Reflection on Romans 10:5-15 and Matthew 14:22-33

Romans 10:5-15 (NRSVue)

⁵ Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say?

 “The word is near you,

  in your mouth and in your heart”

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim), ⁹ because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For one believes with the heart, leading to righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, leading to salvation. ¹¹ The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

  ¹⁴ But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? ¹⁵ And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Reflection

The painting is a dramatic one, capturing a scene from under the water from the perspective of a drowning Peter who tried to walk on the water to Jesus, but became afraid and sank.  In the painting, you see Peter reaching his hand up toward the air above and you see Jesus looking down at Peter from beyond the ripely water.  Peter has grasped onto Jesus’ hand, who is pulling him up to safety.

That is how a fellow student described the painting anyway as she talked to one of our theology professors.  But the theology professor corrected my fellow student.

“Peter did not grasp onto Jesus’ hand,” the Professor corrected.  “Jesus reached down and grasped onto Peter’s hand.”

“OK.  What difference does it make?” the student asked.

“What difference does it make?  If you are drowning in a lake and someone throws you a life preserver from the shore, do you say, ‘Hey, it’s a really good thing that I know how to hold onto a life preserver!’  No!  Of course not!  Instead, you allow yourself to get pulled to shore and then you thank the one who saved you.  You thank them over and over again.  ‘You saved my life!  Thank you!’  Peter did not save himself by holding tight onto Jesus’ hand.  Jesus saved Peter by reaching down, grasping his hand, and raising him up to life.  We don’t save ourselves; Jesus saves us.  Never forget that.”

A few years later I was again taught this fundamental understanding of our faith using even simpler words.  “God always comes down.  We do not go up.”

This is very important to understand because so many Christians say the words, “You just have to believe.”  When struggling with depression, some poor person is told, “You just have to believe.”  As if they can just climb their way out of the dark pit of their mind and enter into Jesus’ presence. 

When doubting God, another struggling person is told, “You just have to believe.”  As if someone who is struggling to believe in God can just flip a switch and say, “Oh, I guess I’m just going to start believing.”  I ask you, how do you just start believing when you do not believe?  It makes no sense. 

No, we do not reach up to find God, or grasp onto God.  God always comes down and grasps onto us.  “God always comes down.  We do not go up.”  That is the gift of God.

This is some solid biblical truth here.  The Apostle Paul teaches, “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 [the Bible] say?

 ’The word is near you,

  in your mouth and in your heart’” (Romans 10:6-8).

Did you hear Paul?  You don’t go up to find Christ like he is the prize in some spiritual treasure hunt.  Nor do you pull him up from the dead.  Jesus’ continued life in this world does not depend on you to bring him up from forgotten places to keep his memory alive. 

Rather, Paul says: “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8).  Jesus Christ, the word of God, has already come to you.

God always comes down.  We do not go up.

Jesus reaches down to grasp us.  We do not grasp onto God.  These are important words.  These are vital words, even to me.

I am drawn to think about my very first day at Bible camp.  Other than staying with aunts and uncles, this was the first time that I ever spent an extended amount of time away from home.  I was not impressed by the first few hours.  We played a game where we had to go around the circle and memorize and repeat each other’s names.  My memory was not any better as a kid than it is now.  I can’t remember names!  This game was torture, and I did not know anyone any better after the game than I did before.  Soon after the game we went to supper and I spent it eating alone, still not knowing anyone.

So far, this is a pretty sad story.  But the moment of faith is coming.  During the evening worship, there was a moment where all of our foreheads were marked with a cross with water, in recognition that in Baptism Jesus never forgets us.  Needless to say, my camp counselor forgot me.  He never came and marked my forehead.  Maybe he was terrible at the name game also!  Well, so much for the “Jesus never forgets us” lesson.

And as we left the worship space and as I walked alone toward my cabin after worship, feeling sorry for my forgotten self, in stereotypical movie fashion, it started to rain.  Of course it did.

But when I looked up to the sky to curse the sky, also in stereotypical movie fashion, two huge drops of rain fell onto my forehead, tracing the shape of a cross.  And I might have marked that up to coincidence, except for that fact that at that very moment a boy from my cabin ran up to me and said, “There you are Jira.  I was looking for you.  I didn’t see you at worship and I wanted to hang out.”

God had found me.  God always comes down.  We do not go up.

I was so thankful that God sent that kid my way.  He fast became my best friend for the week.  We did everything together, laughing the whole time.  And when I think about how God sent that kid my way, to find me and befriend me, I repeat in my heart the gratitude found in the Apostle Paul’s words, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:15).  How great are those who God sends to seek and find.

