The Third Sunday after Trinity, Cornerstone Community Church, Sedbergh
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Sunday Sermon
Revd Andy Burgess
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A reading from St Paul’s Letter to the Romans
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.
Romans 6.1–11 NRSVA
Many people who lived through the second world war developed what is sometimes called a ‘wartime mentality’. This was when the habits that were necessary in wartime were so ingrained they persisted in later years, long after rationing had stopped and ‘make do and mend’ was no longer necessary.
My father-in-law grew up in a household dominated by ‘wartime mentality’. He remembers that years after the war had ended, his parents still drew blackout curtains at dusk every evening, and held onto a set of gas masks just in case. He remembers having to unthread old woollen jumpers that had holes in them, in order to reuse the wool. And he also remembers that when you got to the end of a milk bottle, you had to rinse it with a little bit of water, and use that in your tea to make sure you get every last drop!
This was frustrating to a teenager in the 1960s, who could see that the world had moved on, and many of these behaviours were no longer necessary.
The point is, of course, that behaviours and habits which are natural in one context, may not be in another. A ‘make do and mend’ attitude that is necessary in wartime can be dispensed with in peacetime. When a person’s life situation changes, so too do their patterns of behaviour.
In chapter six of St Paul’s magisterial letter to the Romans, he wants his hearers to understand that, in Christ, everything has changed – and therefore we should expect our behaviour and ethics to be transformed as well.
To follow St Paul’s argument in this chapter, we have to appreciate that he uses what is sometimes called ‘apocalyptic’ language. (Buckle up!)
In ‘apocalyptic’ thought, there are two aeons, or ‘ages’. The present evil age is ruled over by spiritual powers and authorities, sometimes referred to by Paul as Sin, Death, and Evil. The future age to come is ruled over by God, and is the age of the Spirit, an age of love, peace, and justice.
In the present age, humans have been enslaved under the spiritual power of Sin. ‘Sin’ isn’t simply the bad things that we do. It is a spiritual power which actually controls and enslaves us. And we are helpless to escape the power of sin ourselves.
However, Christ rescues and saves us by coming into our world, defeating the spiritual powers and authorities through his death on the cross, and rising to new life. In his resurrection, Christ brings the life of the future age to come into the midst of the present age.
The key thing for Paul is that we now have access to the age to come through Christ. When we put our faith in Christ, we participate spiritually in his death and resurrection. Because Christ has died to Sin, so we also die to Sin. This, according to Paul, is the meaning of baptism. We are no longer slaves to Sin, held under its power. We have been set free, to live for Christ. And we look forward with hope to the day when we too will share in Christ’s resurrection life.
Just as there are patterns of behaviour which are natural in wartime, but which are out of place in peacetime, so we must no longer act according to how things were – when we were enslaved under sin – but must rather act out of the way that things now are – in our freedom in Christ.
The change that Christ brings about is greater even than that between wartime and peacetime. To borrow an image from the letter to the Colossians, Paul wants his listeners to realise that they have been transferred from the ‘dominion of darkness into the kingdom of light’. From darkness to light, from war to peace, from death to life – this is the transformation Christ has brought about.
St Paul’s apocalyptic thought can sound quite strange to us when we listen to it with modern ears. What exactly does it mean to participate in Christ? How are we to make sense of this vision of spiritual powers and authorities that enslave humanity and hold us hostage? But as strange as it may sound, I want to suggest a way in which it enriches a Christian understanding of our world and the church.
In church tradition, this chapter has often been debated and reflected on from an individualistic perspective – asking questions about Christian holiness in our personal lives. In future weeks we will consider this aspect further, as we move through chapter 6 and into chapter 7. But I want to focus this morning on what is paramount for Paul – our corporate life together as the church. It is interesting that in Romans, Paul always addresses the whole church, not simply individuals. So we must begin with the church.
There are many lenses through which the church can be viewed. Some view it simply as a special interest group, or a members club for like minded individuals. Some view it through a business perspective, seeing it as something which needs to be marketed and ‘sold’ to people. Sometimes it is simply viewed as an ancient and crumbling institution, a relic of the past that may or may not need preserving. The way we imagine the church will affect the way we talk about it and the way that we treat it.
This is amusingly shown in Dave Walker’s cartoon ‘Rebranding the Church’, which pokes fun at our attempts to view the church as an outdated institution that just needs a rebrand. The mundane advice includes ‘hold a meeting’, ‘look in a book of fonts’, and ‘appoint a committee to thrash out the detail’!
But St Paul’s apocalyptic vision of the church is much more exciting and dynamic than these portrayals. In the midst of the present evil age, which is dominated by spiritual powers and authorities, Paul views the church as gaining access to the future life of the age to come. Through the church’s participation in the body of Christ, it has access to the life giving power of the Spirit. It is an outpost of the Kingdom of heaven on earth. The church is nothing less than a renewed and restored humanity.
For Paul, this is signified in the sacrament of baptism. Baptism provides a metaphor for the church’s participation in Christ’s body. “Do you not know” he asks, “that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3 NRSV).
When we see the church in these terms, we cease to see it as a human institution or creation, and recognise it as a crucial part of God’s unveiling of his plan for the world.
This apocalyptic view of reality also makes intuitive sense as we look around our world today. In so many areas, it can feel as though things are out of control. Conflict zones experiencing intense war with no end in sight. Extreme weather conditions caused by global warming that cause drought and suffering amongst the poorest. And social media algorithms that seek out and amplify the most extreme voices in a high pitched shouting match.
From Paul’s perspective, these are signs that supernatural forces are using and exploiting this instability, to keep humanity imprisoned in cycles of violence and hatred. If this is true, then the opportunity the church provides to participate in the life of the one who has overcome these powers is compelling.
Just as great as the contrast between wartime and peacetime, so is the new life that is offered in the church. Paul encourages us to recognise that through participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, we have been released from the state of slavery, and given new life. We have been empowered with the Holy Spirit, and given the hope of future resurrection life. Paul’s language in this passage is full of life: we are called to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4 NRSV), and to consider ourselves “alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11 NRSV).
In conclusion, the church is much more than simply a club or historic institution. St Paul encourages the church to recognise that in Christ, it is a new creation.
Before I close, there is a note of caution to sound. For all that the apocalyptic mindset gives us, it is just one of the viewpoints found in scripture, and along with its strengths it does have some weaknesses. Throughout history, Christians have assumed they can easily identity the supernatural powers that Paul speaks of, and end up condemning things they don't understand as ‘demonic’. This is an area that requires discernment, where we must not be quick to rush to judgement.
There is also the problem that some Christians have always been convinced that the end is just around the corner, and an overemphasis on the apocalyptic mindset can cause the church to ignore its duty to the world in the present.
But for all these problems, we cannot finally let go of St Paul’s apocalyptic vision. Rather than making us arrogant and proud, it ought to humble us, and remind us that there is more to reality than meets the eye.
And it ought also to encourage us to seek refuge in Christ our saviour. It recognises that there are powers at work in this world that are greater than humanity's ability to resist.
But praise God that in Christ we have a saviour. In Christ, fear is cast out by love, and we stand in the grace and assurance of our future salvation.
May we recognise our mutual life in the Spirit, as we are called to put away competitiveness and hostility, and to be a community of peace and love – a new humanity.
Amen.
