Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity - Eph 2:1-10

 

   Trinity 11

                                                                                                            Eph 2:1-10

                                                                                                            8/16/26

 

            If you look into the data regarding our national government’s debt, you aren’t going to find anything good. Today the United State government’s debt is 40 trillion dollars. That is about $117,000 per citizen of the United States

            It’s a frightening figure. And what is worse is the fact that it is growing rapidly. The debt grows by three billion dollars each day just on the interest the federal government is paying. In the early 1980’s the debt reached one trillion dollars for the first time in the nation’s history. By 2000 it had grown to 5.7 trillion. A mere twenty years later it had ballooned to 27 trillion. And in the last six years since 2020 it exploded to 40 trillion dollars.

            There does not seem to be any answer. Cutting the budget and the size of the government itself is unpopular because many people do not want the hardships it would entail. Increasing income through more taxes may bring in additional money, but the government just turns around and finds more ways to spend it.  Politicians keep kicking the can down the road and ignoring the problem. I am no economist but you have to think that this can’t go on forever. A day of reckoning will arrive, and not going to be pretty.

            In the same way, if you look into what Scripture has to say about the spiritual nature of man since the Fall, you aren’t going to find anything good either. Now to be sure, things in the beginning were very good. God said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” And so God created man in his own image. He created him to be like God. Man knew God as he wants to be known. He lived perfectly according to God’s will.

            But the devil tempted Eve by saying that God was holding out on them. The father of lies told her that they could be God if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – the one tree of which God had told Adam they were not to eat or they would die. Adam ignored God’s command and abandoned his role of headship as he listened to Eve and ate as well.

By their action sin entered into the world. This sin perverted all that God had made to be very good. It brought death. God told Adam that now he would “return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” And this reflected the fact that a profound change had occurred in man. He had lost the image of God in every way that mattered.

In our Old Testament lesson from Genesis chapter four we see how sin and death immediately manifested themselves in Adam and Eve’s children as Cain kills Abel. Then chapter five provides us with the book of the generations of Adam as Scripture begins to describe the line through which God would provide the Savior. And there we hear a striking statement of the profound change that has occurred as Moses tells us that Adam “fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.”

From the moment of the Fall, you don’t find Scripture saying anything good about man’s spiritual abilities. David confesses his sinfulness as he says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” He confesses that he has been sinful since the beginning. Jesus told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” He said that sinful fallen nature brings forth more sinful fallen nature. And Paul told the Corinthians, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” He said that as born, a person cannot understand and accept the things of the Spirit.

That same bleak assessment of man’s spiritual abilities is what we find in our epistle lesson today.  Paul begins by saying, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” The apostle says that the Ephesians were spiritually dead and under the power of the devil. As those controlled by the devil they were sons of disobedience.

Now we might be inclined to think that Paul is only saying this because they were Gentile unbelievers. But he immediately discounts this by including himself along with all people in this same category. He goes on to refer to the sons of disobedience as he adds, “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” 

Paul says that all people are dead in their trespasses and sins. All people are sons of disobedience and under the power of the devil. All people are by nature children of wrath – those who will receive God’s eternal judgment. There are no exceptions here for age or anything else. It is yet another example of the recurring truth found in Scripture. It is the truth summarized earlier in the Rite of Holy Baptism when it said, “The Word of God also teaches us that we are all conceived and born sinful and are under the power of the devil until Christ claims us as his own.”

You will be hard pressed to find a more brutal and ugly description of the spiritual condition in which we are conceived and born. And that fact makes the apostle’s next statement all the more incredible as he says: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Paul has been clear that there was absolutely nothing loveable about us. But he tells us that God is rich in mercy.  He describes the great love with which he loves us. And for the first of three times in our text he says that God saved us by grace – by his unmerited loving favor. He describes a God who loves the unlovable. He is the One who acts to save those who do not deserve it in any way because that is simply his gracious character.