God works that way you know.  Wherever there is someone in the middle of a fearful storm in life, “frightened, and, beginning to sink,” you will also find Jesus reaching out his hand to catch us (Matthew 14:30-31).  And it is when we are grasped by the divine hand and saved that Jesus grows our “little faith” into something more.  It grows into a faith in which you trust the one who saves because you have been saved.  Then you can “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,” and you will know for certain that “you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).  But only because you have been found and grasped by the one who loved you first.

God always comes down.  We do not go up.

God desires salvation for us all.  God is not picky about who will be found.  God once found a murderer and made him into one of the greatest of all the prophets, so great that if you simply say, “the prophet” around a Jewish person they will immediately know that you are talking about Moses.

God is not picky about who will be found.  God once found a foreigner and sent her to suffer the same fate as her destitute mother-in-law.  Ruth did not have to go with her mother-in-law, to watch after her and care for her and make sure that her depressed soul found something to eat.  Ruth was not Jewish.  Ruth had a good family to go back to.  But she stuck with her mother-in-law, through the worst and the best.  And she is remembered as a great woman of faith even to this day! 

Paul says, “’No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:11-13).  Faith is trusting the one who finds you and is generous to you.  Faith is trusting the one who walks with you in rough seas and lifts you up when you sink.  Faith is a gift that is given to anyone.

God always comes down.  We do not go up.

I know of a cheerleader who has a tattoo that runs down her leg.  She is a fearless flier.  She is one of those girls who is launched into the air, doing handstands and flips high above everyone’s heads.  That means that she is one of those cheerleaders who has to trust the guy throwing her and catching her far below.  She trusts that he will not let her fall as she does her stunts, even when she does them wrong.  But this type of trust does not come out of nowhere.  It comes from being caught again and again and again without being hurt.  It is the type of trust in someone else that really gets ingrained in your soul.

And that brings me to the tattoo that runs down her leg.  The tattoo is a sentence actually.  It reads: “God is catching her, she will not fall.”  Just as the guy that throws her and catches her each time is trusted, so she trusts God in the same way.  That is faith.  That is a heart that leads to salvation.  And that message in intended to be read by those who watch, that they too might know that God catches them as well.  “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

So, let people know the truth.  God always comes down.  We do not need to go up to God.  Jesus is walking with us now and he is the one who grasps us when we sink.

Reflection on Romans 9:1-5 and Matthew 14:12-21

Romans 9:1-5

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit—2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5 to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

Matthew 14:13-21

13 Now when Jesus heard [about the beheading of John the Baptist,] he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Reflection

The vacation was a once in a lifetime vacation for the 8-year-old boy.  His mother and father took him on a road trip to see the epic beauty of the western United States.  They visited Mount Rushmore, took in the rugged mountain beauty of Glacier National Park, and finally he found himself sitting with his family, looking at the one sight he had always wanted to see since he was a toddler: the Old Faithful Geiser in Yellowstone National Park.  His mother had expected to see amazement in his face as the geyser finally launched its water high into the air.  Instead, she saw tears and sadness.

“What’s wrong honey?” she asked.

“My stomach hurts,” he cried.

“Did you eat something bad?” she asked.

“No, my stomach hurts that my sister will never see this,” he cried quietly.

He was talking about his twin sister who did not survive beyond birth.  His stomach twisted with a deep desire that his sister experience the great things in life that he got to experience.  And it ached deeply that she could not.  All he ever wanted for her was to have life…with him.

Surely you have experienced this sort of ache in your stomach.  I have heard mothers express this sort of ache when they fear their children have started living the wrong sort of life.  I have heard children express this sort of ache when they have wanted friends to be with them even as they grow distant.  The stomach of one of my travel companions to India sickly twisted when he saw people camping around a leak in a water pipe just so that they might survive on the water that dribbled out.  The man was a retired civil engineer.  His entire life was devoted to making sure that sights like this never had to be seen.  He made a life in which he safely and effectively directed water to the towns he served.  His stomach literally ached and turned to see these people suffer.  In his experience, the answer was so, so simple.  Just a little compassion, just a little engineering would give these people a much better life.

I want to tell you that the twisting ache in the stomach that I am describing is a holy gift from Jesus.  It is a gift of empathy and compassion.  It is the gift of looking at another living being and deeply desiring that they might be able to live a life that is better and deeper and richer. 

It is the gift of empathy and compassion that Jesus felt in his gut when he looked out at a field of people who had sought him out because they needed healing.  The blind were guided over rocks and through ditches to reach him.  Those who could not walk were shouldered just so that they might feel Jesus’ touch.  Sick children were carried to him in their father’s arms.  Those who were lost and forgotten stumbled toward his direction so that they might feel a divine connection.  And all of them were hungry, both in their stomachs and in their souls. 

