6th Sunday after Pentecost 06/26/05 Text: Romans 6:1-18 Title: Wanted Dear and Alive
6th Sunday after Pentecost
Date: 06/26/05
Text: Romans 6:1-18
Title: Wanted: Dead and Alive
My fellow missionaries please join me in prayer. Eternal God, pour out your Spirit upon us that we might be aware of your presence in our midst, that we might be attentive to your Word, and that we might be faithful always to your way, through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen
If you looked at the title for my sermon this morning you probably thought I had made a mistake. That it should have read, “Wanted Dead or Alive”, like those Wild West posters that the sheriff would put up after the bank had been robbed.
On a “Wanted Dead or Alive” poster the word “or” carried a lot of significance, at least for the robber and the bounty hunter. To the robber it was for all practical purposes a death sentence, because the bounty hunter, who was usually not as interested in justice, as he was in collecting the reward that was offered, would quite often take the easy way to bringing his man in.
God has placed in his Holy Scripture a similar wanted poster, although there is a big difference, for God’s poster has written on it, “Wanted: dead and alive.” It is just a little change, the word “and” for “or”, but one that makes a significant difference in the meaning of the poster.
You see God does not want us dead or alive; he wants us dead and alive. You say that is impossible, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot be dead and alive. That is our way of thinking, not God’s way of thinking. What God is talking about is the death of the “old man”, that is our sinful flesh. While he wants the “Old man” dead, he is even more determined that the “New man” is to live.
Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome is without a doubt a hard text to understand. While it is hard to understand, it is essential for us to grasp its meaning so that we can better comprehend why it is that we struggle so against sin, when we are told we are dead to sin.
You and I are not alone in our struggle, for that great man of God, Paul, also had a hard time understanding why he had to struggle with sin. We read about his frustration in Romans 7:15, where he says, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
We just cannot understand why we have to struggle when we are told so many times in God’s Holy Word that we are dead to sin, that we cannot sin and be followers of Christ. He tells us that we are to bear good fruit, but we know that we sin, and do not always bear good fruit, so we are left confused about our faith.
We know that when Jesus died he paid the price for our sinfulness. Our sins are covered, all of them. So we find ourselves in a life and death struggle, as we try to decide how to live our lives. Do we just not worry about sinning any more, since our sins are paid for? Or do we continue to struggle to keep God’s law, to rid ourselves of the old sinful man? Or do we do something else? What is it we are to do? What is God’s will? God’s Word has certainly put us between a rock and a hard place, has it not?
The problem is that we always want to put ourselves into God’s plan of salvation. That is a major problem, for when are in the picture, we have taken away the grace that God so wants to give us. Our salvation has to be his work alone. It cannot, under any circumstances, involve us.
You see as sinful human being we quite often get the law and Gospel mixed up, when they have to remain separated, for if the law is ever added to the Gospel, the Gospel is dead.
How is it then that we are to know when we have added law to the Gospel? The best way to know is to remember that the law is about what we have to do, while the Gospel is only about what God does on our behalf, by himself, with no input from us. If you keep that straight and it is much harder to do than you think, you will, by the time I am through this morning have a much clearer understanding of our Epistle reading for this morning.
With a little help from the beloved Martin Luther, I am going see if I can explain what Paul is saying, so that you might have a better understanding of it. It is important to remember that when Paul is talking about our dying in verses 2 through 4, he is not talking about our literal body being killed and then being actually buried with Christ, but that it is by Christ’s death that our sins were paid for and taken away. Sin and death no longer have any power over him. Because we are joined to him through our baptism, we too are free of the power of sin and death.
Sounds good, but you still might be asking yourself, why is it then that I still sin if I am free of the power of sin? Why is it, that I still will die, if death has no power over me? First you need to understand what Paul means when he talks about the “Old Self” and the “Body of sin” in verse 6. He is not talking about one thing, but two different things.
The “Old Self” Paul mentions is the entire body with all its senses, including the will, reason, and understanding. He calls it the “Old Self” because he is referring to the unconverted person. Thus it does not make any difference if you are a baby, a child, teen, or adult, everyone before conversion is “Old Self”.
When the “Old Self” is converted, a “New Self” emerges. This “New Self” with the help of the Holy Spirit resists and subdues the “Old Self” who continually tries to overcome the “New Self”.
You see, what has remained is the “Body of sin” which are the lusts of the “Old Self” which are still active in the actual body. These lusts cannot hurt the Christian, but we must always be careful we do not become obedient to them.
The next problem we have in understanding this text is when Paul mentions death we think of that being the end of life. We see it as the end, but God sees it as only being asleep. This sleep, or as we call it death, is the result of sin, and everybody will experience it. It has to happen because as long as the body exists on this earth it will sin. The only way to stop its sinning is by its dying, or as God would say, by its being put asleep.