God acted to save us by sending his Son in order to provide the answer to sin and all that it had done to us. The incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, was in our world to receive the judgment against our sin by his death on the cross. Paul says in the previous chapter, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”

But what God did in Christ was not only about forgiveness. God had told Adam that sin would bring death. Jesus Christ came as the second Adam who passed through death in order to defeat it forever. God raised Jesus on the third day as the beginning of resurrection life that will be ours. Paul told the Corinthians, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Paul says that when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. In his letter to the Colossians that was written around the same time as Ephesians and shares much language in common with it we learn how this happened. There Paul writes, “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

            Through the waters of baptism you were buried with Christ – you shared in his saving death.  Baptized into Christ, you have been united with Christ. You now live in Christ, and so Paul says that you have been made alive with Christ. You have been raised in Christ. He can even say in our text that you have been seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ.

            The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and so baptism into Christ takes place through the work of the Spirit. Life in Christ is new life worked by the Spirit. Jesus said that to receive the kingdom of God a person must be born again, and then he added, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Paul told Titus that baptism is “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”

            That is what God has done to you. That is what God did to Leo, Rex, and Ara this morning. In saying this we are not denying that the Spirit had already called them to saving faith through the Word. But our God is the Gospel God who surrounds us with his gifts. Through baptism the Spirit works regeneration that deepens faith. Through baptism we receive blessings that Scripture only ascribes to baptism. And Jesus has told us a disciple is made through baptism and teaching.

Baptism is an objective act by God – the application of water to our bodies with the Word. It is a onetime event that defines our whole life as Christians. God has given us his promise about what he did in baptism and he calls us to believe and trust in what he did through this gift.

God’s gift of baptism is something that is done to you. You can’t baptize yourself. And this fact underscores that salvation is God’s gift. Paul emphasizes this in our text when he says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Here, as in Romans chapter four, Paul defines faith as the opposite of doing. Faith is simply trust in God’s promise. It is the open hand that receives what God gives.

We are saved by grace alone. We are saved by faith alone. But since faith is the creation of the Spirit it can never remain alone. The apostle goes on to say at the end of our text, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

In baptism you have been born again of water and the Spirit. You have received regeneration. Paul told the Corinthians, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The apostle says in our text that we are what God has made. The Spirit who has made us a new creation now prompts and leads us to live out our faith. God has created us in Christ Jesus for good works.

God has made you for good works, and he has placed you where you are to do good works. He has placed you in callings in life – in vocations. He has made you a husband or wife; a father or mother; a son or daughter; an employer or employee. You don’t have to go looking around to find where you are to serve. God has already put you there, and believe me, there is plenty to do.

These are not actions that the world will acknowledge and praise. They look mundane. But God has placed you there as the instrument through which he cares for your family, friends, and neighbors.

So spouses, support and encourage one another. Do that thing which isn’t your job, but will make the other’s life easier. Fulfill the sexual needs of one another because that is the responsibility in marriage that God has given to both of you.

Parents, you probably don’t need to be told to put your children ahead of yourself. But recognize that the most important thing you will do is to teach your children the Christian faith. Games and tournaments won in sports will soon drift away into meaninglessness.  But the spiritual welfare of your children is eternal. So bring your family every Sunday to the Divine Service and establish that as the pattern that your children think is normal. Read Scripture and pray with your family in devotions – you’ll find a pattern for that in the bulletin and on the church website every week.

Kids obey your parents. Do what they tell you. Don’t make them ask twice. Better yet, don’t make them ask at all. Do those things at home that you know are your jobs. Do things the way they are supposed to be done. And look for ways to do things that help your parents.