As Jesus looked out over the field at all of them, the gospel of Matthew says that “he had compassion for them” (Matthew 14:14).  And that word for “compassion” right there in the Greek language means that very stomach-churning sense that you get when you look at someone and would do anything to help.

And help he did.  Jesus “cured their sick” (Matthew 14:14).  Jesus multiplied the “five loaves and the two fish” (Matthew 14:19).  “And all ate and were filled…And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matthew 14:20-21).

Life with Jesus is a life in which Jesus looks at you with a stomach twisting compassion that would do anything, even give up his life, so that you might have a healed life, a full life, a meaningful life, and a life that is lived with that same sort of empathy and compassion.  Jesus desires deeply that you be blessed so that you can bless.  Jesus desires deeply that you be loved so that you can love.

That reminds me of a joke.  Three guys are at a funeral, staring at a coffin.  One guy says, “When people are looking at me in my coffin at my funeral I want them to say, 'he was caring, he was kind, he was compassionate, he always had time for people, he made everyone feel welcome.'”

The second guys quipped, “When people are looking at me in my coffin at my funeral I want them to say, 'he was a devoted family man, he worked hard to provide a good life for his family, he was looked up to by all his children and grandchildren.'”

The last guy stared at the other two in disbelief and said, “When people are looking at me in my coffin at my funeral I only want them to say one thing, 'he's moving.'”

Jesus wants to heal us and restore us so that we can be moving.  Jesus desires nothing more than that we be alive, full of life and love and a stomach churching compassion of our own.  It is a compassion that he wants to spread far and wide.  You know what they say: “Spreading Jesus’ love is like a toddler trying to spread peanut butter, it is sticky and it gets everywhere.”

And if you have gotten this far into the sermon and are wondering what this has to do with our Romans sermon series, I will tell you: “Everything!” 

Paul, a follower of Jesus Christ, too has Jesus’ stomach wrenching compassion and empathy.  Paul says himself: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs” (Romans 9:2-5). 

Paul is that little boy, wishing with a stomach-churning anguish that his fellow Israelites might be able to experience life with the amazing, bursting geyser that is the love of Jesus Christ for all the world.  Many of his brothers and sisters from the tribes of Israel have not accepted his preaching of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.  Paul has experienced the most exciting thing that life and God could ever thrown his way, and he would give anything to have those he loves experience it with him.  He would even cut himself “off from Christ” so that they could take his place and experience life with him.

Just to be clear, Paul is in no way stating that the Jewish people are condemned.  To restate the point, Paul says, “to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:4-5).  Amen.  Let it be so.  It is so forever.

This is not a declaration of their eternal damnation as some Christians in the past have assumed.  In the end of his argument Paul will emphatically state that “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew…For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:2a and 29).  God’s gifts are given with grace; not earned.

Instead of damnation, Paul reaches the conclusion that God looks upon the Israelites with eyes full of Jesus’ stomach-wrenching compassion. Paul is convinced that since God promised that the people of Israel will always be God’s people, God will keep that promise and will never let them go.  God is not a liar.  God does not go back on God’s promises.  The Jews are not condemned and lost, even though it may appear to us that their branch was broken off the tree to make room for other people to be grafted on.  God will not throw away their branch.  Israel is and always will be God’s people.

That being clearly stated, Paul still has a genuine yearning for his people to walk with him and take in the sights that he sees as he lives in Christ Jesus and Christ Jesus lives in him. 

He wants them to see Old Faithful blow into the air.  He wants them to live a life with fresh water piped right to them.  He wants them to eat and be filled while laying in the green pastures.  He wants people to look upon them in the coffin and see that they are moving.  He wants them to truly know Christ as he knows Christ.

We all have someone who we wish could experience a life with Jesus just as we have experienced.  We all have someone for whom our stomach wrenches with aches with empathy and compassion, hoping they might have a better life.

Luckily, we know the one who comes and heals.  Luckily we know the one who saves us from drowning, even while we actively try to swim away.  Luckily we know the one who looks upon all of us with a deep, deep desire that we be loved with a deep and holy love that never lets us go. 

So, we pray,

Christ Jesus, we raise up to you the name of someone who we deeply desire would find true life in you.  We lift their name to you now.  Love them.  Save them from all sin and trouble.  Hold them close.  Give them a good and loving life in you.  May our hopes for them become reality.  Continue to grasp tightly onto us as well.  Jesus, in your precious name we pray. Amen.

Reflection on Romans 8:26-39

 

Romans 8:26-39 (NRSVue)

26 The Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

  28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

  31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? 36 As it is written,

 “For your sake we are being killed all day long;

  we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Reflection

“There’s nothing good about me.  There’s nothing good in me.  Everything I do and everything I touch gets ruined.”  Pointing up and down at her own body, pushing the point home she said, “There’s nothing good in here.”

