jesus’ own sacrificial offering. Instead of having to die ourselves, we die to ourselves by offering ourselves and our lives to God to do whatever he asks of us.
Determining what God asks of us means renewing our minds or our way of being so that it coincides with the truth of who we are in Christ. We focus on Jesus Christ, learning from him, and opening ourselves up to the Spirit’s guidance and direction. Since Jesus Christ lived our perfect human life as we were meant to, in right relationship with his Father in the Spirit, he becomes for us our own right relationship with God by the Spirit. We rest in him, not in our human efforts to get things right. Elsewhere the apostle Paul reminds us to keep our mind on things above, not on things on this earth, and to place our affections on things above, not on earthly things. We want to grow up into the fullness of Christ, but we won’t get there if our focus is upon human standards, rituals, ways of conducting our lives rather than on Jesus.
Paul goes on to say that as we grow up in Christ and are transformed by the renewing of our minds, we not only offer ourselves to God, but we also offer our lives in service to one another. God, by his Spirit, has through Christ given us new life. He has taken our human flesh through a change similar to what a caterpillar experiences when it becomes a butterfly—something entirely new being made out of the old. We stop eating leaves and start drinking nectar. We stop walking everywhere and start flying. Whatever we have turned away from to follow Christ no longer is our focus. Rather, we are focused on God’s agenda in this world—on the restoration, renewal, transformation, and healing of all things. We are focused on pointing others to the present and future reality of the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
The grace God has given us in Christ poured out on and in us by his Spirit comes with gifts of service meant to be a gift to others. Just as we are united with God through Christ in the Spirit, we are joined with one another in such a way that each of us is an essential part of the body with gifts that are meant to be a blessing and service to others. This means our everyday lives become a place where we pour our lives out in love, generosity, compassion, and service to everyone around us, whether family, friends, neighbors, strangers, or even our enemies.
This elevates our human experience to a new level of participation with Jesus Christ in what he is doing in the world. We are no longer self-absorbed, self-centered, or self-willed. Rather, we are Spirit-absorbed, Christ-centered, God-willed—living as we were always meant to, in right relationship with God and one another. We live in other-centered, self-sacrificing, service to God and others.
You and I both know that this is an ideal we rarely seem to experience in this life. This is why our everyday life is a matter of daily sacrifice—of offering ourselves once more to God in gratitude and thanksgiving. Just as Jesus deliberately and willingly walked the long road to the cross, voluntarily offering himself up for us all, we choose each day to offer ourselves up as well. Our gifts and abilities are not ours to be used for our own pleasure, but for the will of God—how he would like them to be a blessing to himself and others. Whatever the result of our efforts—it is all of grace. We rest in Christ’s faithful obedience to his Father, not in our own perfect offering.
As we do this each day, we may be surprised to discover after a while that our sacrifice is no sacrifice at all, for we, in Christ, end up doing what we were originally created for and best gifted at. And our life is given meaning and value in a way we’ve never experienced before. And we no longer waste our time in futile, self-destructive pastimes, while instead, we find ways to enjoy life and relationship which are healthy, joy-filled and productive. We discover we are living God’s kingdom life right now, in fellowship with God and each other as we were always meant to. For God always meant this for us, even before any of us or our cosmos even existed.
Thank you, dear Father, for your faithful love and boundless grace. Enable us to freely offer ourselves this day, and every day, in loving service to you and others. Open our eyes to see how you have gifted and called us to service, and grant us each day the grace to do so faithfully, in Jesus’ name and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12:1–8 NASB
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Just Who Runs the Show?
by Linda Rex
August 20, 2023, Proper 15 | After Pentecost—I was watching a BibleProject video this week on the kingdom of God, and it struck me how we go about our everyday lives without realizing the significance of what it means to be real participants in God’s life and love. In fact, we often act as though we are in charge—in charge of our lives, our belongings, our communities, our world—but do not ever give much thought to the reality that none of it belongs to us. In the real scheme of things, all that we have and all that we are is a gift from God, a God who loves to share what he has with others, specifically with all of us.
Even a cursory glance at the cosmos in which we live and the earth on which we reside shows us the magnitude of what God made us responsible for when he created human beings and said to them, “Here, take care of this, flourish within it, and spread out in every direction to fill it.” This earth and this cosmos were never meant to be ours to use and abuse, but rather were a stewardship responsibility and gift, to be administered under the leadership and guidance of our heavenly Father through his Son and in the Spirit.
In other words, from the beginning, it was always about relationship. And when we stubbornly turned away from God, insisting on doing everything our way, according to our own determination of what was right or wrong, we found ourselves endlessly with our back against the wall, needing delivered by the Lord of all. God chose out a people through whom he would send his Son to take on our human flesh—the ancient Israelites. Through them came Jesus, the Savior of all and Lord of all, who was the way in which God once and for all established his rule and reign within our human sphere in the manner he always intended it to be expressed. In his Son, Jesus Christ, God’s will was, is and will be fulfilled here on earth as it is in heaven.