Employers treat those who work for you in ways that are fair and honest. Show towards them the same thing you would want to receive if you were the employee. And employees, recognize that you are the means by which God provides for those around you.  He is working through you. So do a good job. Be helpful. As Paul told the Colossians, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”

In our text today Paul describes how we were unlovable – we were under the power of the devil and by nature children of wrath. But God who is rich in mercy loved us in Christ. By his death he redeemed us from sin, and by his resurrection he has given us life. Baptized into Christ, through the work of the Spirit we now live in Christ. We have been saved by grace through faith apart from any works. But in Christ God has made us new creation for the purpose of doing good works where God has placed us to serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark's thoughts: The use of chrism in the Lutheran Service Book Rite of Holy Baptism

 

In the Old Testament, individuals were anointed with olive oil in order to identify them as priests (Leviticus 8:12, 30) and kings (1 Samuel 10:1; 16:12-13) in Israel. The fact that kings were anointed gave rise to a title used to describe them – messiah - which in Hebrew is the word for “anointed one.” God promised that He would raise up a descendant of King David who would bring peace and salvation to God’s people.  This One would be the Messiah because He would be anointed with the Spirit of God (Isaiah 61:1; cf. Isaiah 11).

 Jesus was shown to be the Christ (Greek for Messiah) when He was anointed with the Holy Spirit at His baptism in the Jordan River (Acts 10:38; cf. Luke 4:17-19).  In his letter that is filled with baptismal language, Peter wrote: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). 

 In the Greco-Roman world the use of oil was associated with bathing in the same way that today we think of soap.  Given this cultural setting and the rich biblical background of anointing it is not surprising that very early, anointing with oil became part of the rite of Holy Baptism in many parts of the Church.  Tertullian, writing around 200 A.D. in North Africa provides the earliest evidence of this practice as he states in De Baptismo, “After that we come up from the washing and are anointed with the blessed unction, following that ancient practice by which ever since Aaron was anointed by Moses, there was a custom of anointing them for priesthood with oil out of a horn” (7). 

 The use of chrism (fragrant olive oil) after baptism has been a universal practice of the Western Church for at least 1700 years.  It was included in Martin Luther’s 1523 Order of Holy Baptism and the Lutheran Service Book Agenda makes provision for its use (pg. 5).  The chrism is applied to the forehead in the sign of the cross immediately after baptism as the pastor says: “The almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you the new birth of water and of the Spirit and has forgiven you all your sins, strengthen you with His grace to life everlasting.”

 Like the lighted candle and the white gown, the chrism is an explanatory part of the baptismal rite – it visibly illustrates a truth about Holy Baptism.  The Lutheran Service Book Agenda says “olive oil may be used to symbolize the sealing with the Holy Spirit for salvation (Eph 1:13-14) (pg. 5). Unfortunately this explanation loses sight of the fact that in the Western Church the primary background has always been the use of oil in the Old Testament to anoint kings and priests, and 1 Peter 2:9’s statement that Christians are a royal priesthood.  The anointing with oil teaches that through Holy Baptism the individual has been made part of God’s royal priesthood.   The baptism of Jesus in which He was anointed with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38) also serves as the background since in Holy Baptism we are anointed with the Holy Spirit and so become Christians.

 An excellent explanation of this occurs in the Brandenburg Church Order of 1540: “Because it is an ancient traditional ceremony to use chrism in baptism we wish to retain its use, but it is to be understood in the following way.  As the use of chrism is a traditional ceremony, so it has a particular significance.  In the Old Testament only kings and priests were commanded by God to be anointed, but we Christians are spiritually anointed by our Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit to be a royal priesthood, and are therefore called Christians, that is, the anointed, after Christ. To show this the fathers used this external ceremony at baptism and anointed the Christians with chrism, to signify that they were anointed spiritual kings and priests by the Holy Spirit, as various Easter collects show.”

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity - Lk 16:1-8

 

   Trinity 9

                                                                                                            Lk 16:1-8

                                                                                                            8/2/26

 

            Bernie Ebbers was a great success story. He founded a long distance phone service company in the early 1980’s. By the late 1990’s this had turned into WorldCom, the second largest long distance telecommunications company in the United States. Under his leadership WorldCom aggressively expanded through a series of rapid acquisitions.

