Fell the other day, but both days are gifts from God

^{Romans 7:15-25}

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Last week I preached on Romans 6, that through Christ's sacrifice you are no longer slaves to sin but are now slaves to righteousness. Today in Romans 7 we hear that we are captive to the law of sin that dwells in our members, and that in our flesh we are sold into slavery to sin. Paul is telling us how life as a Christian looks. We are both saint and sinner.

In our inmost selves we delight in the law of God but in our flesh we stumble and struggle to do good, through our baptisms we received a new nature, but the old nature is constantly at war with this new holy self.

Last week, while I was visiting my girlfriend Rosa, I spent a bit of time carting rocks and filling in potholes. I would wake up earlier than Rosa, take a wheelbarrow and find large rocks on the side of the road, then cart then home and dump them in a pile. Then I selected the rocks and placed them where I thought they should go, before smashing them into smaller pieces with a sledgehammer so that they would fill the potholes properly. I told Rosa's mum with a smile that I was doing slave labor; carting rocks and breaking them. But while doing this labor, not for myself but for others I was filled with happiness and joy, it was great I was a slave to righteousness. The Holy Spirit was flowing through me and God was doing a good work through me, the New Self, the Holy self was shining through.

But other times I am much more like Paul shares in our passage.

. ¹⁵ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

I know that God's word is good, I know that reading my bible will strengthen me against the attacks of the evil one, and help me to be a more loving, kind and generous person. But a lot of the time I struggle to keep his law. At times I see God giving me a way out, but in my sin I do not take it. I know I should read my bible, but I turn to a weaker form, I read commentaries instead of the real thing, or I read another book entirely. We know that God's word gives peace, yes it challenges and condemns sin, but ultimately it gives peace, and yet all too often we found ourselves searching for hope and happiness in something else.

¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

There is a prayer that I have heard, it goes, " Dear Lord, So far I've done all right.

I haven't gossiped, haven't lost my temper, haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I'm really glad about that.  But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed.

And from then on, I'm going to need a lot more help.

It's a prayer that humorously looks at our need for help from God. I've liked it previously but as I meditated on this text I started to dislike it. For your justification, for your salvation, it doesn't matter if you not greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or indulgent. It matters to your neighbor, yes and that is an extremely good reason to do good. but for your standing with God, what you do has no weight. You are judged entirely on what Christ did, on Christ's perfect life and perfect sacrifice.

We do not do the good things we want to do, instead we do the evil we do not want. Sometimes in our sin we even want to do the evil, we despair of God's wisdom and his commands.

¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.

Everything good comes from God, but in our flesh we are corrupted, our very being, not just our thoughts and actions are sinful. But God cares, he cares so much that he sent his son, to cure us of our corruption.

²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Paul knew that according to his flesh he deserved death, and that he could not attain his own righteousness. But his next words are full of hope.

²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Even though in our flesh we deserve death, both before and after receiving God's Holy Spirit. God did not see this as a failure in our Christian lives. Here on earth we must constantly repent of our sins and seek God's forgiveness and grace. But it's not so bad, despite our failures, God still loves us, and so do our friends and families, Yes our earthly love is a poor reflection of God's and we do not always love as God does, but the fact that we can love our neighbour and they can love us is a wondrous gift of God.

Every good thing comes from God, when I am still in bed not yet having done anything for the day, I am no less loved by God, or made righteous through Christ. Whether your day is full of grace and God's work, with a satisfaction in your spirit and aching in your body, or whether you stumble and commit sins which you do not want to do. Each day you live with Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour. Regardless of how you feel about it you are blessed and Chosen by God.

So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

On earth you will always be the saint and the sinner. Strive to be the saint, but know that the sinner always lives in you seeking to turn you away from God and toward yourself. Struggle with it, but know with certainty that you are justified by Jesus, you are washed and cleansed, washed in the waters of baptism and cleansed by Christ's holy blood.

We deserve death, but Christ took that punishment on our behalf, he has rescued us, rescued us from this body of death. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.

I don't know if it gets any easier

^{Romans 6:12-23}

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Our Lord Jesus Christ.

You are all forgiven, you have been set free from the wages of sin, Jesus died in your place, taking what you deserve and giving you what he deserves. Jesus died for you and gave you life. He died on the cross to set you free from the burdens and guilt that come from trying and failing to keep the ten commandments.

You are a sanctified people set free from slavery to sin so that you can do whatever you like.... actually no, that last part is wrong, but it is what the Romans were thinking and Paul had to put a stop to it.

