Serving in the Spirit

5th Sunday after Pentecost – A (Proper 8)                                                     LSB #’s 589, 590, 579
Text – Romans 7:6
 
But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit & not in the old way of the written code. 
 
SERVING IN THE SPIRIT
 
 
Tristan Bernard was a French novelist & anarchist.  He was also Jewish.  As such,  he lived in constant terror  of Hitler’s Gestapo during WWII.     Finally,  it happened.   He & his wife were arrested & sent to the primary detention center outside Paris.  On his way to jail, Bernard said with relief, “The time of fear is over.  Now comes the time of hope.” 
What circumstances cause you to be afraid?    What circumstances   bring you hope?  Much of the time,  our fears  & our hopes  are driven by what we expect  our future will bring. Will the medical tests  reveal bad news?   Are we hopeful  that our team is good enough to finally win the big game?  
A pessimist will live in fear  much more of the time than an optimist.   Hope may spring eternal for someone with an optimistic personality.    In a world broken by sin,  neither attitude will get you through the really difficult challenges brought on by suffering & death.  Pessimism is crushed by the weight of sin.   Optimism proves to be ‘pie in the sky’ foolishness. 
Only an optimist will believe  they can earn favor by their good behavior.   A pessimist will believe  it is pointless  to try.   However,  both attitudes spring from the same root,  that of humanism,  a philosophy attaching prime importance to the potential of human beings.  At best,  humanism relegates God  to the dust bin of history. 
In the 7th chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul is writing  to totally contradict humanism, as well as to destroy  pessimism  & optimism.   Romans 7 is not,  primarily,  about spiritual improvement,  emotional honesty,  or managing your inner life  more effectively.  Romans 7  is about death.   More specifically,  it is about what happens when sinners collide headlong & honestly  into the Law of God.   The Law may curb our sinful tendencies,  but it curbs us to death.  The Law may also instruct us,  but  it will instruct us  to death.   As St. Paul wrote:
“For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.  …when the commandment came, sin came alive & I died.  The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.  For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment,  deceived me  & through it  killed me.”  (7:5, 9-11 ESV) 
In Romans 7, the refrain the Apostle is singing is this, “The Law   laws us  to death.”   It demands 100% perfection,  100% of the time.   Through the circumstances of our lives,  the Triune God wills  that we crash headlong into His Law.   When that collision happens,  death is right there  ready  to reap its harvest.  Because of our sin,  that harvest is meant to be you & me. 
That’s why the cross of Calvary is such a powerful image.  The very Son of God hanging upon that cross – naked & dead – could just as well be a picture of anyone  of us.   That  is what you & I  owe  to the holy & righteous Being who created us in His image.   We  have soiled that image with what we have done  & with what we have left undone.   It is  the ugliest picture! 
God’s Law boxes us in.  It leaves us  with nowhere to go  but eternal suffering.   That’s why true unbelievers hate Jesus so much.  They have absolutely no credit to claim of themselves.  His Law leaves them hanging naked & dead  before the world.  Not even optimists  have a right to hope for a better future   if they do not trust in the blood of Jesus  to cover  their sinfulness. 
It is impossible for us  as sinners   to “manage”  a holy & righteous God,  & His Law is simply a true representation of His being.    However,  His Word also reveals to us that God is love.  (1 John 4:8 ESV)   Because we are corrupted by sin,  God’s Law & His love seem at odds with each other.  Dysfunctional as we are,  there is no way for us to hold the righteousness & the love of God together.  They seem like totally incompatible extremes.   That’s how much  sin has damaged our heart & mind.   Apart from God’s Word  we can’t even begin  to comprehend the width & the breadth of His nature.  His Law invades our hearts & minds.  It strips away  all our defenses.   It presses & exposes.  Then,   it traps us  in our lies & our deceptions. 
On the other hand,  God’s love invites  & welcomes us,  even while  we are sinners.  Whereas children of God were once slaves to sin through His Law,  after He converts us,  we are privileged to serve in the new way of His Spirit.  Isaiah gave a hint of that already in the OT:
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness & rivers in the desert.”  (43:19 ESV)   St. Paul reflected on that in a letter to the church at Corinth: “Therefore,  if anyone is in Christ,  he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV) 
As Paul was writing to the church at Rome, evil was growing in influence, strength & power all around in Rome.  The forces of evil were creeping in everywhere.  Jews were being tempted to build walls with the law  to protect themselves,  to keep wrong out & their people inside  where they thought  they would be safe. 
In many respects, Orthodox Judaism still functions in that way,  but it’s a trap & St. Paul is warning his church of the danger.   Today,  we also see evil growing in influence, strength & power across our nation, & across the world.  The forces of evil are on the move.  Are you aware of the danger?  Have you been tempted with optimism to think that everything will be okay? 
Only in Christ  is our hope true.  We cannot protect ourselves with the Law,  & there’s nothing we can do  to make ourselves right with God.  Jesus has done that.  Our task is simply to believe it,  but in a world full of sinful temptations,  that is not a simple  as it sounds.   Satan is working every moment of every day to lead us astray.  Optimism & pessimism are but two of his many paths  leading to destruction.  The only place we find protection from the evil in our nation,  & the evil in our own hearts,  is in Yahweh’s promise to be faithful to us.  He does that perfectly & 100% of our lives.  Once we accept that sin has killed us, then every day of life from here on  is a gift from the heavenly Father, where we serve in the Spirit. 
When the Holy Spirit does good works through us,  that is the glow of heaven shining into our current & broken world.   To that end,  our Lord & Savior does not come to us  only in pious words & good news.  No,  Jesus comes to each one of us  personally in His body & blood during Holy Communion,  because He knows the trials & suffering that we endure here. 
When we are hopeful for our future,  because of Christ’s victory over our world,  that is one way of serving in the new way of the Spirit.  Being hopeful for our future in spite of what we see & feel,  that is a sign of the new life created in us by our heavenly Father.  When we are fearful, that is a sign of the old Adam still at work.  For that we repent & believe in forgiveness. 
What circumstances cause you to be afraid?  Repent of that lack of trust in Jesus & believe that He forgives you.    What circumstances bring you hope?   If they are circumstances other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ,  repent of that misplaced trust, & believe that Jesus paid the price for that in order to renew your life in Him. 
Jesus has kept the Law for you, & He has fulfilled it completely so that it can no longer harm you in eternity.  Now, you are free to serve in the new way of the Spirit.  Amen. 
 
 
 
Baptized into Your name most holy,  O Father, Son & Holy Ghost,  I claim a place though weak & lowly,  among Your saints,  Your chosen host.   Buried with Christ & dead to sin,  Your Spirit now shall live within.         My faithful God,  You fail me never;  Your promise surely will endure.   O cast me not away forever  if words & deeds become impure.   Have mercy when I come defiled;  forgive, lift up,  restore Your child.  Amen.  LSB 590:1, 3.