Looking at the woman with understanding eyes, the pastor straightened her dress, leaned forward and said, “But there is.  The Bible tells us that God’s Spirit is in us.  The Spirit dwells in us.  And I guarantee that God’s Spirit does not trash the apartment.  There is good in there.  There is good in you.  God’s Spirit is in you.”

“If God is right there, why do I struggle so much?”

“That is a good question.  That sounds like a something to pray to God about.”

“What would I even say?”

She leaned close again, as if her next words would be the most important ones she had ever spoken, “Listen to what the Spirit is praying.  The Spirit is praying, you know that, right?  The Spirit is talking to God the Father about you, praying for you.”

“I’ve never had anyone pray for me before.”

“Sure, you have, you just didn’t know.  The Bible tells us that the “Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).  “The Spirit has been praying for you.”

“You mean ‘groaning’ about me.  That’s what you said, the Spirit “groans.”

The Pastor smiled and said, “I’m the one who groans.  But the Spirit intercedes, the Spirit stands up for you when you cannot and pleads your case to the Father.  The Spirit has been praying for you the entire time.  The Spirit does not groan about you, but the Spirit groans with you.  The Spirit joins you in your struggles and groans with you.  You are not alone.”

The pastor was right.  We are not alone. 

For Paul, the life of faith is having a deep, deep trust in the Lord and all that the Lord does.  He has told us that there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love.  He has told us that we will keep messing up again and again and the only thing we can do is cling to the one who does not mess up. 

And now, today, we hear that even in our prayer life the Spirit needs to pray for us.  “We do not know how to pray as we ought,” Paul teaches us (Romans 8:26).  We do not pray right.  We pray about stupid and selfish things.  We often focus on ourselves, and we forget about others in our prayers.  And sometimes we just have no idea what to say to God. 

Paul says that we are just as terrible with praying as we are with following the law of God.  Not only are we terrible, Paul teaches that we cannot follow God’s laws correctly and now he teaches that we cannot pray correctly.  But what we can do is trust in the one who can pray correctly. 

Remember, for Paul the life of faith is having a deep, deep trust in the Lord and all that the Lord does.  We trust in God’s Spirit to get the words right.  We trust in God’s Spirit to pray what really needs to be prayed.

After-all, we are like the kid who cried to his parents continuously in an annoying screech that he wanted hot dogs for dinner, again.  “I need my hot dogs!  I am just going to be bones without my hot dogs!” 

But the parents know better.  They know that their child is hungry and that what he really needs is something good and healthy to eat.  So, they cook him a good and healthy meal.  They hear his need, they hear his prayer, but they translate that need for hot dogs into what the prayer should really be, a need for good, healthy food.

And that is the way the Spirit prays for us.  Like a good parent, the Holy Spirit hears our prayer and asks God the real prayer of our heart.  Obviously, this prayer may or may not resemble the one spoken from our lips, but it is the prayer that is actually needed.

How does the Rolling Stones song go?  “You can’t always get what you want, and if you try some time, you find you get what you need.”  Christ has given us the gift of the Spirit, who prays not the prayer of what we want, but rather the prayer of what we need.  And I mean that “we” literally, because what “I” want does not always translate into what “we” need.

I think the Apostle Paul really understood this in a deep way.  I think about all the times that the Apostle Paul was imprisoned.  I also think about the all the times that Paul could have called out to God, asking God to secure his freedom.  “Please free your servant from the pit!” he could have cried.  But we do not read stories of this happening.  We do read about Paul using his imprisonment as an opportunity to share the good news with his fellow prisoners and with his captors.

The Spirit knows what is needed.  The Spirit knows where we need to be.  The Spirit’s prayer was that Paul might connect with those in prison.  The Spirit knew where Paul needed to be so that others might hear the good news.  The Spirit knew where Paul needed to be so he could do the will of God.  The Spirit prays the real prayer that is needed so that “all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  We trust in the movement of the Spirit.

And this trust in the movement of the Spirit and trust in Jesus to save us rather than trusting in ourselves, and trusting is all moving toward one of the strongest declarations of the good news of Jesus Christ that we find in the scriptures.  It is declaration that God is in charge in all things.  It is a declaration that even though the world fails to do good and fails to love, there is a God who is so much stronger.  We have a God who saves us when we fall.  We have a God who forgives us when cause harm.  We have a God who transforms our feeble prayers into prayers of the heart.  We have a God who dwells within us and will not give up on us or disappear from us.  We have a God, seen in Jesus Christ, who loves us, not because we are great, but rather loves us because he is great.

When you have a God like that, Paul asks, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written,

 “For your sake we are being killed all day long;

  we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39).