The letter of Romans, was written to Jews living in Rome, they had heard the good news that Jesus had died for their sins and set them free from the Law, they were no longer under law but under grace. Unfortunately, they had seen this as a reason to stop living by the Law and start using their freedom from the law to disregard it, living by their passions instead.

Now, it makes sense, if we are free from the Law then we can live in opposition to it. If I am freed from those laws that bind me from doing what I want, and what I think will make me feel good; those are the things that I am going to start doing. I have jesus's words of freedom, and the key passage that I am judged by no man but God alone; so whatever I do is acceptable in God's eyes.

That is a place called antinomianism-no Law. it is where you can get when you say that Jesus abolished the law, instead of what he said; that he had fulfilled it. God's children forget this every now and again, sometimes it is a teaching that comes strongly into the church as it was for Rome and other times in history. But other times it comes into our own lives for brief little flairs, times when we despair of our constant stumbling and in our weakness we harden the sin, we say to ourselves, God made me like this and he loves me so he must love even this, and the deceiver gets a foot in the door.

In those times of uncertainty and hardening God speaks to us from Romans,

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

You have been set completely free from sin and the guilt and eternal punishment that it brings, And I'm willing to say that God restricts quite a lot of the temporal punishment that our sins merit, but that it no reason to live in your sin. It's a struggle, it's hard, but we must keep suffering with our failure to keep God's commands, this side of heaven there will be no proper rest. There will be no day when we look back and say, "you know what, I actually kept all of God's commands, for the entirety of this day, praise God, If heaven could be entered on the basis of one day, this would be it." That is wrong thinkning, you cannot be good enough to earn heaven even with God's grace, but that is not licence to just live by the worlds passions because you will be saved by grace anyway.

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Paul says that though the roman Jews were slaves to sin they are no longer and neither are we.

Living by your passions leads to death, Adam and Eve wanted a nice tasting fruit which would give them godlike knowledge, they were kicked out of Eden and died. Cain was jealous of his brother, Abel died, then Cain. Moses got angry with God's people and struck a rock when God had commanded him to speak to it, and he was buried by God outside of the Promised land." What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!"

Don't wallow in your sin, and when you do strive to get out of it, seek God's forgiveness, seek the foot of the cross, go to your fellow Christians and share your burdens, come to me as your pastor and seek confession and absolution. Gather here, like you are, to be comforted and comfort others, receive regularly the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, given for you, given for baptised Christians who believe that Holy communion gives the faith that it requires.

As baptised Christians you are now slaves to righteousness, slaves to doing God's will, but this is not a burdensome task, God gives you your daily bread, he gives you what you need to do the work he calls you for, there is joy and happiness in keeping God's commands, joy for you and for your neighbour.

now that, through your baptism, you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

I was going to say I think Im good, but thats not the point

Matthew 10:24-39

Our Gospel reading for today is a hard text.

³⁴ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

These are hard words and seem to go against what we like to think of Jesus, He is the prince of peace, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. John 14:27 those are the words of Jesus we like to hear, and rightly so, so why here He is saying the opposite.

³⁴ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵   For I have come to set a man against his father,

and a daughter against her mother,

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

³⁶   and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

The Words of scripture are all God breathed, they are how God reveals himself to us in these last days. We submit to it when we don't understand it and we use scripture to interpret scripture, So how do these passages co exist, at his birth the angels sung “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” and here Christ himself says no to peace but yes to the sword.

to understand scripture, we must read scripture.

Our reading today, comes during Christ's commission of his disciples, the part midway through his ministry, where Jesus sent his disciples telling them, "as you go preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven ^[i]is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons." He then gives them a warning, He is sending them out as sheep among wolves. There are words of warning and promise, and then we continue to our section.

Now of course there is no contradiction in Jesus' words, he comes bringing peace to those who would accept his message, but to those who would reject him, they reject the peace that he brings. To these people only condemnation remains. It is said that "the same sun that softens butter, hardens clay." Either people will accept God's word as truth, or they will be insulted by it and hardened in their sin.

This is the situation that Jesus is preaching to, he knows that not all people will listen to the good news. they rejected him and hung him on a tree, likewise, in our day here in our own towns and families not everyone believes in Christ. And to these relationships not peace, but a sword is brought forth.

I could happily say to any one of you here gathered today, and those of God's flock not here right now, you are a sinner, you are an evil person, naturally turned away from God, your good works are useless when trying to get into heaven, you are a poor wretched sinner. Now I used the word happy for a reason, because we know what comes next. yes we are sinners, but Christ died for us. he died, and our sinful self died with him in our baptism. when I say you are an evil person, I am talking to the sinner not the saint. In heaven I won't be able to speak like that because the sinner will be fully dead, but here on earth, he keeps popping back up.

