Freedom and Righteousness

But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18 NRSV)

Paul’s passage to the Romans above includes a couple of tough words for us to deal with. Cultural context for the concept of slavery means we have a hard time using it in any constructive ways. Slavery is something to be opposed according to our understanding of history (and rightly so).

Except, in this passage, Paul reminds us that we are slaves. We might not be slaves to sin, but we are slaves to righteousness. And that probably doesn't sound right to you. We don’t want to be slaves. We want to be free. We celebrate the fact that we are free from sin, but we have to acknowledge the other side of that equation. If/when we are set free from sin, it is only so we can be free for righteousness. Nothing that we are or have is for our own enjoyment or purpose. It is always for God’s purpose and for the bringing of God’s Kingdom. So we are still slaves - but it is a slavery to joy and righteousness.

Then there’s that word, “righteous.” The only way it seems to be used today is with “self-” on the front of it. Far too many people are focused on their own righteousness at the expense of others. Instead, perhaps we can remember that Paul also said we are all convicted and in need of God’s grace. That “righteousness” we claim is not from anything we have accomplished or for our own benefit. It is God’s gift of right relationship so we can bring the world back to God.

Martin Luther described our life of righteousness this way, “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject of all, subject to all.” (Freedom of a Christian) Perhaps you can better relate to the word servant. Perhaps not. But it is an appropriate description of our life of righteousness. We are free from sin so that we are able to serve the world. We are free from our sin so that we can be a slave to God. I don’t like the word slave, but if it means I’m in right relationship with God, I’ll take it.

Running and Losing

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;  and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:37-39 NRSV)

Well at least it’s not what Luke says. Luke says we have to hate our family to follow Christ. In Matthew’s passage above we only have to love all of them less than we love God. That makes sense doesn't it? We are supposed to put God first. We are supposed to lose our life in favor of what God has in store for us. That’s easier said than done.

As some of you know (but only a very few), my reflections written here come from my time during Running Faith on Thursday evening. For those of you who don’t know, I’ll offer a commercial: The invitation stands for you to join me at the entrance to the running trail at 1900 on Thursdays. I share a passage (almost always one of the lectionary passages read at the 0800 service on Sunday) and then you can run (or walk) for 30-40 minutes and consider what God is saying to you in the passage. At the end of the appointed time, we gather for a few minutes of reflection and prayer before going on with our evening.

It’s a quick way to spend some time refreshing your soul while exercising your body. I have found it to be a great way to return from the business (the busy-ness) of the daily grind to the Word of God and the promises that God makes to us. And then I read passages like this. The whole time I ran and considered this passage I couldn't help but think about all the ways I wasn't doing it. All the ways I was putting other things – my life – ahead of God.

Some of my occasional running companions.

I wasn't feeling refreshed and renewed at all (and it wasn't just the heat).The question convicts and challenges me. What am I supposed to lose? What does it mean for me to give up my life for God’s sake? I honestly don’t know.

Thankfully I know I will not be lost as long as I continue to seek God at the foot of the cross. Join me next week (Thursday 1900) to reflect on finding life with God.

PS To those of you who may be reading this on my blog, if you'd like to reflect and run "with" me, drop me an email or send me a FB message and I'll send you our passage each week. Feel free to respond with what reflections you might have while you're running.

Peace and Love

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. 13The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. (2 Corinthians 13:11-13)

Paul concludes his second letter to the Corinthians with the words above. You may recognize the final phrase from worship services you have attended. Many traditions use these words as a heartfelt greeting shared between the one leading worship and those gathered together in communion with one another – in Chaplain Okwori’s “sweet fellowship.” 

Sweet fellowship, communion, peaceful living can be an out of reach goal for many of our communities. We live lives that are anything but peaceful and grace filled. Our mission in this place can be challenging to the concept of peace as we face so much violence and fear. A kiss is anything but “holy” as we face the reality of sexual assault and other issues of brokenness in our relationships.

The picture created in this passage is one of unity and peace, something we have struggled with for millennia. As our world is chopped up in smaller and smaller bits even as we struggle to be more and more connected, agreeing with one another is valued less and less. We find less order, more disagreement, more violence, and the feeling that God is gone from this world.

We have the chance, in our community, to do something else. We have the chance to gather ourselves around the presence of “the God of love and peace.” Despite our differences and disagreements, our God still comes among us to bring peace and love. We are not left to find peace for ourselves, but are given a promise by our loving God and Father. That should be enough. It is enough if we trust that promise. We can live together in peace if we let Christ be the center of that life. 

When all peace seems to be long gone, remember that in the bleak darkness of our lives we see the light of promise that is a loving and peaceful God bringing us into a life of grace and community. When you can’t find peace, bring yourself more fully into the community that gathers here around a God of love and peace.

Connected

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free -- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NRSV)

Paul talks of one body in the passage quoted above. He is writing to a church that was struggling with unity among a great deal of diversity - to a church that was trying to discover who it would be in a world that wasn't prepared for the message it was bringing about God and God’s love.

We’re not in a vastly different place today. Although the church has existed for a couple of millennium, we are still living in a world that doesn't know what to do with the message of love and grace we bring from God. Of course, that message isn't always clearly stated. Far too often the message received is about Christians themselves and their conflicts with one another over one theological issue or another.

I once served in youth ministry at First Lutheran Church in Chambersburg, PA. My wife joked when I told her about the job, “Oh, as opposed to Second Lutheran.” I said, “Yes, that church is on the other side of town.” Second Lutheran had formed over a disagreement whether to continue to use German in worship. That disagreement happened around 1835. During my time there the two churches still didn't talk much or work together in any way. It’s so incredibly easy for us to find ways to disagree and tear our communities apart rather than seek ways to live in the unity of Christ.

In many ways, we model a better model of unity here in this place. We come together from different faith backgrounds and worship together as one body of Christ. We recently had a Revival that included our Catholic brothers and sisters, just as we had gathered together at the foot of the cross on Good Friday.

The world will continue to try to pull us apart. The world and our own sinfulness will continue to drive wedges of discord and conflict between us as we fall away from the call to be one body in Christ. This weekend we will celebrate Pentecost - the moment when The Holy Spirit brought the message of God to a diverse community. Open your heart to the Holy Spirit to hear the love of God in a way that brings you closer to your neighbor - to a fellow child of God. You might be surprised how much you have in common.