Reflection on Romans 8:12-25

 

Romans 8:12-25 (NRSVue)

12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are obligated, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—13 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. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

 

Reflection

“We are obligated not…to live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:12). 

We do not have to live in the ways that the world thinks we should live.  We do not have to follow the values that the selfish and uncaring have passed to us.  We do not have to live the way others live, especially when those ways do not promote life.

“We are obligated not…to live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:12). 

These were soul saving words for a friend of mine.  You see, when my friend left business college, he was immediately snatched up by a New York City investment firm.  Right away he was thrown into “the good life” that the city could provide.  Within months he was driving the car of his dreams, living it up in the dance clubs at night, and making more money than he thought that he would ever be making in a lifetime.  The only problem was that some of the practices that he was being taught to bring in those big numbers seemed to be balancing on the cliff edge of unethical, if not freely jumping off the cliff.  The reality was: the money he was making was causing suffering elsewhere.

Partying with the bros on what he increasingly felt was tainted money started to eat away at his soul.  But, whenever he tried to breach the subject with his city bros, they shrugged and danced away into the night, drinks firmly in their hands. 

Do you know how hard it is to separate yourself from your culture?  Do you know how lonely it is to be the only person who seems to see what is corrosive and harmful in the life that everyone seems to be embracing?

But this was the life he trained for.  This was the path that he chose for himself.  And it was so very, very good…to him.  So then, why did it feel so very wrong?

I mentioned that he was a friend.  I can tell you exactly why it felt wrong.  He was a friend from church.  He was a friend from a faith community that asked us teens to help deliver turkeys to needy families at Thanksgiving.  He was a friend who heard again and again that in God’s eyes, we are all children of God.  No one deserves any more than anyone else.  The human community is a “we” and not a “me.”  He was a friend who heard the pastor preach about how Jesus refused to put himself first, but who on the cross put the everyone else first.

He learned around the nature of Jesus’ heart by listening to teachings such as: “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28); and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39); and most importantly, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

Not only did these teachings sink into his soul throughout those years of growing up, but he also clearly heard the love that Jesus had for him…for us…on the cross: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends” (John 15:13-14).

The life he had stumbled into was none of that.  It was all about helping yourself, enriching yourself, and making your life a great party.  In that way of life there was no concept of giving up your life for others.

But how do you change an entire culture?  How do you reshape people who have no desire to be shaped?  How do you make people care about how others are being cheated and hurt when they do not care about others?  He felt trapped in his new life, until he read these words from Paul: “We are obligated not…to live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:12). 

He heard God saying to him through Paul, “You don’t have to live this way.  You don’t have to be a part of any of it.  Your very soul, your very being will rot and die in this way of life.”  The Apostle Paul said it clearly, “If you live according to the flesh, you will die” (Romans 8:13).  “We are obligated not…to live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:12). 

“You can just leave,” he heard God telling him.  “This does not have to be your life; you can just leave.” 

So, he did.  He left the job.  He left the city.  He left that way of life.  He started using his financial smarts in an organization that helps to support the education of disabled children.  He took a huge pay cut and sacrificed “the good life” so that he might live a “life of goodness.”  It was worth it.

Paul teaches: “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” (Romans 8:13).  Life in the Spirit is true life!

That is easy to forget, because the lure of the world is so strong.  My friend needed to remember that he was adopted. 

Please understand, he was not adopted in an earthly family sense.  He grew up with his own biological parents.  What I mean is that when his life ceased to reflect the values of his Christian family, the family in which Jesus made him a member, he needed to be reminded that his adoption in that family never ceased. 

Paul reminds us: “You received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:15-17).

Being adopted into a family means something.  Primarily, in the ancient world, it meant that you would get an inheritance.  The primary reason men would adopt in the ancient world was so that there would be someone who could inherit and continue the family business, especially if there were no sons to whom it could be passed.  Or a man might adopt someone who is very skilled and important in the family business in order to keep them in that business, and in that way of life.

Just think: God the Father thought that you were so important that God needed to adopt you and keep you in the family business.  Have you ever considered that you are truly valuable to God?

I think that is why my friend struggled so much at that well paying job.  He did not feel like what he was doing was valuable to God.  He was not living in his identity as a beloved child of God, and as a brother of Jesus Christ.

I remember once being scolded as a child, in a gently yet firm voice, “What you did is not what an Albers would do!”  Now, I have to admit that I have no recollection of what I was doing to deserve such a scolding.  It probably had something to do with picking on my little brother, I do not know.  But I clearly remember the words.  It was as if there was a certain way of life that was “being an Albers.”  I remember wanting to be an Albers.  Not that there was any fear that I would be disowned, that is not it.  I wanted everyone to see the type of Albers that other members of the Albers family reflected in the community.