And that is the issue for us. We don’t want God dictating to us how to do things. And even if it is up to God, his kingdom and his will doesn’t seem to be being fulfilled right now. What we forget is that God always meant for his kingdom life to be expressed in and through us as human beings, those made in his image and after his likeness. And we stubbornly insist on doing it our way. We go about trying to figure it out on our own, when we were always meant to do everything in union and communion with the God who made us and gifted us with the responsibility to care for what he had made.
In Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32, our passage for this Sunday, the apostle Paul explains that even though his own people, the ancient Jews, had rejected God, God never rejected them. God had made a commitment to the ancient nation of Israel, and in spite of their constant rejection and disobedience to the covenant, God was faithful. And when Jesus came, he was rejected and crucified, even though it was evident that he was not guilty but was the Anointed One sent by God. In spite of Paul’s people rejecting Jesus in this way, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ made possible the acceptance and deliverance of every human being, Jew and non-Jew. The point Paul was making, and this is central to the book of Romans, was that every human being is guilty of sin and of turning away from God. But God, in Christ, has brought every one of us back to himself, and in the gift of the Spirit, unites us with himself in such a way that none of us can be separated from the love of God in Christ. It is a beautiful and glorious thing which God has done!
So, even though people from both sides of the aisle—Jews and non-Jews—have turned from God and are guilty of sin, both are set free in and through Jesus in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and by receiving the gift of the Spirit are included in the body of Christ. The body of Christ, the Church, is meant to be a pointer to or witness to the kingdom of God in this world today. In other words, when believers live out the truth of our inclusion in God’s love and life, living in other-centered love, they are a real expression of what it looks like to participate in the kingdom of God right now in the Spirit. We are citizens of this world in one sense, while we are even more so, citizens of the kingdom of God in another. As citizens of the kingdom of God, in right relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit, we live out our existence on this earth as stewards of all God has made, bearing witness to God and his love as his adopted, beloved children, living together in unity, equality, and those who uniquely bear the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, just as we were always meant to.
Heavenly God, thank you for never giving up on us, but always being good and being faithful. Thank you, Jesus, for coming to bring us home to the Father, and for sending the Spirit so even now we can share life with you. May we live even now in the true reality of your heavenly kingdom, through Jesus our Lord and by your Spirit. Amen.
“I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. … for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.” Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32 NASB
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The Word is Near/In You
by Linda Rex
August 13, 2023, Proper 14 | After Pentecost—Lately I’ve been realizing how blessed I was to have parents who insisted I learn to observe what the Bible teaches, however misguided their efforts might have been. Granted, there are things I wish I had not been forced to do, which I would not inflict on any child today. But there were some benefits to studying the book of Proverbs and learning texts such as the ten commandments and the sermon on the mount.
However, as the years have passed, I have come to see that all of the Bible-learning in the world does no good whatsoever if it only goes skin deep or we turn what we learn into rigid rules and regulations to live by. Often, knowing the right thing to do is worthless when our flesh insists on doing it some other way. And when everything in our world is crying out to us to follow our flesh, doing the right thing is even harder to do. Even when do we want to do what is right it is a challenge to go down the path of living in right relationship with God and one another.
In our New Testament reading for this week, Romans 10:5–15, the apostle Paul contrasts a righteousness based on law with a righteousness based on faith. There were benefits to living according to the law Moses gave Israel—blessings rather than cursings, peace rather than being invaded by other nations, and a better life over all without the heartaches of painful consequences. Unfortunately though, so often, the people did what was right in their own eyes, as Joshua wrote, and paid the sorry consequences. What we come to see in what Moses wrote is that the issue was an internal one—a matter of the heart. All the legislation in the world is useless without a change of heart and mind—without an internal movement, ability, and desire to do what is right internally present within the person or people involved.
When we believe it is all up to us to get ourselves right with God and to live a good life (i.e., a righteousness based on law), then we are in a really unhappy, unhealthy place. The reason is that no matter how hard we try, we cannot get there from here, no matter how many laws or regulations we may impose upon ourselves from the outside. Nor did God intend us to. No, he knew from the beginning how it would be and planned before time began to enter into our physical flesh to reform it and make us what he always meant us to be—from the inside out. From the beginning we were formed to be creatures who were dependent upon him for his life and his love. He always intended us to be joined forever with him in union and communion—in right relationship.
Realizing that when Jesus, the Word of God, died, everything in this cosmos died with him, and everything rose with him when he came up from the grave, is essential to realizing that we were not and cannot be separated from God in any way, shape, or form. The Scriptures tell us that all things were created by God in and through Jesus in the Spirit. We are held in God, even though the blindness of our sinful flesh often makes us believe we are separated from God. How often I hear someone say they are all alone in a very dark place. What may be wrong is they simply cannot see the reality that below, or above, all that darkness is the light of Jesus—the very presence of God is near them and in them by the Spirit. What they have lost sight of is God holding them and loving them unconditionally, offering them acceptance and forgiveness.