Now how do I think you would be received if I went to some of the non Christian members of our community and condemned their sin, told them they are not good enough to earn their way into heaven and their actions are deserving of the fires of hell. I doubt I would receive a warm welcome, though praise God if I do, because then I can proclaim the soothing words of the gospel.

To the world, to those who have not accepted Jesus as God's son, and the saviour of the world, our belief is foolish, we are weak, needing a crutch, a group of self righteous so and so's.  Even those we love will be turned away by our faith.

So what does Jesus say to us in the face of rejection from the world?

²⁶ “So have no fear of them; ²⁸ Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Now it is God who we are called to fear, not man, not rejection from the world, not rejection from our family. Yes this rejection can hurt, when our family and friends seemingly reject the good news that Jesus died, to set them free from the suffering and guilt that their sins causes, this is painful. But we cannot save ourselves, let alone our loved ones, that is God's work.

We never know what God is working in someone else's heart, we do not know how God is using our prayers, and loving actions, to work through the hard hearts of those we love. We do not know when the prodigal son will return or if it will happen in our lifetime. But we do know that every worker in the vineyard received the same wage of eternal life regardless of the time they were hired. God cares a huge amount about us, he even cares about each individual hair on our heads, We are worth more than many sparrows, and it is not God's will that a single child be lost.

Still, Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life, belief in Jesus as God's son and trust in his words is the only way to receive peace, true peace.

for those who persecute us, we do not fear them more than God. For those members of our family, we do not love them more than God. It is to God alone who we are held to account, and it is God alone who has saved us from this world of death. And saved us he has.

and The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

No Mr Bates you are wrong ed.20/6/14

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you know where you are going? And if you do, do you know how to get there? Do you know where you are going in life, do you know what your future holds?

For our lives here on earth, we cannot, with absolute clarity, know where we are going or how we will get there. Life is full of changes, new jobs, new homes, new relationships. We receive new things which give us joy and happiness, and other things which once brought joy are taken away. We are surprised with new opportunities, doors open which we thought were closed, but we are also surprised when doors we thought were open are rudely shut in our faces. We can unexpectedly take a turn for the worse, our health can fail, or injury can arise. But we can also receive unexpected healing, or remarkable strength of body and will, living past what wise professionals expect and amazing those around us.

No, we cannot fully know the path our lives here on earth will take, we cannot know where life will take us. We take our best guess and run with it, working hard and making the best plans we can with the knowledge given to us. No for our lives, here on earth our foresight is impaired and unclear. But what is unclear to us is clear to God, and The Father sent the Son to open our eyes.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me." Peace, Do not be troubled, Jesus comforts his disciples like this after telling them that he will die. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. Jesus goes on to explain where this belief will lead, where this trust and hope, this Faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, the son of God, the one who died to take away the sins of the world, Jesus explains where this Faith will lead all those who call on his name.

In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

By His death on the cross Jesus, true man and true God died in your place. The punishment for your sins against God and your neighbor is death, but Christ the perfect sacrifice died on your behalf, he died that you might live, he died that I might live, Jesus died so that Tess lives.

By His death, Jesus conquered death, he payed the cost for our room in heaven and he promises to return to take us all with him. Last week Jesus took Tess, our sister in Christ to be with him, joyfully, eternally. Tess was a baptised into the name of the triune God. God's seal was placed on her and through that baptism, Jesus, the way , the truth and the life enacted God's life giving grace in her. Tess confirmed her trust in God and his promises, for the comfort of her soul she repented and heard the forgiveness of all her sins proclaimed; she received the body and blood of Jesus, to strengthen her body and soul to life eternal. We can never judge the state of another, But we can trust God's words that he is faithful to all who call on his name.

This life is for now, this freedom from sin and the clear direction that our eternal lives will take gives us hope for each day. As we take each day as it comes planning our earthly future we trust in God that our eternal future is secure in Him. He is watching over us now through our actions each day just as he will once we have died and live with him eternally in his peaceful joyful presence. The forgiveness we receive through Christ strengthens us to live our daily lives humbly, trusting in God alone for every good thing and relying on him to get us through life's challenges. And the Hope which we have in life eternal helps us to shoulder our burdens, knowing that Christ has gone on ahead of us, he has walked our path, suffered our temptations and on our behalf he came out victorious. He showed us the way in which we should walk and told us the place where we will go.

And we know it, we know the way to the place where Jesus has gone, the place where all those who were baptised in the triune name and placed their trust in Jesus have gone. The way to life eternal, to our Father's house where there are many rooms, “Do not let your hearts be troubled," Jesus is the way, Jesus is the truth, and Jesus is the life, life now and life eternal.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus Amen.