Resurrection Life (2)
NL Year 1 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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When we jump into our Romans text today we see Paul is having a very serious conversation about sin. One of the hardships Paul must have had when writing this portion of his letter was trying to blend both the Jewish understanding of sin, which was very clear, and the Gentile idea of sin which was probably much more nuanced. People in Rome were in the heart of the Empire and were likely surrounded by all of the power, influence, and wealth that went with it. With all of that there were likely social and political things that were happening that were not exactly above water or considered right, yet it was still happening.
Sometimes when we see things happening around us all the time it can be hard to distance ourselves from it and not be influenced by it. The same is true for our own society. People can get caught up in the idea that wealth is the most important thing in life and will do anything to achieve it, or perhaps it is fame and recognition. Maybe we get so caught up in our career and outperforming our peers that we are driven to do whatever it takes to get to the top. There are lots of things that we do or can do to achieve certain things that can cause us to take steps or actions that we know are wrong, but the desire to get what we want causes us to take that step anyway. Or perhaps we are simply motivated to save our own skin that we say and do things so that we don’t get caught by a friend, coworker, teacher, or the authorities.
To be completely honest Paul has kind of set the scene, so to speak, for us to think that all of that is ok. Just before where we pick up in this section of Romans Paul has just explained how Christ’s death provided the covering of sin and that the more that sin happens the more that grace will abound because it was Christ who died for sin. Why is why he asks the question about whether or not we should continue to sin. I mean, if my sin creates grace to be more abundant and more apparent, then it would seem that sinning is almost a good thing?
So if sinning causes grace multiply and be more apparent then why shouldn’t we just keep on sinning? To complicate the issue even more as Lutherans, we have recovered a letter from Martin Luther to his friend and colleague Philip Melanchthon in which he says to him that we should ‘be a sinner and sin boldly, but let your trust in Christ be stronger.’ So what in the world are Paul and Luther saying? Clearly Paul says absolutely not, and Luther was obsessed with confessing his sins as soon as he committed them, so why would these two be so bold as to talk about how sinning causes grace to happen in this world? And more importantly why shouldn’t we sin?
To answer the first question, Paul clearly says that we shouldn’t keep sinning, but Luther doesn’t quite say that. Is Luther contradicting Paul and encouraging us to sin so that grace may abound even more? In the words of Paul, absolutely not! You see as much as Luther hated to commit sin, he knew that he was and in this life would forever be a sinner. He knew no matter what he did sin would enter into the world through him and others. What he was trying to do in his letter to Melanchthon was to remind him to live his life knowing that he would sin. We can’t be so afraid of doing sins that we just don’t do anything. If we don’t do anything in this world then as odd as it seems we are actually letting sin win. So what Luther is saying is that attempting to do something is better than nothing even if in that doing you sin. So live a bold life and if sin happens then know that the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ will cover whatever sin may happen. Luther is giving Melanchthon permission to live the gospel even if he messes up doing it at times.
Now if Luther and Paul actually both agree that we shouldn’t sin in the sense of doing wrong on purpose in order for grace to multiply, the next question is why though? Luther’s point that we just talked about wasn’t about not sinning but understanding we’re human and we do sin, so he agrees with Paul, but Paul wants to answer the question why we shouldn’t sin. His answer: as baptized followers we should not live as the world lives. We have a new life because of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. While we haven’t resurrected with Jesus yet we should live as if we have been. Jesus ascended into heaven where death, sin, and the devil have no power over him. He has a new life and a different life than the one he lived when he was on this earth. Even though we haven’t joined him there yet to fully experience that we should live our lives here on this earth as if we were already living in the resurrected life.
So even though we are not resurrected, we do live as resurrection people and if there is no sin, death and no power of the devil in the resurrection life, then we should live our lives here on this earth that mimic that. Which means that no matter how much sin may make grace abound, we should not live a life of sin because it isn’t who are are. So no our bodies should not be vessels for sin, but vessels for grace, love, and forgiveness.
And not only do we live this way because it is not who we are, but it is all possible becuase of what Christ has done. All of this is made possible through Christ. It is through his death that we are able to die to sin. It is through his resurrection that we are able to live new lives as resurrection people. And on this Ascension Sunday we are promised and live in the hope that we too will ascend with him and one day fully live in and experience what it really is like to be resurrection people. God did this for each and every one of us and for this whole world. So go and live knowing that we are resurrection people and that gives us the freedom to love, forgive and share grace near and far and as Luther pointed out that we can do it boldly knowing that if we sin that our trust in Christ is stronger than the sin we have in our lives and that as both he and Paul pointed out Christ conquered not just sin, but death and the devil all for us. This is the life we have and the life we are promised, and what a blessed life they both are. Amen.