Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ,
We’re gonna change things up and I’m going to end this sermon before it begins and just tell the punch line: the resurrection is awesome, that’s the hoped for thing that is unseen, and because we have that, we’re all good with God. Go in peace.
No? There should be more? Perhaps. We have been spending a lot of time in the Epistle to the Romans lately in our lectionary, the last five weeks. And it’s easy to hear Paul’s words and think about the wonderful things that he’s saying, and the wonderful thoughts that he’s giving, and it’s easy then to just take it to a sermon that sounds nice and pretty but never actually changes a thing.
That’s what we tend to do with Paul. We tend to run with Paul into heavenly places chasing after our own impressions of theological rainbows and unicorns. After all, we do like to joke about Paul being Lutheran, right? We should just be hearing about doctrine, doctrine we agree with, in the sermons. That’s a nice Sunday.
But that’s not what Paul wants. Paul wants this to make a difference. Paul wants his words to change you, to bring you to Christ, to give you hope. And so we’re going to start all the way back in Romans 7 and I’m gonna get a running start and let’s see where this goes, okay? You may wanna open your pew Bibles just to follow along; we’ll be hitting a lot of verses.
We’ll pick up in verse 21, 7:21. Heretofore, Paul has been talking about how he cannot do the things he wants to do in Christ because his sinful flesh gets in the way. And Paul does things he doesn’t want to do because his sinful flesh is running amok. And so, he compares himself to a slave. A slave to sin. Sin is his master, it’s got him chained up, it’s tied him down, it’s beating him, killing him, doing these things against the mind of Christ and Paul can’t stop it.
So he says, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” The word he uses there, “waging war,” it’s actually warring. It’s the word we’d use when two countries are warring against one another. It’s a take-no-prisoners war. It’s a I’m-going-to-kill-you-your-mother-your-father-your-children-and-anyone-who-knew-you kind of war. It’s a war that’s not going to stop until everyone is dead. This is the war waging on in Paul with his renewed mind in Christ and his sin. And this is the same war waging in me. And this is the same war waging in you. The question needing to be asked this day is what side is winning in you?
Paul knew what side was winning. It’s sin. He says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Paul knows. Sin is winning. Sin’s a bear. Sin is going to win every time. Sin wins in your body. And if you think that you’re doing okay, if you think “I’m not doing too bad,” if you think of yourself, “Well, at least I do more good than bad,” then you’ve deluded yourself. And it’s the worst kind of delusion, too. Because you’re lying to yourself, and that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that you’re lying to God, and He knows it.
We have no real concept of what our sin has done to us. It’s made us liars and deceivers. It fools even we who commit it. It fools each and every one of us. But, it does it by using even itself to convince us it’s not so bad. So what if my eyes linger over that hot body just a little bit longer? So what if my mouth uses a little more filth and deceit? So what if my hands don’t work to help anyone but myself? So what if my mind doesn’t respect them but I suck up anyway? So what? So what? So what?
And sometimes, sometimes, this sin comes out in ways that we can’t even believe. We literally, physically can hurt others, even those whom we love. Our sin leads to anger, anger to frustration, frustration to violence, all in the effort to make ourselves feel better, to get rid of our annoyances. And when that happens, we destroy relationships with others, with ourselves, perhaps even with God.
Because, remember, this sin deceives us. It lies to us. It tells us, “You’re alright. You’re not so bad. You’re certainly not as bad as THAT guy.” But I’m here today to tell you you ARE that guy. You are the one. When Nathan confronted David after David adulterated Bathsheba, impregnated her, sent her husband to be murdered by an entire army, Nathan didn’t just let David off the hook. He took him right up into the face of the offense and pointed his finger at David, and yelled at him, “YOU ARE THE MAN!” You are the liar. You are the deceiver. You are the violent. You are the offender. You are the luster, the adulterer, the filth. You are condemned under the Law. You have broken it and you deserve nothing but God’s wrath. Wrteched man that I am! Who will save me, me, ME, even me, from this body of death?
Paul tells us. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Christ Jesus indeed shall save you, He HAS saved you, for He has borne your sin upon Himself as He took your place under the wrath of God. This Jesus came to this earth and lived a perfect life. He never should have died, for obedience to God’s Law will lead to eternal life. Yet, He DID die, and He died willingly for you. He took your sin upon His shoulders, and with His cross, He took it to Calvary, and there was crucified for your sin, and there He died. But this perfect man’s sacrifice for you was pleasing to God His Father and our Father, and so His Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit, raised His Son, Jesus Christ, up from the dead, giving you the assurance that your sin has been carried by Christ and taken away from you. Christ in His death defeated death, and in His resurrection has given the promise of eternal life to you and to all believers in Christ Jesus.
And Paul reminds us of this, when he says, “So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” We shall still sin, yet we are still renewed in Christ. And so, we are even still reminded, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” You shall not suffer the wrath of God being renewed in Christ. You cannot, for the wrath of God is poured out on His Son. And though our sin may tend to make us believe we are sitting under God’s wrath, they are only the consequences of our actions.
Sometimes that’s trying to mend broken relationships, sometimes it’s struggling to keep our mouths shut. Sometimes, it’s more serious. Sometimes, we get fired from our jobs because of a sin we commit. Sometimes, we may get detention or suspended from school. Sometimes, we may end up in prison. This is not God’s wrath; it is the consequence to what you have done.
Being forgiven in Christ is the best blessing you can imagine, but it does not automatically set all things right in this sin-filled world. Your sin in this world is but a small stone thrown into a still pond. Christ certainly has taken the stoning, but your stone has caused ripples to be sent out. And our sin causes then changes in this world, it causes this to be seen and done and experienced. This is why we, as Christians, work to avoid sin, work to avoid offending others, not just because we wish to avoid the consequences, but because we also care for our neighbor and we care not to hurt THEM. But our sin does anyway. And sometimes our neighbors’ sins hurt us. And that’s hard to forgive. But we must.