God calls death sleep, because even though the body looks dead to us, it is only in God’s eyes sleeping, as it waits for that time when Christ comes back to raise all the dead to life. It is at that time that those who believed in Christ as their Savior will be reunited with their souls and rise to a new life with God. At the same time, those that did not believe in Christ as their Savior, will also be reunited with their souls, to reside forever in hell.
What the Holy Scripture is actually talking about, when it says that when you were baptized you became dead to sin, is that your soul died to sin. But, you say the body is what receives the water and word in baptism. While that is true for the body does get wet and hears the Word of God, it is the soul that is freed of sin, not the body.
So that we might have a better understanding of what I just said, Let us imagine that we are overhearing the soul and body talking to each other just after being baptized.
The soul tells the body, “Body, I am now dead to sin and will not sin anymore.” The body responds with, “Wait a minute soul, I am not dead and I want to make the most out of my life while I can.”
The soul responds to the body, “I believe that God has forgiven my sins and taken them away from me through Christ.” Well the body cannot let that go by, so he tells the soul, “What do I know of God and his will?”
The soul tells the body, “I must be meek, pure, patient, and humble, as I seek my future life with God.” Boy that got the body riled up. It tells the soul, “Soul away with your heaven! What a joke, who really knows if there is a heaven. I need to take care of myself. I need to make sure I have enough bread to put on the table. I need to make sure I have enough money and property. I cannot worry about something that might or might not exist.”
You see that is why even the body of a Christian has to die. It is the only way the “Body of sin” can be free of sin. For the Christian, this death of the body is not the end, but as Martin Luther put it, “A gentle and easy sleep,” as it awaits Christ calling it from the grave.
You might be saying to yourself, that is well and good, but I still do not want to die. I want to live right here, even if Paradise is suppose to be perfect. I know of this place, I am not sure of the other place. Why am I having this problem? Why do I doubt God’s word?
Martin Luther gives the answer to that question when he wrote, “The stupid flesh cannot understand God’s promise. It is terrified by death and imagines that it will suffer the death that ends everything. The body does not understand the spiritual dying unto sin. It judges only by outward appearances.”
That is why most people, even Christians, unless they are suffering greatly, are afraid of death, for the body just cannot understand that what it sees is not the end, but just a peaceful sleep as it awaits the call from the Lord.
That is why I titled my sermon “Wanted: dead and alive,” for through your baptism you have been united with Christ forever in his death and resurrection. You are now dead to sin because the Holy Spirit has made you alive in Christ. That is Good News. Amen
Date: 06/26/05
Text: Romans 6:1-18
Title: Wanted: Dead and Alive
My fellow missionaries please join me in prayer. Eternal God, pour out your Spirit upon us that we might be aware of your presence in our midst, that we might be attentive to your Word, and that we might be faithful always to your way, through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen
If you looked at the title for my sermon this morning you probably thought I had made a mistake. That it should have read, “Wanted Dead or Alive”, like those Wild West posters that the sheriff would put up after the bank had been robbed.
On a “Wanted Dead or Alive” poster the word “or” carried a lot of significance, at least for the robber and the bounty hunter. To the robber it was for all practical purposes a death sentence, because the bounty hunter, who was usually not as interested in justice, as he was in collecting the reward that was offered, would quite often take the easy way to bringing his man in.
God has placed in his Holy Scripture a similar wanted poster, although there is a big difference, for God’s poster has written on it, “Wanted: dead and alive.” It is just a little change, the word “and” for “or”, but one that makes a significant difference in the meaning of the poster.
You see God does not want us dead or alive; he wants us dead and alive. You say that is impossible, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot be dead and alive. That is our way of thinking, not God’s way of thinking. What God is talking about is the death of the “old man”, that is our sinful flesh. While he wants the “Old man” dead, he is even more determined that the “New man” is to live.
Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome is without a doubt a hard text to understand. While it is hard to understand, it is essential for us to grasp its meaning so that we can better comprehend why it is that we struggle so against sin, when we are told we are dead to sin.
You and I are not alone in our struggle, for that great man of God, Paul, also had a hard time understanding why he had to struggle with sin. We read about his frustration in Romans 7:15, where he says, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
We just cannot understand why we have to struggle when we are told so many times in God’s Holy Word that we are dead to sin, that we cannot sin and be followers of Christ. He tells us that we are to bear good fruit, but we know that we sin, and do not always bear good fruit, so we are left confused about our faith.
We know that when Jesus died he paid the price for our sinfulness. Our sins are covered, all of them. So we find ourselves in a life and death struggle, as we try to decide how to live our lives. Do we just not worry about sinning any more, since our sins are paid for? Or do we continue to struggle to keep God’s law, to rid ourselves of the old sinful man? Or do we do something else? What is it we are to do? What is God’s will? God’s Word has certainly put us between a rock and a hard place, has it not?