            But there was a problem. The rapid expansion put WorldCom in a difficult position as its profits began to decline and this threatened its stock value. So Ebbers cooked the books. He used various false means to improve the company’s profit and loss position by $3.8 billion. In the end, he was caught. WorldCom filed for bankruptcy as 30,000 people lost their jobs and investors lost $180 billion. Ebbers was sentenced to twenty five years in prison.

            Now to hear Jesus tell it this morning, Bernie Ebbers is a man to admire and emulate. At least, that’s what our Lord’s parable seems to say. He tells a parable about a manager who defrauds his employer, and then the employer praises him for his shrewdness. We are left to wonder: Why is Jesus encouraging us to break the Seventh Commandment by stealing?

            In our text, Jesus tells a parable as he says, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.”  The manager was supposed to run the rich man’s business affairs in order to make more money for him. But apparently, the manager was doing a terrible job.  We learn that he was wasting his possessions – the same verb that has just been used in the parable of the Prodigal Son to describe how the son had burned through his inheritance in wild living.

            The rich man found out about this and knew he had to make a change. He called the manager and told him, “Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.”  The manger had been fired, and he faced a moment of crisis.  He said, “What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.” He had lost his job, and he couldn’t see any other possibility by which he would support himself.

            But then, he formed a plan that would secure his future. He said, “I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.” He still had the financial books, and if he moved quickly he could ingratiate himself to those who owed the rich man.

            He summoned his master’s debtors and told each of them to reduce the amount on their bill that they owed. A hundred measures of oil became fifty. A hundred measures of wheat became eighty. It has been estimated that the manger was saving the debtors five hundred denarii – five hundred days wages.  He was giving them a significant benefit … and defrauding the rich man of serious money. 

            At the end of the parable we expect the rich man to be angry. But instead, we learn that the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.  Then Jesus explained, “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”

            At first glance, this certainly is one of Jesus’ most puzzling parables.  But things begin to make a little more sense when we look at what happens after our text in this chapter. First our Lord says, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

            Then Luke tells us, “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.” In response, Christ said, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”  Then the Lord follows up by telling the parable of the rich man and Lazarus which tells of how the rich man failed to use his wealth in order to help his neighbor.

            It becomes clear that in this section of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching us about how we are to use money – about the place it is to have in our life. And he teaches us how we are to view and use it in light of what has happened in Christ.

            In the parable the manger finds himself at a critical moment. He has lost his job. However, he still has the financial books. And so if he can use his continuing control over these possessions in a shrewd manner he can secure his future. But he must act decisively. Note how he says, “Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.”

            Our Lord is leading us to recognize that we must view and use our money in the understanding of what has happened in him. In Christ the saving reign of God has broken into the world. The critical moment in God’s plan of salvation has arrived. Paul told the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

            At the exact right moment in God’s plan, he sent his Son into the world as he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  By his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead Jesus has redeemed you – he has freed you. Earlier in Galatians the apostle described how Christ “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.” 

            Jesus has freed you from sin and the devil. By his resurrection he has delivered you from death, because death cannot hold on to our bodies. To die is to be with Christ, and on the Last Day our bodies will share in the resurrection that began with Jesus on Easter. Christ has given you new life through the work of the Spirit, and it is through the Spirit now in you that God will raise you up. With good reason Paul tells the Corinthians in our epistle lesson today that we are those “on whom the end of the ages has come.”

            This is what God has done in Christ for you. He has called you to be his own, and made you part of the people God. This saving action by God has meaning for all aspects of life. After all, Jesus is your Lord as you are in Christ. And in our text the Lord says that faith in Christ will determine the way we view and use our money and wealth.

            Jesus says, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” Christ is talking about money and wealth, and he says that the sons of this world – literally “the sons of this age” – are more shrewd. That is, they are more consistent in applying their guiding principles.

