10Pentecost2010 - Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church, Los Alamos, NM

The message of the gospel is not about us doing good works; rather, it is the message of the good work that God is doing to us as baptized believers. The Father “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV) For this reason we do not do good things to earn favor with God. On the contrary, we receive the Father’s favor for the sake of Jesus Christ His Son. We do not gain salvation and eternal life by being morally upright. Instead, we are given the gift of salvation and eternal life on account of the merit of Jesus. He has purchased us with His precious blood. We belong to Him and thus we are beginning to act like Him. As He has loved us, we begin to love others. As He denied Himself we are learning to deny ourselves.

Let us never confuse the gospel message with moralism. The church does not preach principles for better behavioral development. The church preaches Christ and Him crucified. The church baptizes men and women, boys and girls into Christ. In our baptism, we are crucified with Christ. Thus, the church does not teach you how to become better behaved people. The church teaches you to crucify your sinful desires.

The church teaches you to believe that you really are the people of God in Christ. St. Paul writes in today’s epistle saying, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3, ESV) In Christ, you are freed from the slavery of sin. In Christ, you have died to the desires of the world. In Christ, you are a new creation.

Here’s the problem though, in this life you will struggle between the temptations of the old fallen creation and the new desires that are given to you by the renewal of the Holy Spirit. You see, in this world, you will continually be drawn to live in the way of the world. The course set by this fallen creation is to curse the Creator and to die. We are warned that if you hold on to this world and do not let go, you will be destroyed with it.

However, if you hold on to Christ and do not let go, you will be delivered. Jesus is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. In your baptism you have been raised with Christ. The Holy Spirit teaches us in the words of St. Paul, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:1-2, ESV) Now let’s be clear on this, we are not saying that all material things are bad. In fact, the LORD our God uses physical things in order to give to us the gospel message. He utilizes the water in Holy Baptism, the bread and the wine in Holy Communion, and the ink and the paper in the written scriptures. Through these things on earth, the LORD assures us of our eternal life.

To set our eyes on things above means that we understand the things on this earth will not last forever. They will fade away. If we set our sights on obtaining earthly things, then our end goal will be placed upon the temporal. If, on the other hand, we set our sights on obtaining the things that are above, then our end goal will be placed upon the eternal.

The LORD is teaching us to dwell here on earth as pilgrims knowing that this is not our home. Heaven is our home. Our new life has begun now and it moves forward into eternity. We are to live out our lives now. And the way in which we do this is by living out our identity in Christ rather than following the ways of the world including methods of morality. Each day we are called to live out our baptism in which we deny ourselves and live to the glory of God.

Again the problem that we run into is this: the old nature within us wants to embrace the old way of living in rebellion against God. Thus, St. Paul tells us to “[p]ut to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5, ESV) And he goes on to say,"In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth." (Colossians 3:7-8, ESV) See, before the gospel message had come to you revealing your new life in Christ, you dwelt in deception. You had thought that the world was your friend and your end. But now in Christ, your eyes have been opened to the heavenly reality that Christ is your friend and your end.

Paul uses the “before and after” pictures. Before you were given the gift of faith you were walking in the wrong direction, but now in Christ you are walking in the light. Now this is very easy for us to understand. Our school age students are well aware that we are currently living in the days of summer vacation. Once the school year ended in June, they stopped attending their regular classes at their own schools. It would be silly for one of them to wake up tomorrow and try to go back to their classroom during summer vacation. They have been dismissed from school for the current time. So, they rejoice in their summer vacation and live like those who are not in school.

Yet, as Christians we don’t quite get it. We have been dismissed from the way of the world and we should rejoice in the vacation that we have in Christ. But, we often find ourselves trying to go back to the old order of things. There is a strange parallel here. It seems rather common that when we were students in grade school we simply could not wait to get out of school. But, as soon as one graduates from high school there is a common desire to want to go back to those so-called “glory days.” I know in my generation there are so many people that our stuck in the past. They want to relive the 80’s. People go back to their class reunions and reminisce on how life used to be so much better. We live in a society that doesn’t want to grow up. Just like Peter Pan we want to live in Never Never Land. This attitude continues to infect the church. Because of the old earthly desires in us, we don’t want to grow up.

But here is the reality, as Christian we are called to grow up. We are being renewed into the image of Christ. We are not growing holier or growing more righteousness. You see the holiness and righteousness of Jesus have already been credited to our account through the gospel message and you can’t become more holy or more righteous than Jesus. On the other hand, while living in this world, we can grow more like the world.

For this reason, the Holy Spirit teaches the Baptized Believer to put to death the ways of the world. We put them to death in our own lives when we confess them as evil rather than embracing them as good. In turn, the Holy Spirit works in us to bring out the life of Christ in us.

In the city of Houston, there are two main interstates that lead out of the city. Either you can take I-45 or I-10. But if you happen to get onto I-610 you will remain circling in Houston. I-610 loops around the city. As Christians, we are not vulture circling around that which is dead. The Holy Spirit sets us on the interstate that leads out of this world and into the next. If we want to live, we need to stay off of that loop that keeps us going in circles. If we truly desire to live forever with Christ, then we should not desire to live without Christ in the world now.

As we live with Christ on this earth, we are to put to death sexual immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, and obscene talk. This is the perverted attitude of the world. In its place, the Holy Spirit begins to work in us an attitude that holds marriage as a sacred gift from God. In this way husband and wife learn to love and honor each other.

We are to put to death covetousness which is idolatry. This is the enticing drive of the world pushing us to want what is not ours to have. In its place, the Holy Spirit begins to work in us an attitude of contentment with the gifts that God has given to us.

We are to put to death anger, wrath, and malice. This is the way that the world interacts. In its place, the Holy Spirit begins to work in us kindness, gentleness, and love. We are learning to hold life as a sacred gift from God.

We are to put to death the slanders and the lies we tell to each other and about one another. This is the way the world talks. In its place, the Holy Spirit begins to teach us to speak well of others, defend their name, and put the best construction on their actions.

Although we live in great weakness here on earth, as believers our sin is not counted against us. In its place, the perfect life of Christ is declared to be our own. He perfectly kept marriage sacred in His life. He was perfectly content. He loved us while we were still His enemies and He continues to show us pure kindness. He continually defends us as our advocate before the Father. He speaks will of us and puts the best construction on our weakness.

In the church, we are learning to grow up. As we continue to live out our lives in Christ, we learn to sing, “What is the world to me! My Jesus is my treasure.” As we continue to live out our baptism, we are learning to take off our old selves and put on our new selves “which [are] being renewed in knowledge after the image of its [C]reator.” (Colossians 3:10, ESV) We are clothed with Christ. "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3, ESV) Amen.

10th Sunday after Pentecost, 2010