The problem is that we always want to put ourselves into God’s plan of salvation. That is a major problem, for when are in the picture, we have taken away the grace that God so wants to give us. Our salvation has to be his work alone. It cannot, under any circumstances, involve us.
You see as sinful human being we quite often get the law and Gospel mixed up, when they have to remain separated, for if the law is ever added to the Gospel, the Gospel is dead.
How is it then that we are to know when we have added law to the Gospel? The best way to know is to remember that the law is about what we have to do, while the Gospel is only about what God does on our behalf, by himself, with no input from us. If you keep that straight and it is much harder to do than you think, you will, by the time I am through this morning have a much clearer understanding of our Epistle reading for this morning.
With a little help from the beloved Martin Luther, I am going see if I can explain what Paul is saying, so that you might have a better understanding of it. It is important to remember that when Paul is talking about our dying in verses 2 through 4, he is not talking about our literal body being killed and then being actually buried with Christ, but that it is by Christ’s death that our sins were paid for and taken away. Sin and death no longer have any power over him. Because we are joined to him through our baptism, we too are free of the power of sin and death.
Sounds good, but you still might be asking yourself, why is it then that I still sin if I am free of the power of sin? Why is it, that I still will die, if death has no power over me? First you need to understand what Paul means when he talks about the “Old Self” and the “Body of sin” in verse 6. He is not talking about one thing, but two different things.
The “Old Self” Paul mentions is the entire body with all its senses, including the will, reason, and understanding. He calls it the “Old Self” because he is referring to the unconverted person. Thus it does not make any difference if you are a baby, a child, teen, or adult, everyone before conversion is “Old Self”.
When the “Old Self” is converted, a “New Self” emerges. This “New Self” with the help of the Holy Spirit resists and subdues the “Old Self” who continually tries to overcome the “New Self”.
You see, what has remained is the “Body of sin” which are the lusts of the “Old Self” which are still active in the actual body. These lusts cannot hurt the Christian, but we must always be careful we do not become obedient to them.
The next problem we have in understanding this text is when Paul mentions death we think of that being the end of life. We see it as the end, but God sees it as only being asleep. This sleep, or as we call it death, is the result of sin, and everybody will experience it. It has to happen because as long as the body exists on this earth it will sin. The only way to stop its sinning is by its dying, or as God would say, by its being put asleep.
God calls death sleep, because even though the body looks dead to us, it is only in God’s eyes sleeping, as it waits for that time when Christ comes back to raise all the dead to life. It is at that time that those who believed in Christ as their Savior will be reunited with their souls and rise to a new life with God. At the same time, those that did not believe in Christ as their Savior, will also be reunited with their souls, to reside forever in hell.
What the Holy Scripture is actually talking about, when it says that when you were baptized you became dead to sin, is that your soul died to sin. But, you say the body is what receives the water and word in baptism. While that is true for the body does get wet and hears the Word of God, it is the soul that is freed of sin, not the body.
So that we might have a better understanding of what I just said, Let us imagine that we are overhearing the soul and body talking to each other just after being baptized.
The soul tells the body, “Body, I am now dead to sin and will not sin anymore.” The body responds with, “Wait a minute soul, I am not dead and I want to make the most out of my life while I can.”
The soul responds to the body, “I believe that God has forgiven my sins and taken them away from me through Christ.” Well the body cannot let that go by, so he tells the soul, “What do I know of God and his will?”
The soul tells the body, “I must be meek, pure, patient, and humble, as I seek my future life with God.” Boy that got the body riled up. It tells the soul, “Soul away with your heaven! What a joke, who really knows if there is a heaven. I need to take care of myself. I need to make sure I have enough bread to put on the table. I need to make sure I have enough money and property. I cannot worry about something that might or might not exist.”
You see that is why even the body of a Christian has to die. It is the only way the “Body of sin” can be free of sin. For the Christian, this death of the body is not the end, but as Martin Luther put it, “A gentle and easy sleep,” as it awaits Christ calling it from the grave.
You might be saying to yourself, that is well and good, but I still do not want to die. I want to live right here, even if Paradise is suppose to be perfect. I know of this place, I am not sure of the other place. Why am I having this problem? Why do I doubt God’s word?
Martin Luther gives the answer to that question when he wrote, “The stupid flesh cannot understand God’s promise. It is terrified by death and imagines that it will suffer the death that ends everything. The body does not understand the spiritual dying unto sin. It judges only by outward appearances.”
That is why most people, even Christians, unless they are suffering greatly, are afraid of death, for the body just cannot understand that what it sees is not the end, but just a peaceful sleep as it awaits the call from the Lord.
That is why I titled my sermon “Wanted: dead and alive,” for through your baptism you have been united with Christ forever in his death and resurrection. You are now dead to sin because the Holy Spirit has made you alive in Christ. That is Good News. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 2:47 PM
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