And my friend yearned for the same thing as far as his life in Christ’s family was concerned.  His wild city life at the expense of others did not reflect the family that he was in.  The Spirit of God was crying out in his soul, yearning that he remember his adoption and yearning that he would no longer feel obligated to walk the ways of a life that led to the death of his deepest self.  More than that, others needed him to be his true self.  Others needed the love of Christ through his hands.  Others needed him to be a member of his Christ-like family.

Paul says, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Romans 8:19).  Even creation awaits our return as children of God, as adopted members of the family of Jesus Christ.  Even the birds need us to be who we were adopted to be.

It makes me think of some lyrics from the song Rubberband Man by Mumford and Sons and Hozier in particular who sings:

“Steady yourself / And your tumbleweed words / Be a street corner preacher / Or just feed the birds” (Mumford and Sons and Hozier, Rubberband Man).

True life, a steady life, can be found in a life that preaches Christ on the street corner, but it can also be found in caring for the birds in the park.

My friend might have been lured into a destructive and selfish way of life, but he had never forgotten his former one completely.  The one thing that grounded him in compassion and love each day was sharing the bready end of his ham and cheese sub with the birds.  In the nearby park where he ate, he ripped off pieces of bread and gave a morsel of life to the birds gathering around his feet.  Most people view pigeons as a nuisance, but he saw the sharing of bread as grace to God’s creatures. 

That sounds a lot like the one who shared the bread of his own body to a nuisance and sin-filled world.  It sounds a lot like the one in whose family we are adopted.  It sounds a lot like the one in whom we put our hope when the world out there does not seem to really care.  Never forget, you are adopted into the family of your redeemer and savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Live in that life.  Live in that hope.  Love like Jesus.

Reflection on Romans 8:1-11 (Sunday, July 12, 2026)

Romans 8:1-11 (NRSVue)

¹ Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ 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, ⁴ 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. ⁵ 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. ⁶ To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ 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, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
  ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Reflection

The Spirit of Christ dwells in you and you in Christ.  You have heard that before.  We hear this regularly in church just after the Lord’s Supper when we ask that we abide in Christ and he in us, so that we might be given the power of his endless life.  The idea is that the Spirit of Christ actually lives in us, rummaging around in our very selves somehow, directing our ways and our deeds for the good. 

For a long time, this idea was somewhat suppressed in the church.  It is making a comeback now, but the idea was suppressed for, seemingly, a good reason.  People were claiming to speak for God, having been “filled by the Spirit.”  They ordered others around as if they, themselves, were divine.  These church dictators had their say long enough, so the idea of people being filled with the Spirit was allowed to collect dust. 

But the fear of miniature church Hitlers…come on, you have wanted to call them that also…the fear of becoming like them should never have allowed us to forget that the Sprit of Christ does set up housing within us.  As Isaiah promises, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him” (Isaiah 11:2a).  The Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of love and forgiveness, “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” does set up housekeeping within us, nailing a cross to the wall, putting words of truth on the fireplace mantle, and setting a large table with room for anyone to sit (NRSVue, Isaiah 11:2).

I distinctly remember that as very young Sunday School students we were told that Christ lived inside us.  The girl beside me at the table promptly lifted her dress, slapped her tummy, and said “Hello, Jesus, are you in there?” 

Sometimes I wonder the same thing.  “Jesus, are you in there?”  After-all, there are so many times in life that I have acted in ways that were not Christ-like.  A lot of decisions were made impulsively and they hurt other people.  A lot of decisions that I thought were loving decisions ended up causing more pain than healing.  Christ might be trying to steer this RV of mine in right the right direction, I hear he is a good driver, but there is a lot of flesh covering the windshield, making it hard for Jesus to steer.

Paul says that “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh” (Romans 8:5).  That is so true.  Fleshy lives make fleshy decisions.  Those who care about themselves set their minds on themselves.  Other people are simply forgotten, not even considered.  Fleshy lives make fleshy decisions.

Paul agrees: “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” (Romans 8:7-8).

Years and years ago a young man desperately wanted to break through this flesh barrier though and eliminate it completely.  He wanted to scrape his life clean so that the Spirit of Christ might shine through. 

He heard the promise found in the good news of Jesus Christ.  He heard Paul proclaiming, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).  He wanted the Spirit of Christ and his own Spirit to dwell within each other so closely that those around him would not be able to tell the difference between he and Christ. 

This Christian pilgrim set out on a quest to become one with God.  On his journey, he encountered a faithful man who told him that he could get to his destination by praying without ceasing.  The faithful man told him that:

“The continuous interior Prayer of Jesus is a constant uninterrupted calling upon the divine Name of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart; while forming a mental picture of His constant presence, and imploring His grace, during every occupation, at all times, in all places, even during sleep. The appeal is couched in these terms, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’” (The Way of the Pilgrim). 