            If God isn’t in the picture, then a person should act like money is his or her god. Money and wealth should be the center of life. Attention should always be focused on getting more. And the use of money should always be directed in selfish ways. Everything should be about me – clothes, house, cars, electronic gadgets, and travel for me. That is what it should look like if money is your god and lord.

But of course, you have a different Lord – the Lord Jesus. And he warns, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” 

It turns out that money is an inherent temptation because of the old Adam in us.  A god is anything that we value most – anything in which we find our true sense of security and worth. Jesus says later in this chapter, “For where your treasure it, there will your heart be also.” Money stands in competition with God for the rightful place of Lord in our life.

Jesus promises that God will provide us with daily bread – with what we need to support this body and life. He points to how God provides food for the ravens and clothes the lilies in beauty. God will certainly also feed and clothe us. Christ says, “And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”

So how do we seek the kingdom of God – the reign of God – as we deal with money? The place to start is to recognize that everything you have comes from God. Everything belongs to him. The Psalmist says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” What we have belongs to God and he has given it to us as a gift to manage – something for which we are a steward.

Christ says that we are to “seek his kingdom.” We do this by focusing our attention on the means by which God’s reign comes to us to forgive sins and strengthen faith.  The Means of Grace need to be at center of our life in our weekly attendance at the Divine Service, and in our daily reading of God’s Word.

And we seek his kingdom using our money as we support the Means of Grace.  Christ has given his Office of the Ministry to the Church to administer the Means of Grace - to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments. His Spirit has worked through the Church to place a pastor in that Office here at Good Shepherd.

The apostle Paul told the Corinthians, “In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” He has commanded his church to give offerings that support a pastor in your midst. And while a pastor may be the most expensive thing needed for the Means of Grace, he is in no way the only thing. There is a building to maintain in which we meet – a building in which you probably want electricity; a building in which you probably want that electricity to provide air conditioning.

God has commanded you to seek his kingdom by supporting the Means of Grace through your offering. He says that your offering should be the willing and cheerful act of faith.  Paul told the Corinthians, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

And in his Word, God has provided direction about how you are to give your offering.  Paul told the Corinthians, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper.”  The apostle teaches us two things here. First, our offering is to be first fruits. We give by starting with what God has given to us, not by giving of what is leftover after we are done with everything else in life.

And second, our offering is to be proportional – it is to reflect how God has prospered us. It is not the size of the offering that matters. Instead, what matters to God is how it stands in relation to the blessings he has given you. As those blessings increase or decrease, so also will your offering.

This proportional nature of our offering is captured in the practice of the tithe. The Church has drawn upon this Old Testament model of giving, and has recognized that 10% is an ideal starting point for the offering given by Christians. When you return a tithe of your income back to God in your offering you are seeking God’s kingdom in the way you are using your money. You are demonstrating that all you have is a blessing from God. You are supporting the administration of the Means of Grace by which Christ’s reign comes to you to give forgiveness and keep you in the faith. 

At first glance, our Gospel lesson this morning seems puzzling. But when we look more closely we find that Jesus is teaching us about how we are to deal with money as those who upon whom the end of the ages has come. The end time salvation of God has arrived in Jesus Christ. By his death and resurrection he has rescued us from sin, death, and the devil.

Because of this, we now use our money guided by faith in the Lord. In particular, we follow our Lord’s command by supporting the Means of Grace that go on in our midst through our offering. We give willingly and cheerfully.  We give a first fruits offering that is proportional – that reflects the way God has blessed us. We do this because of what Jesus has done for us. As Paul said when he was instructing the Corinthians about their offering: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

 

  

 

 

           

 

 

 

Mark's thoughts: Surburg Catechesis material

 

First a person learns the faith. Then as a pastor you learn how to teach and explain the faith.  This is how I teach the faith in Catechesis: Surburg Catechesis material. Most has been learned from others. Some has come from me. I share it in hopes that it will be helpful for those who learn and those who teach.

Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity - Rom 6:19-23

 

   Trinity 7

                                                                                                            Rom 6:19-23

                                                                                                            7/19/26

 

 

            The Gospel announces the free gift of forgiveness and life for sinners. We learn that this is a matter of God’s grace – it is completely a gift from God that we could never earn. It takes place on account of Christ. It is possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus for our sin. It is received by faith. It is received by believing and trusting in Jesus as our crucified and risen Lord. And it is received by faith alone. Faith in Christ receives the gift, and there is nothing that our actions contribute to our status as forgiven sinners – to our status as saints in God’s eyes.

            This is indeed good news! It is Gospel. But as sinners, it is easy to see how we might be inclined warp the Gospel into something that serves sin. It is quite tempting to conclude: “I like to sin. God likes to forgive. This is going to be great.”

            Twice in Romans chapter six Paul addresses this perversion of the Gospel. At the beginning of the chapter he says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Then just before our text he repeats the same idea when he writes, “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

            The apostle tells us that no, life in Christ is not a matter of “I like to sin, and God likes to forgive.” Instead, he explains in our text today that we are always going to be slave to something. Either we are going to be a slave to sin which results in death, or we are going to be a slave to righteousness because of what God has done for us in Christ through our baptism.

            In the previous chapter, Paul had been describing how Christ is the second Adam whose death and resurrection frees us from the sin that Adam brought into the world. He writes, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

            The apostle is in the process of describing how the law and sin interact with one another. He has said that through the law there is the knowledge of sin. But the law itself cannot be the answer to sin. Paul will explain in chapter seven how our sinful passions actually work through the law. When the law forbids doing something, sin causes us to desire it all the more.  But the good news is that God’s grace in Christ to provide forgiveness abounds beyond our sin. He says at the end of chapter five, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

             The grace of God’s forgiveness in Christ abounds beyond our sin. So does that mean we should just go on sinning? As I mentioned earlier, Paul writes at the beginning of chapter six, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

            Paul says it can’t work this way because we have died to sin. Then he supports his point with something he knows the Romans already understand. He says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

            The apostle says that something happened in baptism. This no mere symbol. It’s not an action you carry out to demonstrate your commitment to Christ. Instead, it is something God does to you. It is the means by which you shared in Christ’s death. It is the way in which you were buried with Christ. Through baptism you have shared in Jesus Christ’s saving death. And therefore, you are now forgiven.

            But Paul’s point here is not simply to say that baptism delivers forgiveness. Instead, he reminds the Romans that baptism is the source of God’s resurrection power in your life. God raised Jesus from the dead. And now the Spirit of the risen Lord is present in you. The Spirit who gave you regeneration in baptism now enables you to walk in newness of life – to live in ways that are true to God’s will.

            Baptized into Christ – living in Christ through the work of the Spirit – means that you will say no to sin. Just before our text Paul says, “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”  You have been brought from death to life by Christ’s Spirit. So Paul urges you not to present your bodies to sin as the means for carrying out more sin. Instead, Paul tells you to present your bodies as instruments that do the things that please God – as instruments for righteousness.

            The reality is that you are going to be a slave to something. Paul writes, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” You are going to be controlled by something. If you present yourself to sin then that is the path that leads to death. On the other hand, the obedience of faith leads to salvation and the life that pleases God.

            What Paul then says about the Romans is true of you. He writes, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” You were once slaves of sin. But you have been called to faith by the Spirit. You have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were handed over.

            The language of “the standard of teaching” describes the apostolic faith that you confess. And notice how the apostle doesn’t say that it was handed on to you.  Instead, he says that that you were handed over to it. Through the work of the Spirit you believe and confess what God has revealed in the Scriptures. Paul says the result is that you have been freed from sin. This means that you are forgiven before God. But more importantly in this context it means that you have been freed from living in sin. Instead, the apostle says that you have become a slave of righteousness.

