SCRIPTURE: Romans 8:6-11
TEXT: 11If 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. THEME: The creative force of God influencing our lives. INTRODUCTION It is easy for us to read passages as if it stands alone, apart from the context that they are found in. But the Apostle Paul has methodically built up a foundation to this point in chapter 8 in his letter to the church in Rome. He has taken the reader to the beginnings of grace and forgiveness with the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden. As they mature to an age where they are not children anymore but are responsible for the choices that they make; good or evil. This is not sin, or disobedience, as much as it is about being human. Within the context of relationships, the effect of our choices are times of great joy and disappointment. Love, grace, and forgiveness. Relational dynamics that get played over and over again with God and each other. Paul made note of our family origins of faith with Abraham and Sara. Called out of a community of people to be the parents of God’s nation, God’s people, God’s family, theirs is a journey of discovery, experimentation, guessing, and human ingenuity that is credited to them as faith. Faith does not mean that we are perfect, it is more that we hold on to a promise and a hope. And on some days, we are better at it than others. Contrary to popular belief, God does not punish us for that, but journeys along with us. So then our relationship is just as much about God as it is about us. We can see God’s character as creating, loving, committed, forgiving, gracious and hopeful relationships. As Jesus comes to us, God in flesh to live among us. Not because we are bad, not to punish us, but because we are good. Because we are loved, because there is so much more for us to live in relationship with God and others. Which brings us to the Spirit of Christ in today’s passage. This is the incarnation of the Spirit of God inside of us. Not that we are gods by any means, but that we are good and God give to us the Spirit, to help us live the best life possible, in order to create, to love, and to be in relationship with God and others. SCRIPTURE Paul doesn’t write in a box either. He is greatly influence by Greek philosopher trying figuring out how to get a handle on what is in the world. As the super power of the day, the Roman Empire conquered Greece and renamed all of their gods with Roman names. Jesus whom Paul detested at first, has now become the one in whom he has places his belief, trust, and faith. So, taking his lead from Greek philosophy, which his audience would have been aquatinted with, the flesh, with its gross desires and passions are seen as the downfall of humans. Or so it seems. If we read this carefully, the paradox is that Paul recognizes the flesh with all of its faults as ‘good’, just as God see creation and the world as ‘good’ and comes to it in the incarnation. But God, through Christ, goes one step further in having God’s Spirit dwell within us. Sort of an incarnation of God’s Spirit inside of us. Again, saying that we are Good, the world is good, and God comes to dwell in it through us. APPLICATION We are both flesh and Spirit. Both are good with the potential for change, transformation and participating in God’s continuing work of creation. How do we have that internal dialogue that enables us to choose to live by the Spirit? We need time in our day to be silent. To be still. To be open and to see if God’s Spirit may be speaking to us. The Buddhist have this whole ceremony for making tea, I can spend 4 minutes in silence before God, while I wait for my coffee to be brewed. Silence will lead to other things such as a reassurance of God’s love. Or an idea that will set a course in a new direction. Bringing to mind people, places or issues to be in prayer about. Sometimes the silence will reorder all of the things going on in our mind, with priorities, and clarity. We need time spent contemplating God’s word in scripture. The discovery of God’s heart informs our living. We have inherited theological ideas that need to be challenged, questioned, tested, and evolved. We need to be conversations with others about what we believe so we can learn and grow by others experiences with God. Our theology needs to continuing to develop and change with the new things or perspective we gain. Culture, science, history, politics, crisis, a compassionate heart towards others helps our theology to mature, and gives is the ability to wrestle with the issues in our world today, so the Word of God can continue to give life, call people to the heart of God and inform our living. The Spirit in us, helps us to do and live in the ways of God beyond what we can do on our own. I am a cook but not a baker. I had a hankering for scones, but my favorite scone bakery was no longer operating out of the Safeway shopping center. So on one of my Ross shopping adventures, I found a just add water mix for scones. Wow really good. But the batter is so sticky, I have a hard time getting it off the fork and spoon to drop it on the baking sheet. Then Jann told me to use a vegetable spray on the spoon. Voila! I was able to arrange scones perfectly for baking on one sheet with no mess. Vegetable spray is like the Holy Spirit being inside of us making our lives lived for God easier. Whenever I preach, I ask God what God wants me to say. I trust that God has something for me to say each Sunday, otherwise God wouldn’t have called me into the ministry. There are times on Saturday night that I am so tired that I have to go to sleep, even before my sermon finished. By that time, I have written myself into a box and I have writer’s block. Then God wakes up from my sleep with enough time to finish the sermon. With a different slant, a new perspective, and a way to finish. This has Gotta be the Spirit of God in me that speaks while I sleep and enables me to have something to say each Sunday. CONCLUSION The Spirit of God in us is a paradox. We are not gods but have God’s Spirit of inside of us to help us live in God’s ways, to participate in God’s mission, to have the strength, courage, fortitude, to resist temptation and continue in God’s way. The Spirit rings in our hearts to God’s ways and keeps us on track and on task. But when we are not, and have drifted away, the Spirit is that conscience, voice, nagging, that spark in us and tells us we are loved, it will be alright and we. Belong to the family of God. When we believe in Jesus, Faith in God comes and the Spirit lives in us.
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