The
topic of this sermon is our life in Christ and particularly how it is
a matter of patient endurance in the world in which we live because
this world, life as we know it, is at enmity with Christ. Because of
our association with him in the Holy Spirit and by our actions in
this world as his disciples we will suffer that enmity as well.
Please allow me a moment to throw some Scripture around.
Paul
writes in Romans, “Therefore we have been buried with him by
baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will
certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that
our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be
destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has
died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe
that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised
from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion
over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the
life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves
dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:4-11).
Then
in Chapter Eight he writes, “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” (8:9-11). At the beginning of Chapter Three of Colossians,
Paul writes, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the
things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of
God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are
on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in
God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be
revealed with him in glory” (Col. 3:1-4).
Paul’s
thinking is pretty straight forward here. Our baptism was our sharing
in Christ’s death. If we are united with him in his death, then we
certainly will be united to him in his resurrection. Thus, we must
consider ourselves dead to the present life and alive in him for the
life that is to come. So, as we are alive in Christ and Christ lives
to God, so must we. We cannot deny what we are as part of the new
creation that is to come. As we are united to Christ in the Holy
Spirit and our lives lived to self are dead and dying, our new life
is hidden with Christ in God. Since we have been given new life in
Christ, pursuit of the old life is only death. So, we must live in
and for the new to know, to have the new life.
In
our passage from Luke today, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that
because of our association with him, which according to Paul is an
association that is an organic or living union with him in the Holy
Spirit, we will find ourselves at odds with the powers that be of
this world. Therefore, it will be by patient endurance that we will
gain, acquire, or secure the gift of this new life, the new life of
the new creation in Christ Jesus. New life in Christ and new life in
the new creation are a free gift from God but a gift that comes with
a cost. Firstly, the cost comes as what we must presently leave
behind that is attached to the old life and its consequence of death.
Secondly, the cost comes with that we must live according to the new
creation now while patiently enduring the opposition that this fallen
world has to Christi Jesus. If we do not stand firm in Christ, we do
not find our new lives in him. There is no real change in us.
Another
way of saying this is that we are in this world yet not of it.
Rather, we are of the world to come because of our union with Christ
Jesus in the Holy Spirit. As far as this world, this age, this old
way of being human; we live now with the purpose of announcing what
God has done for humanity and all of his creation in, through and as
Jesus Christ and in so doing living according to the new creation
that has begun with his resurrection as living proof of it. This
living accordingly is simply put in what Paul wrote to the
Thessalonians, “But y’all, brothers and sisters, do not grow
weary of doing what is right” (2 Thes. 3:13) and by right we mean
right in the eyes of God not in the eyes of people. This is not a
simple task. It is not easy to do what is right in the eyes of God.
Because of this world’s enmity to Christ Jesus even what seems
right in this world will too often be at odds with the love of God.
We will struggle against ourselves. We will struggle against our
brothers and sisters in Christ. We will struggle against those
closest to us who do not share in this faith. We will struggle
against the society, culture, and community in which we live.
Therefore, we will find ourselves always having to patiently endure
the temptation to be as the culture we live in and the persecution
that arises because we live according to God’s demands on our
lives. Let me say more on these things.
First,
we will struggle with our very selves trying not to let sin and death
continue to reign in us. Sin and death are tricky adversaries and our
lives are complicated things. We do not instinctively know what the
right thing to do in God’s eyes is. Because something feels or
reasonably seems right according to our culture or gut or whatever
does not mean its right in God’s eyes. If we do what feels right to
us we are only catering to our sinful selves. If we do what is right
in the eyes of other people we are only catering to that part of us
that wants to be accepted in the eyes of others. I know from my own
personal experience when I have asked others for their advice in what
I should do, I’ve tended to only agree with those who have agreed
with me. Indeed, some of the most significant hurts I have suffered
in life have come about because I did what felt right not what the
Bible said was right. This is why it is important for us to know the
Scriptures and to know them prayerfully. God does not let his
children who are made alive by his Spirit go on for too long living
contrary to Scripture. As the one who loves us more than any of us
can think or imagine, God works in our lives disciplining us to do
what is right in his eyes. I can say with the utmost sincerity when
God is at work with us, disciplining us to do the right, it does not
feel good. Indeed, it hurts. But, when he is done with the lesson,
we are better persons more compassionate, gracious, and understanding
than we ever thought we could be.
Second,
in addition to the constant struggle with ourselves, we must also
patiently endure in our relationships with those closest to us. This
struggle is quite painful. We as humans need close friendships. We
need people we can trust unquestionably and we need people who love
us unconditionally. Christ Jesus created the church to be such a
place where we can find people we can trust and by whom be loved
unconditionally. Yet, our friends in Christ are not here just to be
positive support in our lives. Christ Jesus has given us close
friends in Him in order to hold us accountable to being and doing
what is right in his eyes. So, Christian friendship at times can be
quite humbling.
Christian
faith is more than simply my private relationship to God. It must be
intensely about our relationship with one another with and in Christ
and how we love another, build one another up in love, and hold each
other accountable. The Christian faith is not about how relevant a
church is to the world around it so that it can fill the pews. Nor is
it about about having programs that "everybody knows" ought
to have because of the altruistic role it has played in Western
society. It is about our relationship with one another with and in
Christ. We are called to fellowship in the love of Christ, a
fellowship in which we hold one another accountable to what is right
in the eyes of our Father in Heaven who is steadfastly loving and
faithful to us on all accounts. It can be incredibly humbling when we
speak the truth to one another in love for it is a painful struggle
to accept the truth about ourselves. Yet, when we do the grace that
moves in us to heal and change us is powerful. Sometimes Christians
can’t handle the truth and in pride begin to retaliate. Christians
who do not accept the truth about themselves can indeed become
anti-Christian.
Another
thing along this line we must patiently endure as Christians is
people close to us who are not Christian. Who don’t understand why
we do not live according to the same culture-dictated goals and
values as they do. I know my family struggled with this when I first
began to pursue the call to ministry. They didn’t feel the
ministry was a safe profession for the little boy they knew to be so
shy. They also struggled with my accepting calls to a church in West
Virginia and then to a wee small church in Canada. It hurts when
those closest to us don’t seem to understand. But, my pains in that
area are nothing compared to those in our midst who are married to
spouses or have family members who are actually belligerent to the
faith. To these I say pray and patiently endure, you are especially
close to Christ and are blessed to know him in his sufferings.
I
spoke last week about our struggles with the world and how our
mission of exposing evil and of forgiveness runs contrary to the
powers that be so I will not comment there and finish up with a word
of encouragement. A few years back when I was in West Virginia there
was a state senator who for some reason had to divulge his financial
status. People in his district thought that it was remarkable in a
bad way that he was $245,000 in debt. I used to be a member of the
Rotary Club there and one afternoon while we were doing our annual
trash pickup along a highway, some of us began to discuss this
senator’s situation. The local pharmacist who had a bit of change
in the bank himself and probably a similar if not greater amount of
debt said, “If you ain't at least $245,000 in debt, then you ain't
even in the game.” Well, the game he was referring to was that of
being a wealthy person. The same can be said about patient endurance
and the Christian faith. If we are in Christ and are not patiently
enduring the inner struggles and the inter-relational struggles that
come as the cost of having been freely given new life in Christ, then
we had better check and make sure we’re in the game. If you are
patiently enduring, know in all confidence that you are in Christ and
he is in you. Therefore, seek him out in prayer and prayerful reading
of Scripture and in Christian friendship and you will find that he is
with you and it is joy unspeakable. Amen.