Our experience of our connection with God is what is at stake when we turn away from Jesus and insist on going our own way. We can certainly act like we are self-existent deities if we wish, but it doesn’t at all make it true. And time will eventually make evident this reality as life’s experiences and eventually death will show how powerless we really are over this world and even ourselves. Our choices in this life and our rejection of God have consequences, and we certainly don’t like having to experience how tough life gets when we stubbornly go our own way. And we even tend to blame God or even others when the world gets to be impossible to live in. But none of this alters the reality that God took every possible precaution to ensure that we, everyone of us, would be included in his life and love.
When Jesus, the Word of God, the Son of God, took on our human flesh, lived our life, died our death and rose again, taking us home to the Father, he sent the Spirit so each and every person could participate in his own face-to-face relationship with his Father in the Spirit. In Jesus Christ—who is Lord of all, every one of us has the assurance of being included in the love and life of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit now and forever. Do we believe this is true? If we don’t, we will continue to struggle to make ourselves right with God, living out a righteousness based on law.
If we do believe it’s true, we will live accordingly—living out the reality of a personal relationship with our Father through Jesus in the Spirit (a righteousness based on faith). We will allow Jesus to live his life in and through us, participating in what he is actively doing in this world, which includes sharing this good news with others. We will act as if we are full participants in Jesus’ own life in face-to-face fellowship with his Father in the Spirit. What does that look like? Well, that’s where all those descriptions of the Christian life in the Bible come in handy—they give us a clue as to what it looks like to live as God’s very own beloved children, in right relationship with him and one another. And that’s where a little Bible-learning comes in handy.
Heavenly Father, thank you for including us in your life with your Son in the Spirit, through his incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. By your Spirit, grant us the faith of Jesus, the One who trusts you completely and implicitly, that we may quit practicing the righteousness based on law and start practicing the righteousness based on faith, sharing this good news with others, as we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus our Lord is risen from the grave. Amen.
“For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down), or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).’ But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feed of those who bring good news of good things!’” Romans 10:5–15 NASB
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Right in Front of Us
by Linda Rex
August 6, 2023, Proper 13 | After Pentecost—In C.S. Lewis’ book “The Last Battle”, there is a scene which profoundly pictures how we can have everything we’ve ever wanted right in front of us and still not see it. In this part of the story, the black dwarves are comfortably sitting in a lovely meadow in the new Narnia, and Aslan the lion has given them a great feast of tasty foods to enjoy.
Unfortunately, the black dwarves are blind to these heavenly realities. What is a lovely meadow in reality, to them is the filthy dirt floor of a smelly stable. The tasty treats they are enjoying to them are wisps of straw and grain, covered with animal waste. Even though there was enough food for them all to enjoy, the dwarves believed there wasn’t enough, and soon were having a fight over who got what.
This picture of our inability to see what is right in front of us is the author’s way of helping us to understand how we can be in the midst of God’s kingdom even now, and yet be living as though we are still enslaved citizens of this earthly realm. Blind to the spiritual realities, we may live as though we are unloved, God-forsaken orphans who have to struggle to have the smallest blessing in this bleak, dark world, when in reality, through Christ, we have been included in God’s inner life and love, and by the Spirit have all of heaven’s blessings available to us.
In the New Testament reading for this Sunday, Romans 9:1-5, the apostle Paul spoke of some of his fellow Israelites as being in this place of blindness. Paul said he had “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” in his heart because he longed for them to see and understand all that Jesus Christ had done for them, but they refused to receive it. His concern was deep enough that he was even willing, if God had allowed him, to sacrifice his own inclusion in Christ’s life so that they would recognize theirs. It broke Paul’s heart that his people, the human lineage of Jesus, could not and would not embrace the truth which was so evident in Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension.
The gospel story for today in Matthew 14:13–21 tells how Jesus was actively ministering to a crowd of over five thousand people, even though he had hoped for some time alone to deal with the loss of his relative John the Baptizer. His compassion moved him to offer healing to those in need, and the task was so large that as the day drew to a close, his work was not done. The disciples encouraged him to send the people away so they could get food for themselves. But Jesus told his disciples, “You feed them.”
This was an interesting statement, because it was obvious to the disciples that this task was impossible. The disciples did happen to have five loaves and two fish, but to feed over five thousand people? The men were still in a space of blindness with regards to the spiritual realities. Even after all of their time with Jesus, and even after he had spent all day performing miracles, they couldn’t imagine being able to feed the people with five loaves and two fish. The day was getting darker, the situation more serious, and Jesus was telling them it was up to them to solve this problem!
Going for a moment back to the passage in Romans 9:5, notice who Paul says Jesus is. He didn’t say Jesus was a nice guy who helped people, healed the sick, and told good stories. What he said was, Jesus Christ was and is both fully human and fully God. The problem in dealing with feeding the large group of people was that the disciples still did not realize who Jesus was. This is the central spiritual reality we all need to embrace, for it makes a profound difference in how we deal with the everyday situations in our lives which seem to be beyond our ability to handle.
Notice the profound difference which occurred when the disciples placed their five loaves and two fish in Jesus’ hands and then acted as though he could and would do what was needed in the situation. Jesus told them to organize the people—so they did. Jesus blessed the bread and broke it, and told them to share the food with others—so they did. When all was said and done, everyone had all they needed and there was even enough left over to fill twelve large baskets. Jesus told them not to neglect to gather the leftovers—so they did. Nothing was wasted, and all were fed.
