Are We Really In Christ? A Sermon by Rev. Jessica Gregory March 6, Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15: 1-3; 11b-32

Transcription

1 1 Are We Really In Christ? A Sermon by Rev. Jessica Gregory March 6, Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15: 1-3; 11b-32 Each Sunday in Challenge Class, our senior high youth discuss current events and oftentimes controversial topics guided by the question: What would Jesus do? Based on his teaching, healing and model of compassionate care to all, no role model is better than Rabbi Jesus. As we commenced our Lenten journeys four weeks ago, we encountered a very human Jesus in a place of extraordinary temptation. We experienced him relying on and utilizing divine strength and wisdom given by the Holy Spirit to respond to the Devil s urging to prove his divinity by turning stone into bread; to worship him rather than God, to be given authority, to test God s protection by throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple. Human Jesus is starving, exhausted and weak. But with the Holy Spirit, Jesus is made strong and able to use the Holy Word to respond authoritatively to the Devil. Four weeks later, we find ourselves reading Paul s second letter to the Corinthians, in which he elaborates the transformative power of believing not just in Jesus the man but Jesus the Christ. As we move towards Jerusalem and closer to Jesus celebratory ride leading to his excruciating murder, we also grow nearer his victory over death as his

2 2 rises to life eternal. Here we encounter Paul s reflections on the Risen Christ s astounding love for us all and for him personally. While our passage today begins with verse 16, we must hear verses 14 and 15 for context: 14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! This is one of Paul s most often read and well known passages, and yet as one Bible Study member acknowledged, it is a difficult one to understand! We cannot begin to unpack this entire passage this morning so we are going to reflect on one key phrase So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation One key phrase that is quite odd. On a literal level, of course a person (other than an unborn child) cannot be hidden inside another. But on a metaphorical level, understood as being redeemed by Christ, by his death and resurrection, we are actually all In Christ: For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all, therefore all have died. During the Sacrament of baptism, we acknowledge our death, and our rising with Christ.

3 3 Again, not literally our death, but metaphorically our death to an old way of living, a way of living undertaken before we claimed our identities as Christian and began a new life based on the miraculous power of the resurrection. Through the movement of the Holy Spirit, as our heads were sprinkled or dunked, we became participants in the life and love of God. When Jesus rose from death the whole world became a new creation; but we are left to work out for ourselves in a life long journey of faith the actual ways we are to live and behave as ones in Christ. All of humanity is on this journey, whether they are aware of it or not. Particularly during the pilgrimage of Lent, our awareness of this journey is heightened. We reflect on our Spiritual lives and repent for those things done that would not be answers to W.W.J.D. We also overflow with gratitude for the statement in W.C.D What Christ Did. What Christ did for each of us. And what his love is doing for us right now. His love empowers and equips us to live more fully in his name. For as we do this we are challenged to proclaim judgements such as race, social status, wealth, prestige, and title to be obsolete utterly null and void. For if we are in Christ, we perceive the world through the eyes of Jesus Christ the one who gave himself not just for you and me but for every single person on earth the doctors and nurses, teachers and community organizers, as well as the murderers and terrorists, the frauds and utter failures utter failures such as a young man poised to do great things, given his financial resources and social status, but who selfishly squanders it all way.; utter failures like the younger son in our

4 4 parable from Luke which Bob read a few moments ago. The younger son left his family land, pockets heavy with inheritance, cocky and oblivious to the world he would encounter. He returned a transformed man, a man grateful for his father s love and acutely aware of the goodness given by him. In this story we encounter his father, the king, and his older brother as the younger son returns home. We meet these two characters at very different points on their faith journeys. The father behaves as one living in Christ rather than judging his son for his unwise decisions he opens his arms wide with love. The elder brother, on the other hand, cannot help but judge his brother as unworthy due to his actions and he cannot understand his father s warm welcome of him. The older brother, while successful at being the good, duty-bound son, failed to understand that the task of a Christian, one redeemed by God alone, is not merely to be duty bound and obedient but to be faithful. To be faithful. A simple yet profound statement. To be faithful to see the world through the lens of Jesus Christ is incredibly daunting. To live in Christ can feel much more like a burden than an opportunity. Just a couple weeks ago my friend Nora was on the EL, coming home after a long day. The car she happened to step into included a homeless passenger, a man separated from the other riders by his overpowering smell. Nora is a faithful Christian who is active in her church and attentive to her relationship with God, but the moment she took a whiff of the odor and saw its origin she thought I wish I had picked a different car! As the

5 5 train journeyed north she did think about the difference a shower and clean clothes would make for the man, and wished she was in the position to invite him to her home. But she wasn t, and in the end did nothing. Turning faithful thoughts into action is often not possible; we strive to live in Christ but often don t get beyond thinking In Christ and only for moments of our day rather than its entirety. But even these moments are examples of being made new in Christ; it is a slow process of becoming more completely who God creates us to be. To be faithful was the task Paul sought to remind the Christians of in Corinth. He wrote this letter five or six years after his initial visit, which was for a year and a half, during which he spread the Gospel and established the church. He wrote it after his co-worker Timothy visited and reported to Paul trouble among the Corinthians. He wrote it after a much briefer and deeply discouraging second visit to the community, which prompted a letter referred to by Paul as the letter of tears. Paul then sent co-worker Titus to the community and wrote Second Corinthians in the mid-fifties, after Titus s return. All of this is to say that much prayer, attention, love, concern and care has been given to this community by Paul and others. The focus of the letter before us today is internal community conflict and the necessity of a rich inner Christian life. Paul reminds his brothers and sisters that they are all In Christ redeemed and reconciled by God, but they sure aren t acting like it. They seem to have forgotten their Christian identities and the Christian way of living. The Corinthians must do their work to behave, to rid themselves of sinful ways of life that are increasing

6 6 tension within the church. This was Paul s concern for the early Church in Corinth. Almost 2000 years later, the Corinthians behavior could describe us today. A community committed to church and Christian living but struggling to live out our identities as Christians. Those In Christ moments seem few and far between. The Good News is we are a people with a Savior. It s not about us getting it right; it s about us being faithful. This morning we celebrate five individuals new to our community who are taking a big step in their faith lives by joining our church. Soon Mary Ruth, Nicole, Steve, Ethan and Gemma will commit to being faithful disciples among us, with little idea what that will mean for their future. To what ministries will they be called to participate in and lead? How will their faith be challenged, and how will we be faithful to them? How will God transform their lives? As they begin their journeys with us, those answers are unknown. What is known is that each of them, like all of us, is In Christ, and there is a new creation. A creation that is good. A creation that needs nourishment. A creation that is fed at this table. A table whose meal reminds us whose we are, and that despite all the ways we run from God, God always comes to us. A meal that gives us hope and renews our lives. A meal, small and simple, yet profound in its renewing energy. Through the moving of the Holy Spirit in the partaking of this bread and cup, our eyes are opened to seeing the world through the eyes of

7 7 Christ. We are equipped to live in Christ and we are energized for ministry. We are made ready again to answer the question What Would Jesus Do knowing and ever grateful for What Christ Did. Thanks be to God, Amen.