For Paul also reminds us that ,“… the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” We are not to cast death wishes upon others who have grieved us in some way, even if they should be Christian brothers or sisters, baptized in the same font with the same water in which we’ve been baptized. We have been set free from the law of sin and death, how can we hold another down and waterboard them under the law that we no longer belong to?
For you see, “…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 for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Christ, even before the foundation of the world, has planned to come into our flesh. Before the fall into sin, Christ knew He would need to redeem His creation, and so He did what none other could do, lived a perfect human life in order to give that gift to us by His declaration. You see, we are not perfectly righteous by our own doing, but because Jesus says we ARE righteous. And when God speaks, things happen, truth is made, and reality is shaped in the way that God wants it. And so we walk through even our own sin-filled lives, by the Spirit, who leads us into the truth of Christ and His Word and His declaration.
Paul continues this thought talking about you. He says,
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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact 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, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
You see, this is good news for us, because here we are identified as sinners, but sinners who yet have Christ in us. Our bodies may die and decay, but if we have Christ, we have no fear! For, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” We shall be resurrected, yes, but even today we shall have life in our mortal bodies, for the Spirit in us invigorates us, enlivens us, so that we may continue to be in Christ.
But, let’s go on with Paul. I know we’re going long, but this is important. “So then, brothers,” Paul says, “we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” You my friends are sons of God. You are His children. We are redeemed by the very God who sent His beloved Son to take our place in sin. And we are indebted to this God, to do as He commands, desires, wishes us to do. We owe Him, so to speak. We don’t owe Him in order to earn anything. We owe Him so that we WANT to give back to Him. We want to obey Him. We want to honor Him. We so often don’t, but we should indeed desire to.
But even when we do not, Paul reminds us, “… you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”” This is a cry from a child to be loved by its Father. This is a cry to be hugged and carried and helped. And because we are adopted as God’s children in our baptisms, we may cry to Him, and because of Christ, He hears us and loves us, and blesses us with the forgiveness and mercy won by Christ on the cross.
And if you ever doubt, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” You are an heir with Christ, and because of that, the kingdom of God, Christ Himself, the reigning king and champion over sin, death, and the devil, the kingdom is yours. But a prince doesn’t live in a kingdom to do whatever he pleases. The prince lives in the kingdom and rules it to please his Father. There is a responsibilities, yes, but what freedom a ruler has over the kingdom! Be a good prince, for that is your calling, yet live in the freedom of Christ, for He is glorified and He is glorifying you in His kingdom as you work and suffer through this life.
And now, finally, I’m sure you’re saying, we get to today’s text. With all that backstory behind us, we can finally see what we were supposed to study today. And we had to wait until now, because now we see how we continue to deal with our sin. Paul says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” That which we bear now is nothing compared to what’s coming for us. Our sins are easy in light of the gift that is coming. And what’s coming? “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” All of creation is waiting with baited breath to see the Last Day, the end of time, in which Christ our Lord will descend from heaven, make all things news, and raise all those who have believed in Him unto everlasting life. Creation knows this is coming, and so do we, for in this day we have placed all our hope for this life.
But this is not just a day for us, but a day for all things to be made new, for as Paul says, “…the creation was subjected to futility [that means sin, because of us], not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” All creation has suffered because of our first father and mother, Adam and Eve, but continues to suffer under us, and it needs also to be set free from our sin. And so it shall be.
“And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” We shall be set free from our bondage. We shall be set free for our redemption. We shall be set free for our freedom in Christ. We shall be set free for our adoption. We will shrug off this mortal existence and serve our master, Christ. We shall no longer be in corruptible bodies, sinful, failing, falling. But our bodies shall be made whole, incorruptible, never again to decay into death.
“For in this hope we were saved.” This is our hope. “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” We cannot see what is coming yet. We cannot see what it is like to not deal with our sin any longer. We cannot see what it is like to never be sick, or in pain, or grieving, or sad, or depressed, or angry, or violent. We cannot see these things.
We have hope they will come, but what does it look like? We have no idea. And there, we are weak, for sometimes, we lose hope. Yet, Our Lord is gracious, and the same Lord who washed us in the waters of baptism, cleansing us from sin, is the same Lord who feeds us His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sin, and He is the same Lord who sends His Spirit, the Comforter to us to help us.
And so Paul says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
This is all about the resurrection freedom we shall be receiving. But, now, in this life, we don’t know what to pray for. We don’t know how to pray for the resurrection. We don’t know how to have hope. We don’t know how to forgive. We don’t know how to live without sin. So, what difference do any of Paul’s words have today? It points me toward a hope of the resurrection. It points me to hope we no longer have to deal with the things and trials and tribulations of this world. Paul points me to Jesus, because Jesus is the only way I will be delivered out of this poor, miserable life. My Jesus is my Savior, and He has redeemed me so that I may live with Him forever, perfectly, just as He has redeemed you, and just as He has redeemed even those who have done great harm and injustice, even against the least of the kingdom of God.
Our Jesus is bigger than our sin. And His resurrection undoes the damage I’ve done in this world. In that I have hope, and it helps me, because I am His, forever and ever with Him. So are you, and so are all whom Christ our Lord has called unto Himself in the waters of baptism. We live as forgiven Christians, friends, with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection from the dead. That’s definitely the biggest difference anyone could hope for. Let it make a difference in you today. For we are in Christ, and so in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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