The irony was that even after he did all this, the disciples still seemed to be blind as to who Jesus was. They needed their eyes opened and their hearts awakened. The spiritual realities are not something we touch, taste, feel, like our physical senses, so it seems at times that they are not real. But Jesus Christ is our living Lord, and he reveals himself to us by his Spirit. He loves to take what little we have and put it to work doing great things for his kingdom in this world. And he loves to include us in what he is doing even though at times it may not make sense to us.
In spite of how things may appear at the moment, God is present and at work in this world and in our lives through Jesus by his Spirit. Ask him to help you see the truth of what’s really going on. Ask him to awaken you to the spiritual realities—and get ready for a challenging journey of discovery!
Father, please awaken us by your Spirit to the spiritual realities we are included in. Enable us to see and know Jesus for who he really is, and to respond to him in faith, trusting him with all that we have in every situation. Grant us the grace to follow wherever he leads, and to do all that he asks of us, believing he will do more for us and in and through us by your Spirit than we could ever ask or imagine, for your glory. Amen.
“I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” Romans 9:1–5 NIV
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Talking to the Air
by Linda Rex
July 30, 2023, Proper 12 | After Pentecost—When I talk to some people about praying to God, they get extremely uncomfortable, especially if I mention Jesus or the Holy Spirit. For some people, doing this is the equivalent of having a tooth filled or being asked to give an impromptu speech before a stadium full of people. One believer said it was totally awkward talking to the air as though someone was there that they could not see—it felt weird and psycho. Other people I know believe prayer is best done at church, and saw no reason that it should be done at any other time. After all, this religious stuff is only for when we’re in church and has nothing to do with our everyday lives, right?
I’m sure you realize I am being facetious, and not serious. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that it’s not about getting our location of worship correct—it’s about worshiping God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24). Jesus brought it out of the realm of religiosity and ritual into the space of personal relationship. Jesus, in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension brought all of us up into his own union and communion with his Father in the Spirit, and by the Spirit we participate in their inner life and love. The apostle Paul teaches that our bodies are the temple of the Spirit of God corporately and individually, with the indwelling Spirit enabling us to freely participate in intimate fellowship with God and each other as God always meant for us to do.
The apostle Paul in our reading for this Sunday, Romans 8:26–39, reminds the believers in Rome that in Jesus Christ the incarnate Son, the elect chosen One, all persons are elect and chosen, “predestined to be conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (v. 29). In our gospel reading for today, Matthew 13:31–33, 44–52, Jesus’ parables point not only to the catholicity (the universal or cosmic scope) of the gospel, but also to the reality that God does all the heavy lifting. What we do is participate in what Jesus has already done, is doing today by his Holy Spirit, and will do when he returns in glory.
Paul explains that rather than working so hard to justify ourselves, we rest in the reality of God justifying us and glorifying us. Rather than trying to get ourselves right with God, we accept the reality that Jesus made/makes us right with God. Jesus interceded for us and continues to intercede for us as our advocate with the Father in the Spirit. And when we can’t seem to come up with the words we need to say, the Spirit intercedes for us, enabling us to commune with the Father through his Son Jesus and find healing and restoration. In this whole scenario, we find the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—bringing us into right relationship with himself, doing the hard work of uniting us with himself.
Our joy in all this is that the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—are for us. In other words, who can stand against us if the God of all stands in our place, advocating on our behalf, defending us and reconciling us? And our other joy is that nothing—in heaven or on earth—can separate us from God’s love. Not even the worst possible thing this world could possibly come up with. Not even the evil one or his demons.
So, we are invited to talk with our triune God, in every circumstance, in every situation, at all times. We are encouraged to speak to him as Father, as brother, as friend, and as mother. We are asked to give him our attention—to listen to him to hear his response, whether by written Word of God, or the myriad ways in which the Spirit finds to communicate with us through books, conversations, podcasts, videos, devotionals, worship music, spiritual disciplines, or the inner still small voice of the Spirit.
Having a conversation with God may require the use of what Larry Hinkle of Odyssey in Christ calls our “sanctified imagination.” It may mean stretching ourselves a little out of our comfort zone to try something new and scary, that may feel a bit weird at first. But in time, we may discover that it has become as normal as putting on clothes in the morning, or sending a friend a text. We may be surprised to find that it has actually become a part of who we are, something we always were meant to do as a part of our everyday life as God’s beloved children. And we will also discover that we are beginning to look just a little more like Jesus in the process.
Dear God—Father, Son, Spirit—thank you for loving us so much that you have done all that is needed for us to be in right relationship with you. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you, Holy Spirit, for interceding for us so faithfully. As we begin to take steps toward deepening our relationship with you, enable us to see with the inner eyes of your Spirit, and to hear and obey your Word to us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:26–39 NASB
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No Condemnation
July 16, 2023, Proper 10 | After Pentecost—Yesterday I left our house to drop off a car at the rental service, and was immediately halted by the sight of a SWAT team at the corner where I turn out of our cul-de-sac. The officers graciously waved me through and I went on my way, stopping briefly to give my son a heads up, as he was following me in our personal car.
