April 30, 2006
Rev. Rich Knight

Romans 6:1-11

One of the commentaries I looked at this week talked about a Russian monk named Rasputin. Rasputin taught that the best way to experience God’s grace was to sin a lot and then repent. He lived a life of great sins, followed by repentance, followed by what he believed were large doses of God’s forgiveness for all his wicked sins, followed then by more deliberate sinning, so he could know more forgiveness. Rasputin believed that the greater the sin, the greater the experience of grace, much more so than the average sinner.

The Apostle Paul had this sort of following and heresy in mind when he wrote Romans 6.

Let’s take a look:

Dying and Rising with Christ - What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him 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. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves of Righteousness - What then? Should we 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? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Emily is more than dismayed as she recognizes how little the people she loves really comprehend the joys of life or experience them with any depth of awareness. She cries out to be taken away, to not have to watch any more of their inattention to the preciousness of life.

Her parting words are, "Good-bye! Good-bye world. Good-bye Grover's Corners ... Mama and Papa. Good-bye to clocks ticking ... and Mama's sunflowers, and food and coffee. And even ironed dresses and hot baths ... sleeping and waking up. O earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you." She stoops, hesitates, and asks with tears in her eyes, "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Eh? ---, every minute?"  That's a good question. The Holy Spirit is at work in us trying to get our attention.

If any group of people should realize life and be “more alive to life” it should be practicing Christians - Easter people, people who believe in a living God, a living Savior, and seek to breath in and live out the New Life that Easter brings.

If any group of people should be alive to the minutes of our lives it should be Easter people. I think that’s what Paul is saying in Romans 6. - through your baptisms you have died with Christ, therefore just as Christ was raised from the dead, so too we might walk in newness of life. - we die with Christ at conversion when we yield to God and we rise like him to lead new lives. - “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God.”

Ephesians 2 - “Even when we were dead in our sins, God made us alive together with Christ - and raised us up with him.”

Christians, Christ-ians, are those who unite themselves with Christ. That’s why the New Testament uses the phrase - “in Christ.” We seek Christ in us and us in Christ. We identify our lives with the life of Jesus Christ. We die to ourselves like Christ died on the cross. And we are raised to new life, just as Christ was resurrected from the grave.

Here’s a silly illustration, but one that’s easy to understand. Red Sox fans deeply identify with their team. “Red Sox Nation” - We the people. And as a people, Red Sox nation rises and falls with the team. SO when the ball went threw Bill Bueckner’s legs, Red Sox Nation died a thousand deaths. And in 2004 when Keith Folke tossed the ball to Michevich for the last out in the World Series, Red Sox Nation rose to new heights. The celebration on the field was repeated over and over and over again throughout Red Sox Nation. We die with them. We rise with them. That’s how much most Red Sox fans identify with their team.

If we could only identify with Christ half that much we’d be in great shape spiritually! As Christ-ians, we identity with Christ. We unite ourselves to Christ. William Barclay puts it this way: “We cannot live our physical life unless we are in the air and the air is in us; unless we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, we cannot live the life of God.” As Christians we unite ourselves to God in Christ. And so we die like Christ and we rise like Christ.

Take a look at Adult Baptisms in a River - “Hey, someone might die out there.” “That’s the whole idea.” A person rises up out of the water to live a whole new life. We die with Christ, we rise with Christ. - just as Christ was raised from the dead, so too we might walk in newness of life. - dead to sin and alive to God.” I want to be alive to God, don’t you? Walk with God, Know God, Sense His presence, Hear His voice. I want to be alive to life, to being fully alive in the moments, the minutes of each day, don’t you? I want to be alive to other people, fully present with them, don’t you?

I lost a day this week. Over the past 7 days, I didn't live them all. I lost at least one to worry and fatigue. I realized this standing in a cemetery - I wasn’t fully alive. Life is too short to lose a day. But we do, don’t we. - anxiety, lack of sleep, ingratitude, unforgiveness - all cause us to be less than fully alive. - bitterness, grudges, living in the past, nostalgia for the good ole days - all keep us from being fully alive in the present. But Joy is found in the present. Gratitude is found in the present moment. Most of the moments of our lives are pretty good - if we live in them. Joy is found in the precious present. God is found here and now - the Eternal Now of God. Being fully alive means being fully alive right here and now - fully alive to God, to life, to one another.

Saint Irenaeus once said, “The Glory of God is man fully alive!” Christ has been made alive. Now you be alive. Christ was raised to new life. Now you be raised up with him - identify yourself with him so much that you also live a new life. Don’t just believe in Easter, live it!

I’ll leave you with the words that my favorite college professor used to end the last day of class with. His name was Dr. Nelvin Vos and he taught English. He is an extremely bright, vibrant, Christian man. On the last of class, after his final lecture, Dr. Vos would always send us forth with this benediction: "May you be alive every day of your life." And I’ll just add this -- start today -- Be Alive Today!

Amen