will the beams be broke and crossed

these things get louder


The second sermon on baptism, with Paul's letter to the Romans as our guide:


Much trouble is caused imagining “sin” is only something we do. Or, if we remember our catechism, something we fail to do. 
And, while it is what do, and fail to, that unleashes sin. Sin is so much more than just actions. It’s a power that’s been let loose. Sin is a power that’s been let loose in the world…

Kind of like that great sci-fi series; “Stranger Things.” A show about this ragtag crew of outcasts who stumble upon an experiment gone horribly wrong. 

A weapons manufacturer, exploring paranormal weapons, opened a portal to another dimension. Instead of accessing weapon power, though, they just unlocked a path for the monster who inhabited that dimension, to wreak havoc on ours. 
Basically it’s the story of Adam and Eve and the aftermath. A tale of an action that began a terrible chain reaction. 
That’s how sin works. More like a force, than something we have or haven’t done.

And it’s the problem of the power of sun Paul writes to us about this morning. 

When we imagine sin is just something we should or shouldn’t have done. We underestimate sin. We fool ourselves into thinking we have the resources to overcome sin ourselves. 
Usually, either by repressing it, or escaping it. Repressing sin, or escaping it.

And while both those responses have their time and place; if you’re really going to deal with sin once and for all; running and repressing are not going to cut it.

That’s what was so great about that show, “Stranger Things.” The way it dealt so honestly with the powers we unleash. 
The weapons manufacturer; after they let the monster loose, figure they can just repress it. Battle it back to it’s dimension. But their weapons were no match for the beast.
And others in the town; when they catch a glimpse of the monster, they try running away from it. But the monster that’s been unleashed can’t be ran from forever. It catches them eventually.

And wouldn’t you admit, that’s how it is with the monster of sin?
More like a infection, that just something we should or shouldn’t have done. More like a rust that corrodes everything it comes into contact with, than an action.

That’s the grizzly fact Paul will have you reckon with this morning. 
The power Adam and Eve unleashed. The power each one of us have given ourselves over to. And the terrible fact that, now that sin has gotten a toehold; we can’t shore up our defenses enough to overcome it ourselves.

*Right? Isn’t this ringing true to how life actually works?

That was the issue that kept Martin Luther awake at night, too. It’s what made him leave the promise of a career as a lawyer, to enter the monastery. 

Because no matter what poor Martin did; he couldn't overcome sin. 
He could repress it, for a while. And he could even escape it, but only occasionally. Because no matter what, and at the most unexpected moments, sin would rear it’s ugly head.
So after one day, on a trip home when a lightening suddenly storm descended upon him; Luther made a vow to enter the monastery. He wouldn't risk dying without overcoming sin ever again…

The trouble only was, not even the monastery was a mighty enough of a fortress to keep his sin away! As he followed the steps to master sin, sin kept turning up! 
And that’s when Martin made the most frightening observation of all; his sin had followed him into the cloister! It was even there when he made his vows!
Like the monster in Stranger Things; his sin couldn’t be defeated or evaded!

And it was only after that terrible realization, that Martin finally heard the words Paul writes to you today in all their sweetness.

And folks, this is why I’m laying it on so thick this morning! Why I’m lifting up all these examples to tell you some really bad news; that we’re all worse sinners than we think. 
So we can finally hear the really Good News; that our savior is an even better savior than we know! 

This year at camp they asked if I’d do a faith discussion with the LT’s; these are young adults in high school spending four weeks at camp. 
During the discussion one really honest young man asked why he’s always been told, ‘two wrongs don’t make a right,’ when he can just look around and see that’s not the way things really play out. 
Here was a young man making the very same realization Paul and Martin made before him; how strong sin is. And worse than that, how weak our piety is compared to it. How feeble our morality is in the face of it.

It was then that I was most glad for the radical Word Paul speaks to us this morning. Because Paul doesn’t just give twelve tips for faithful living. He speaks an honest word; that you won’t be free of sin until you die. 
If you want to overcome sin; you’re going to have to die

Driven to despair by the power of sin, Martin went back and reread Paul. And when he did; it felt like he died and was born all over again. That the gates of heaven had been opened to him right then and there. 

Because Martin heard what Paul is begging you to hear today. 
That you can’t overcome sin. 
If we could, we would have done it long ago. 
No. The only way we can beat sin, is to die. 

And now you’re ready to hear the news you didn’t already know, the other part of the truth of sin; you’ve already gone through the death that frees us from sin!

Or, “do you not know, that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus— were baptized into his death?” To be baptized, means to die.
Because Jesus didn't just come to get us to gin up our moral life. He didn’t come to give us better advice for living without sin. 
No. He came to suffer all of sin’s power, and to die by it. 
And then, to be raised up to new life, life freed from sin.

And it is that new life, you have been raised up to in your baptism! 
“(W)e have been buried with Jesus by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life!” You have that newness of life!

Yes, the news about sin is very bad. Deathly bad even. 
But the Good News of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ, is pure Gospel! In your baptism, you and your sins died and were buried. And in Christ’s resurrection, you and Jesus Christ were raised together forever!

In the end, it turns out there is a way to overcome sin, but it’s radical. 
It doesn’t come through running faster or fighting harder; it comes through dying - Jesus’ death for you. “For if we have been united with Jesus in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

And it’s that resurrection; Jesus’ resurrection where our new life free from sin begins! And not just life free of sin’s power, but even death’s too! 

Do you hear how good God’s will is for you in Jesus Christ? 

In your baptism, you died. Died to life under sin’s dominion. And then you were born again. Born into a new life free from sin, in Christ! 

In the show “Stranger Things” the crew realizes the only way the monster can be defeated, is by going back to his realm, and defeating him there. They  also realize the person who does that, will not be able to return. 
Like Christ, this person will have to give their life to win freedom from the monster’s power.

In your baptism, this is what Jesus has done for you. Jesus has gone in your place, to the world of sin. He died there to win you freedom from it. 

And not only that, because in Jesus’ death and resurrection, a new portal opened. The reverse of the one in “Stranger Things.” The reverse of the one in the Garden of Eden. 
In Jesus’ obedience, instead of unleashing Sin and it’s power, God and the power thereof have been let loose. Let loose in the waters of baptism. Let loose in bread and wine. Let loose in the life you now have, life free from sin and its power, and even death’s too! 

We’ve all known how powerful sin can be. 
But know this; you’re free from it. You may feel its effects; and we all do from time to time. But when that happens, don’t run, don’t battle, don’t compromise. Just die. 
Because the life you now have, is life raised free and clear of sin. 
Sin has no power over you. Not anymore. And neither does death.

Now your life comes by the life that sprung from Jesus’ death. Life by the power of the cross. Sin and death no longer have anything on you. 
So go in peace. Love and serve your Lord!

Thanks be to God?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

in measured hundredweight and penny pound

i take flight

anywhere you wanna go