Later that day, the news said that the police had been trying to serve an arrest warrant, but the person had barricaded themselves in their home. The final outcome of the day’s effort at serving the arrest warrant was that the person was carried out and sent to the hospital, suffering from a self-inflicted wound. This person, who lived a couple blocks from me, was facing a difficult personal struggle, and apparently could not cope with the consequences of something they had done. As I prayed about their situation, for them and for the officers involved, I was reminded of the grace God offers us in Christ, enabling us to face our errors in more hopeful ways.
Our culture today can be very critical of people who do not fit into the “approved” way of living. Our Christian culture is especially guilty of being condemning towards those who do not follow Christ, or who live contrary to biblical teachings. Condemnation is the language of tabloids, which exploit the personal lives of people, sharing for public consumption what may or may not be true. We seem to feed off of condemnation, especially when we have been wounded by someone. We are judgmental—I find myself constantly passing judgment on myself and on those around me without realizing this is what is going on in my head. When I realize it, I am appalled, as I of all people do not want to be judgmental nor condemning.
And as we go through life, we may or may not experience a sense of guilt, shame, or self-condemnation for our own actions and words. This is why it is important to look at condemnation from God’s point of view. Our New Testament passage for this Sunday, Romans 8:1–11, reminds us that because of who we are in Christ, God does not condemn us. God knows our frame. He knows the depths of the evil which holds us hostage apart from his intervention. He knows our proclivity to walk away from him and go our own way. So, this is why our Lord came. The redemptive, transformational work of Jesus Christ in his life, death, resurrection and ascension has set us free from sin in our flesh. We no longer are held captive by sin and death, but are able to walk in newness of life. We live free from accusation, condemnation and guilt.
However, we do not experience this newness of life in its fulness as long as we remain focused on self-centered, self-willed, and self-absorbed ways of being. To live focused on self is contrary to who God has made us to be and declared us to be in Jesus Christ, for we are made in the image of our other-centered, self-giving Father, Son, and Spirit, to live as his beloved children in loving relationship with God and others. This is what the apostle Paul means when he says we are to live according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh. There is no need for condemnation—God does not condemn us. But God does call us up into the truth of our being—to be who he created us to be. God’s love compels us to live differently now—in ways that love, serve, and bless God and each other—because that is who we are in Christ. Because our identity is in Christ now, we live and walk in the Spirit not in our flesh.
This is what is difficult for us to embrace. We don’t want to live according to anyone’s direction or instruction—we want to be free to live life on our own terms. When the consequences of living life on our own terms start to hit us, we are unable to deal with them. Condemnation is a human and Satanic response—it is not God’s response. Accusation is Satan’s response—it is not God’s way of doing things. God’s response is grace. God’s response is a love which calls things as they are—truth-telling—but also offers us room to change and to begin anew in a healthier direction. God does not condemn, but he does invite us into an embrace in which we begin to live in healthier, other-centered ways which are a blessing to those around us.
What might your life look like if you chose to be guided by God’s Spirit and God’s Word rather than by your human flesh? What would your response to life be if you knew God does not condemn you, but rather invites you into loving relationship with himself through Jesus in the Spirit? Perhaps a life lived without condemnation and held in the loving embrace of God himself may be an experience you might want to have. God merely asks you to receive what he has already given to you in Christ—forgiveness, acceptance, new life—and to begin to live that out. Why not begin today?
Thank you, Father, for loving and accepting me, and giving me forgiveness through your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you for not condemning me, but setting me free from sin and death, and welcoming home into your loving arms. I receive your gracious gift of grace and ask from this day forward, that you would fix my mind on the things of the Spirit that I might leave behind the things of my flesh, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” Romans 8:1–11 NRSV
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Our Inner Wrestling
by Linda Rex
July 9, 2023, Proper 9 | After Pentecost—One of the things I appreciate about the writings of the apostle Paul is his honesty regarding his own personal struggles in his walk of faith. Paul was frank about his previous persecution of those who followed Christ, and about his own weaknesses and frailties. He also humbly acknowledged the ways in which Christ lived in and worked through him, calling believers to follow him as he followed Christ.
In this Sunday’s New Testament reading, Romans 7:15–25a, Paul sums up his previous summation of the need for both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) to be rescued from sin. He shows that even though the Jewish people had been given the law, they were unable to keep it, because their hearts were not right before God. The non-Jews, who had some idea of right and wrong, also did not live in ways that acknowledged God and were equally as guilty before God. In the end, both groups of people (i.e. all of humanity) were headed towards death, with no hope of salvation—apart from Christ.
During his time here on earth, Jesus understood the desperate situation we as humans were in. He knew this is why he lived and would die, so that we would be freed from our enslavement to evil, sin, and death. Throughout his brief life here on earth, Jesus intentionally prepared for and walked the path to the cross, because he knew that the only solution to our desperate dilemma was his life, death and resurrection.