And so, with the words, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” constantly in his mind, like a mantra, he set out on his journey.  The idea was that, with those words on your mind constantly, you could not help but be like Christ in all your speech and actions.  Whether you were talking with a homeless man or simply doing the dishes with your children, you could not help but be Christ-like in that very moment if you prayed in a way that constantly asked that Christ be with you and in you.  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”  “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

The young man is said to have found peace once he mastered the technique. 

I tried it once.  My result was not quite as good.  I mastered a superb way to give myself an instant headache.  A fellow religion student in college said that he had pushed beyond the headache and had mastered it to the point that he always felt at one with God and God’s grace.  The truth was that the guy was a pompous pig.  He never had time for you, and he could not possibly listen to you because he had all the answers.  My interpretation was that the prayer made the guy a pompous pig. 

That might be a little harsh.  The technique might work just fine and he had simply failed in living with the prayer.  But my sneaking suspicion is that somehow the wrappings of our flesh will always get in the way.  Christ might be inside us, but the flesh always tries to find a way to lock Christ deep away. 

I emphasize the word “tries” here.  The trappings of the flesh can try to lock Christ away, but do not forget that a hard tomb of death and stone was not able to keep Christ locked away.  If rock is nothing to Christ, then certainly flesh is nothing to Christ. 

No.  The Spirit of Christ cannot be locked away.  It is alive and it is at work deep inside. 

The interior decorating that the Spirit provides might not always seem like progress.  It might seem more like demolishing.  The Spirit may strip beloved corners of your life because the corners were, in reality, empty and meaningless.  That hurts.  But the Spirit will also proclaim that new life is waiting to take over.  New decorations are on their way!  The Spirit can work so much goodness in your life.

The Spirit can awaken your soul from sleep, causing you to care for those around you and strive to live a life full of meaning and in step with Jesus Christ. 

The Spirit can tell you that you have deeply hurt someone and can push you to heal that person’s wound by asking for forgiveness. 

The Spirit can awaken a love that is able to overcome long held hatred and resentment. 

The Spirit can open your eyes to new insight and wisdom that might change the world overnight. 

The Spirit can stir up a fire in the fireplace of your soul even while the rest of the world appears to be growing colder by the minute. 

The Spirit can pray the words that you are unable to utter yourself. 

The Spirit can reunite you to Christ who dwells within, even when you cannot see him through all the flesh. 

Sometimes it is hard to see this work of the Spirit.  Sometimes we need someone like Paul who reminds us that “you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9).  Sometimes our lives get wrapped up in the flesh of our desires and self-serving ways and we need God to send another follower of Christ who hears the call to take off our fleshy wrappings. 

That is what Christ commanded the friends of Lazarus to do, after-all.  They took off his burial wrappings and Lazarus was released to live a second life.  He was given a new life by Christ.  He was given a life with lungs filled with the Spirit of Christ. 

And as the layers are removed from your life, and you stare down at your formerly hidden body, you see that Christ indeed is within you.  The Spirit has been there the whole time and Christ has restored you to true life! 

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

Reflection on Romans 7:15-25a

 

Romans 7:15-25a (NRSVue)

¹⁵ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me.
  ²¹ So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³ but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ^25a Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Reflection

“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15).

Slamming down my golf club after slicing my ball far, far into the weeds my internship supervising pastor brought his club up against his shoulder, turned to walk away and simply said, “Another Romans 7:15 shot.”  I stared at him, wandering off into the weeds to help me find my ball, wondering what he was talking about. I caught up to him and asked.

“You know, Romans 7:15: ‘I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.’  You wanted to hit the ball far and straight, right?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You knew that you should take a nice and easy swing to hit the ball far and straight, right?”

“Yes.”

“But you decided at the very last moment to try to smash the ball as hard and far as you could, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“It didn’t work, did it?  That was a Romans 7:15 shot.  Don’t worry, you will do it again and again and again.”

Well, that was not exactly very comforting.  It was as if smashing golf balls into the weeds was going to be my life!  I can get better at this, can’t I? 

I did not get better.  He was right.  I did it again and again, even though I said to myself, “Don’t smash the ball…Don’t smash the ball.”  At the last second, nearly each and every time, I would decide, “I’m going to smash the ball anyway.”  Why did I do that?  The result was almost always me fishing around in the weeds. 

But here is the thing: the couple of times I connected with the golf ball perfectly, taking me all the way to the green, was enough to make me do it again and again.  Those couple of times, and the cheering from friends that came along with these couple of great shots, were enough to convince me that the correct way was not necessarily the best way.

Do you know people for whom that is their motto?  The correct way is not necessarily the best way.  Do you sometimes live that way?