            In the words of our text, Paul exhorts you to live as what Christ’s Spirit has made you to be. The apostle grants that he is speaking in ways that acknowledge our condition.  He says, “I am speaking in human terms, because of the weakness of your flesh.” 

The exhortation to living in righteous ways here and elsewhere in this chapter sets before us a reality of the Christian life. Through the work of the Spirit you are a new creation in Christ. You are new man in Christ. But until you die or Christ returns, that is not all you are. In yourself you are also old Adam. Paul described this to the Galatians when he said, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

The life of a Christian is made possible through the work of the Spirit. But we are not the Spirit’s robots. We are people who are involved in the choices that we make. And so as we live in Christ through the work of the Spirit we need to seek to act in those ways that are righteous – those ways that are good and pleasing to God.

That’s what Paul says in our text, “For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” The apostle urges us to live in Christ by presenting ourselves as slaves of righteousness – as people who seek to live in ways that please God. He says that this orientation results in sanctification – in a life that is holy according to God’s will.

The apostle notes that a person who is a slave to sin is free in regard to righteousness. If you give yourself over to sin, then you don’t have to worry about what God says. You can just do your own thing. However, this comes at a cost. Paul asks, “But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.”

The fruit produced by sin in our lives is strife, anger, pain, and loss. It harms the people in our lives. It harms us. We were created in the image of God. We were created to live perfectly tuned to God’s will – to the ways God ordered his creation to work. When we no longer do this, it throws everything off. It makes everything worse. It’s like replacing one of the tires on your car with another that is the wrong size. Sure the car still runs, but now the ride is terrible and it doesn’t handle correctly.

And Paul tells us that the end of the life of sin is death. Now because of sin, we will all die. But in our text Paul sets death in contrast to eternal life. This is not just physical death. It is eternal separation from God in the judgment of hell.

However, Paul says in our text that for the Christian the outcome is very different. He writes, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Through the Gospel and the work of the Spirit you have been set free from sin. You have become a slave of God – the God who gave his Son into the death of the cross to save you. Now, the fruit of being a slave to God and his righteousness results in sanctification. It results in the life produced by faith. And the end of this life is eternal life.

Slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness? The apostle Paul says in our text today that we do have a choice about the one to which we are going to offer ourselves. That’s why he says, “For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”

Earlier I made the point that we are not the Spirit’s robots. We are in fact people who are involved in the choices that we make and the actions we undertake. But if we cooperate with God in the life produced by faith, we must recognize that he alone is the source of this life and is the One who continues to make it possible.

So if we are to present ourselves as slaves to righteousness we must be focused on the source by which God has caused us to be a new creation in Christ in the first place. We must put Christ’s Means of Grace at the center of our life. This is, of course, true of what we receive in the Divine Service.  Here through Word and Sacrament the Spirit gives us forgiveness and strengthens faith.

But in particular I want to emphasize the importance of reading Scripture during the week in our devotional life. In the Scriptures the Spirit is doing several things at once. The Scriptures are the word through which the Spirit sustains faith and supports the new man in us. But it also the word through which the Spirit sets before us how to live. This word teaches us what righteousness looks like. It encourages us as we see what the life in Christ means, and we know that yes, that is what we want to be. And it is also the word that the Spirit uses to restrain and repress the old man as he helps us to live in Christ.

There is a certain inertia in the Christian life. The more we attend the Divine Service and read Scripture during the week, the easier it becomes to present ourselves as slaves to righteousness.  The less we do so, the easier it becomes to present ourselves as slaves to sin.  Without a doubt, we have a choice. In the habits of our life we are deciding whether we are going to align ourselves with the work of the Spirit by which he empowers and leads us to live as God’s people.

Paul says this morning, “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”  In Christ through the work of the Spirit you have been freed from sin. The life of faith now belongs to God as we are slaves to righteousness. This faith produces the fruits of sanctification as we live according to God’s will. And it leads to the end of eternal life.