So, as God in human flesh, Jesus lived the life we needed to live but could not. He wrestled in each moment as we wrestle, being tempted in every way as we are tempted, but without sin. Jesus, within his one being, held the two sides of his divine person and human person together, burning away the sin which so easily besets us as human beings. He, by the Spirit and in perfect union and communion with his Father, actively forged within our human flesh a new nature—a new way of being.
In the gospel passage for this Sunday, Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30, Jesus pointed out how he and John the Baptiser were received by those who were exposed to their ministry. On the one hand, John was ridiculed and rejected because of his austerity and restraint while on the other, Jesus was ridiculed and rejected because of his warm reception of the despised and reject and his participation in their celebrations. Jesus’ ultimate word to all those who were caught in this crossfire was, “Come unto to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest”. He called to them to learn from him—that in him they would find rest for their souls.
I really appreciate Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of vv. 25–30:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
He shows that it is in our walk with Christ that we begin to learn how to truly live as image-bearers of God in Christ.
Looking at Jesus Christ, we see that our human experience will be of both our oneness with God in Christ and our human weakness and faultiness. Even though we have been born anew in Christ by the Spirit, we still wrestle with the evil, sin, and death that are a part of our human flesh right now. One day, when Jesus returns in glory, the truth of our existence—that which is hidden with Christ in God—will be revealed. Our true glory will be made evident, shining for all to see. But in the meantime, we are—as Paul puts it—earthen vessels, cracked vessels, which hold the glorious eternal treasure of God’s Spirit, Christ in us.
Jeff McSwain, in his book “Hidden in Contradiction” explains how we find within ourselves two sides, which are in contradiction, in the same person. In his placemat theology, he shows how these red and green parts of our person are interwoven—both are true at the same time. This does not in any way alter our relationship with God in Christ by the Spirit—Jesus has made that secure in his person. What Paul is explaining in Romans 7 is our inner human experience right now. We struggle, we wrestle. But our assurance is in Jesus’ finished work. He holds us in right relationship with God, and it is there we keep our attention and our focus.
Elsewhere Paul says that we do not wrestle against flesh and bones, but against principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This is a spiritual battle which is fought with spiritual weapons. The armor of God Paul describes in Ephesians 6:12–19 is essentially Jesus Christ himself. It is Christ’s life in us by the Spirit that is important here, and which already is triumphant. This is our hope and our joy. This is why Paul, in Romans 8:1, can joyfully exult, saying, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” What matters is not our ability to get it right, but Christ in us having already got it right, living that out in and through us by his Spirit. Thank the Lord!
Thank you, Father, for loving us so much, that you would give your Son to do this great work in our human flesh, forging for us a new human flesh to live eternally with you. Thank you, heavenly Spirit, for living in us and with us right now in the midst of evil, sin, and death, and working to transform, heal, renew, and restore. Grant us the grace to allow you full reign in our heart and lives, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:15–25a NASB
“This is how the sell-out to sin affects my life: I find myself doing things my conscience does not allow. My dilemma is that even though I sincerely desire to do that which is good, I don’t, and the things I despise, I do. It is obvious that my conscience sides with the law; which confirms then that it is not really I who do these things but sin manifesting its symptoms in me. (Sin is similar to a dormant virus that suddenly breaks out in very visible symptoms.) It has taken my body hostage. The total extent and ugliness of sin that inhabits me, reduced my life to good intentions that could not be followed through. Willpower has failed me; this is how embarrassing it is, the most diligent decision that I make to do good, disappoints; the very evil I try to avoid, is what I do. (If mere quality decisions could rescue mankind, the law would have been enough. Good intentions cannot save someone. The revelation of what happened to us in Christ’s death is what brings faith into motion to liberate from within. Faith is not a decision we make to give God a chance, faith is realizing our inclusion in what happened on the Cross and in the resurrection of Christ! See Rom 3:27.) If I do the things I do not want to do, then it is clear that I am no evil, but that I host sin in my body against my will. It has become a predictable principle; I desire to do well, but my mere desire cannot escape the evil presence that dictates my actions. The real person that I am on the inside delights in the law of God. (The law proves to be consistent with my inner make-up.) There is another law though, (foreign to my design), the law of sin, activating and enrolling the members of my body as weapons of war against the law of my mind. I am held captive like a prisoner of war in my own body. It doesn’t matter how I 1weigh myself I just do not measure up to expectations! the situation is absolutely desperate for humankind; is there anyone who can deliver them from this death trap? (The word 1talaipōros occurs only twice in the New Testament—Rom 7:24, Rev 3:17—and both times it is translated wretched!? it has two components, talanton, which is the word for a scale of balance; that which is weighed, a talent; and poros from peira, to test as in testing the weight of something.) Thank God, this is exactly what he has done through Jesus Christ our Leader; he has come to our rescue! I am finally freed from this conflict between the law of my mind and the law of sin in my body. (In the Incarnation, in a human body exactly like ours, Jesus balanced the scales! He is the true measure of the life of our design—he revealed and redeemed the image and likeness of God in us as in a mirror! See Rom 1:16, 17 and 3:24 and 27.)” Romans 7:15–25a Mirror Bible
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The Tyranny of False Freedom
by Linda Rex
July 2, 2023, Proper 8 | After Pentecost—In last week’s message, we talked about the way in which we as humans often have a mistaken understanding of what it means to be free. We adore freedom—being free to choose what we do, when we do it, and how we do it. But we do not realize how often our freedom actually becomes an entry way to our being enslaved or held hostage.