My internship pastor knew better.  He calmly and carefully hit the ball each time.  It did not go as far as mine, but neither did he have to chop through the weeds.  He won every game.  Smashing the ball was not his Romans 7:15 issue.  “Don’t worry Jira, I have my own Romans 7:15 moments.  We all do.”

And that sort of sums up life.  We all know the rules to do things right, we just do not necessarily follow the rules. 

Biblical scholar Ralph Jacobson once told the story of his youngest boy during devotion time at supper.  The family was working through the ten commandments out of Luther’s Small Catechism and they had arrived at, “you shall not covet your neighbor’s property.”  His young boy asked what “covet” meant?  The older sister wisely explained that it means “wanting something that someone else has.  Like when you wanted your friend’s new bike even though you have a perfectly good one.  That is coveting.  Do you understand?” 

The boy replied, “Yes, I understand,” and then promptly turned to his mother and asked, “Can you put that bike on my Christmas list?” 

It is strange, but sometimes knowing the rules makes you want to do the very thing that you know you should not.  We know in our heads what is good and right (not coveting our neighbor’s stuff…being content with what God has given us), but we fail in our flesh to actually accomplish what we know to be right.  Paul puts it this way in Romans:

“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15).

And further on Paul continues…

“For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:22-23). 

The little quirk in human nature that Paul is pointing out is sometimes described as the inability to say “no.”

Of course, we understand that saying, “no” can be a very healthy thing in many ways. 

Saying “no” to the urge to eat more than you need is a simple way to keep your weight under control.  I think that most of us understand that. 

Saying “no” to going out with friends when you need to study for the exam will undoubtedly help you succeed in school. 

Saying “no” to the urge to rush on the highway may save your life. 

Saying “no” to screaming at someone else will probably make sure that you continue to have a loving relationship with them.

I hope that I am not opening some hidden treasures of wisdom here.  All these things are obvious.  But there is one thing that all of these have in common: none are easy.  You just try not getting mad the next time that you get mad!

Just because the rules are not easy does not mean they are bad.  Rules that seek the best for me and those around me are good.  Most of us agree that the rules are good.  Paul agrees: “For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.  Wretched person that I am!” (Romans 7:22-24).

I constantly find myself doing those things that harm rather than help!  Now, if we all followed the God’s good law, we would all live in peace and health.  Imagine what a wonderful world we could have if everyone just followed the rules.  It is Isaiah’s vision found in Isaiah 11:6. “The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together” (Isaiah 11:6).  Rednecks shall hold hands with Boston lawyers and skip together through the fields of daisies.

As much as I want that world, Paul says that even this vision is not enough to stop me from doing what may cause harm to myself or others.  “Wretched person that I am!” he screams (Romans 7:24).

Of course, people who do not struggle with your particular issue will undoubtedly ask, “Why don’t you just say ‘no’?”

As if it were that easy.

For some people, not stealing is just as hard as me not slicing the golf ball into the weeds.

For some people, not sabotaging the relationship is just as hard as me not saying “no” to the Resees Peanut Butter Cup.

For some people, not keeping their eye on God, “You shall have no other gods,” is simply impossible because they are so lost that they do not even know who God truly is.  They will follow anything or anyone who seems to make any sort of sense to them, no matter how ungodly that one may be.

Just say no.  No one needs to tell us that because we tell it to ourselves over and over again.  “Just say ‘no” this time!” the voice inside our head says.  “You can do it this time,” we say over and over again to ourselves.  And when we fail, yet again?  Well, a classmate of mine once summed it up perfectly.  When his test was returned to him with a bad score, he just sat there in his desk, hitting his forehead with his fist repeating “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

If I could go back in time, I would say to that kids, “Don’t worry. I have my own Romans 7:15 moments too.  We all do.” 

That makes me think of 1 John 1:8-9.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). 

Maybe, it is fine to come to the realization that we just can’t fix ourselves.  After-all how are we going to trust in the Lord if we can do it all ourselves?  Here is the truth: we cannot do it all.  The Holy Spirit knows that.  The Holy Spirit uses our inability to fix ourselves to draw us closer to the one who can fix us and make us whole.  It seems that only when we accept that we have Romans 7:15 moments, do we finally reach out and grasp onto Jesus Christ, who overcomes limitations, sin, and death.

The first step in 12 step recovery is admitting we are powerless over our addiction (over our inability to get it right, over our inability to fix ourselves).  We admit that our lives have become unmanageable and that we need someone other than ourselves to move forward.  It is true for all of us.  My Romans 7:15 moment may not be addiction, but I still cannot overcome my struggles alone.  We all need someone else.  We all need Christ. 

Maybe when we finally cling to Christ and maybe when we see that Christ carries us through our Romans 7:15 moments, we can finally have a Romans 7:25 moment and shout: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25).