Before he left us for his eternal glory, Dr. John McKenna told me that he felt one thing our American society needed was to understand what true freedom was. As a people, historically we have valued (at least on paper) the freedoms we espouse, which involve such things as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, right to bear arms, and so on. Because we value these freedoms, we object strongly to anyone placing restrictions upon us, and voice loud complaints when such restrictions occur.
To be sure, there is much benefit in allowing people to freely make decisions and to own property and do the other things that are a part of being a free person. Much of the misery we inflict on one another happens when we do not honor each other’s liberties in this regard. But living truly free is difficult for us, because we do not understand what true freedom is. It’s important for us to come to see that freedom in the greatest sense of the word goes way beyond these limited human types of freedoms. In fact, true freedom is solidly grounded in the other-centered, self-sacrificial love of Father, Son, and Spirit—the only Being who lives truly and completely free.
Jesus Christ, as God in human flesh, is the one human person who lives a truly free life. Interestingly enough, while he was here on earth, this freely lived life was lived within a culture which embraced slavery and existed under the tyranny of a Roman government marked by paganism, oppressive taxation and military oppression. He was raised within the confines of a legalistic religion, with all its dogma and hypocritical leadership. And still, he lived as distinctly himself, without losing his essential nature as the one sent by his Father to live, die, and rise again on our behalf.
How was this possible? Jesus said at one point that he never did anything he did not see the Father doing. If he was a truly free person, then how is it that he never did anything unless it was what his Father was up to? Could it be that true freedom for us as human beings is in living in full union and communion with our Father in the Spirit as Jesus did? Could it be that freedom has nothing to do with doing what we will and what we desire and everything to do with doing what our Father wills and desires?
For us as humans, this seems to involve a loss of self. But in reality, this is not the truth. If Father, Son, and Spirit are the God who created us and who knows what it means for us to be truly human, then wouldn’t this mean that they know what is best for us? And if God is love—other-centered, self-sacrificial love—doesn’t this mean that God wants us to live in joy and peace, and develop into the fullness of all he meant for us to be as reflections of his image in Christ by the Spirit?
Taking this further—if life in loving relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit are what we were created for, and if we were meant to live in right relationship with God and each other, then true freedom for us is living in this way, in being truly human, in being our true selves. This means that every part of our existence is swept up into Christ by the Spirit, where our decisions, our choices, our “freedoms” are all held within the bounds of God’s love. We are free to enjoy life, rejoice in all God has made, but within the bounds of God’s love. God has designed things to work a certain way so that we are able to truly live. When we don’t stay within these limits, we find ourselves in the place of death.
The good news is that Jesus, in the divine, loving freedom of his Father in the Spirit, went through death into resurrection so that everyone of us might be set free from the chains of evil, sin, and death. Since we all died with Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin. So, we need to act like it. We are set free from anything which hinders our right relationship with God and each other. We are set free from the chains of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life—those things which so often hold us fast and imprison us. We are under no obligation to live in submission to these things any longer. If we find ourselves where these chains are trying to form about us again, we need to look to Christ, for in him and him alone are we truly free.
Because of Christ, we are free now to be who God created us to be—the beloved, adopted children of Father. Because we are free in Christ, we walk no longer according to our flesh but we are led by the Spirit, are filled with the Spirit, and we follow wherever Christ leads us. We live each moment in face-to-face relationship with Father through the Son in the Spirit, enjoying their zōe life now in loving fellowship with others, in anticipation of sharing this life forever in the world to come. This is the gift of true freedom God has given us in Christ—a grace gift that we cannot earn, but can only receive with humble gratitude.
Father, Son, Spirit, thank you for setting us free, for removing the shackles of evil, sin, and death. Grant us the grace to live in the truth of our freedom in Christ. Enable us to remember the price that freedom cost us, and to not give any part of ourselves over to those things which inevitably end up being our masters, no matter how strong the temptation may be in this moment. For it is your will and your desire we seek to fulfill, not our own, through Jesus our Lord and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace . What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:12–23 NASB
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Divine Immunity
By Linda Rex
June 25, 2023, Proper 7 | After Pentecost—I was reading through one of my old journals today and noticing that there are several things I still am struggling with in my life and character that I wrestled with more than ten years ago. Over the years I have learned that some things that have been criticized by others as weaknesses have turned out simply to be personal quirks and ways of being that God created me with which are different than the average person. Other things are areas where the Lord is still working with me to grow me up into Christ.
In our life in Christ, we are faced with the reality that we are often far from being the image-bearers of God we were meant to be, but at the same time are warmly embraced by the Lord who loves us and forgives us, and is fully committed to bringing us into the fullness of all he has in mind for us. This journey we call the Christian faith is exactly that—a long trip in relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit in which we grow in our relationship with God and one another, and we mature spiritually, growing up in Christ and deepening in our faith.
If I were to walk into a bookstore, especially a Christian bookstore, I would find a lot of books which would tell me all the ways in which I need to grow as a follower of Christ, and a lot of methodology in how to go about doing this. While I have been helped to some extent by such books over the years, I have found the greatest maturing and healing has come in relationship—in healthy relationship with other godly men and women who invested me and my life. It was their mentoring work and their prayerful investment which often led to changes which otherwise would not have happened.
But even so, the one relationship which really mattered most is the one which I have been given with Father, Son, and Spirit. The Lord of all has taken a personal interest in me (as I’m sure he has in you), and I sometimes wonder why. The Lord has invested in me and my life in a way which can only be explained by his mercy, compassion, forbearance and longsuffering. What I have discovered over the years is that I can work hard at being a good person, but my best efforts do not bring about lasting change. Lasting change only comes when I go to Jesus in the humility of my inability, need, and failure and receive from him by the Spirit the transformation which I long for as I live and walk day by day in relationship with him.
That I even long for change at all is a gift from God. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 6, 1b-11, the passage for this Sunday. There were some who believed that God’s grace gave them the “freedom” to do whatever they wanted in their lives, the “freedom” to sin or to live in ways contrary to their original design. This was a misunderstanding of God’s grace and mercy. For when we truly realize and embrace what Jesus has accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection, we find we have no desire to do anything other than to love God and love one another as we were created to. Anything else ultimately makes us miserable. Even though sin is still something we do (for we are still human), it no longer has the same power over us and does not control us as it did before we came to faith in Christ. Rather, as Christ lives in us by the Spirit, we find we are compelled by God’s other-centered love to love God and one another.
It is unfortunate that much of our focus in Christian circles has been on moral behavior and trying to make ourselves right with God when it should have been on simply enjoying our relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit and being who we are as his beloved, adopted children who participate with him in caring for his creation. Jesus Christ, as God in human flesh, is the one in whom we live and move and have our being. It is Christ’s own relationship with the Father in the Spirit that we share in—so it’s not up to us to get ourselves in right relationship with God—Jesus did it, is doing it, will do it. It is his life with Abba in the Spirit that is ours, in which we find faith, hope, love, and joy.
The evil one likes to keep our focus on everything we are doing wrong, on all that is going wrong in this world. The evil one keeps us frantically trying to remake ourselves into good people or to make ourselves right with God. The evil one tells us constantly that God is not good, is not love, and doesn’t give a hang about us. The world around us convinces us that these lies are the truth of our existence. This is why we must remember that when Jesus died—we all died. All of creation went through death with the creator as he was crucified and died and was placed in the tomb. The good news is that evil, sin, and death are dead. The sin in you and me died with Christ and so no longer is in a place of power in us. No, we are in a new place now—in the risen Lord.
This means that sin, self, Satan, as the apostle Paul shows us, no longer dictate to us how we are to live. Indeed, now we are free to be who God meant for us to be all along—his beloved children who love and serve him and one another. What echoes in my mind are Jesus’ words to the woman caught in the act of adultery: “Neither do I condemn you—go and sin no more.” You and I are forgiven, accepted, beloved, placed in right relationship with God in Jesus’ death and resurrection. We have been given a new life—so, we live it. Did you mess up again? I know I have and I will, but in Christ I am made new. And so are you. And I will turn to Jesus once again. And so will you. And once again, we will go and sin no more—because that is what the life of Christ in us and us in Christ is all about. And we will continue on this journey in close fellowship with Father, Son, and Spirit until we are called home to be with them forever in glory—all because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thank you, Lord!
Heavenly Father, thank you for making us your very own. Thank you for loving us and drawing us to yourself in Jesus by your Spirit. Lord, grant us the grace to never forget our old selves are dead, that sin no longer has power over us, and that we have been given new life, life in union and communion with you. Enable us to ever live in the truth of who we are as your cherished children, through your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Now what is our response to be? Shall we sin to our heart’s content and see how far we can exploit the grace of God? What a ghastly thought! We, who have died to sin—how could we live in sin a moment longer? Have you forgotten that all of us who were baptised into Jesus Christ were, by that very action, sharing in his death? We were dead and buried with him in baptism, so that just as he was raised from the dead by that splendid Revelation of the Father’s power so we too might rise to life on a new plane altogether. If we have, as it were, shared his death, let us rise and live our new lives with him! Let us never forget that our old selves died with him on the cross that the tyranny of sin over us might be broken—for a dead man can safely be said to be immune to the power of sin. And if we were dead men with him we can believe that we shall also be men newly alive with him. We can be sure that the risen Christ never dies again—death’s power to touch him is finished. He died, because of sin, once: he lives for God for ever. In the same way look upon yourselves as dead to the appeal and power of sin but alive and sensitive to the call of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:1-11 PHILLIPS
[Printable copy: https://lifeinthetrinity.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/olitdivine-immunity.pdf ]
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