Preacher: Nathan Hosler

Date: July 23,2023

Scripture: Psalm: 139:1-12, 23-24, Romans 8:12-25

In Verse 12  of Romans 8:12-25 (passage below)the “so then” points back. The “so then” is what comes as a result of the new life in the Spirit. The chapter begins, Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.–

Because of this gift of new life, we are “obligated”, required, compelled to live a life in sync with Spirit. The Spirit of God lives in us and as such our lives are changed. The reality of the Spirit is known by the fruits of this new life in our lives. We can see the Apostle Paul working at several angles here. For if the Spirit is in our lives there are certain results. If these visible results are there, then one can know the presence of the Spirit. However, since no one is perfect, we are also prone to doubt, there is an element of pastoral care here. Paul asserts that we do not need to live in fear but can live in hope and confidence. However, this is also a call to attention and care.

In verse 14 we read,

¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba Father!” ¹⁶ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 

Though the call of God is rigorous, and the teaching of Jesus can seem daunting, we are freed to live in reliance and intimacy with God. While there are Biblical names of God which focus on reverence and even show a hesitancy for speaking the name of God out of honor, this cry “Abba, Father” is one closeness and intimacy.

This reactive intimate cry is a sign of a relationship. A sign that we have been adopted—fully brought into the family of God. These are signs of the relationship. There is similar language in the Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” As children of God, there is a family resemblance in how the children of God live in the world. This well-known verse in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount is expanded later on in the same teaching with an description of what it means for God to be a peacemaker.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

As children, not only do God’s characteristics shape us and begin re-shaping us but it also makes the children, “heirs.” In verse 17 it reads, “and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,”

“Heirs” sounds promising. “Heirs” sounds like a wealth management thing. An inheritance passed on. The Church of the Brethren’s Mission Advancement team works to remind denominational members that members can add the CoB ministries into their estate planning. You can continue your legacy of supporting the church even after you die! When I hear inheritance, this is what I think of. We may think of heavenly riches and visions of streets of gold.

However, if heir then co-heir with Christ. Being co-with Christ entails being linked in suffering as well as glory. ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

While there is “glory” there is a full participation in Christ.

Which brings up an interesting set of questions. In this passage I read Paul to be commenting on and building from Jesus’ teaching on “taking up ones’” cross in Matthew 16.

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

In this we could say that following Jesus and joining in the work of Jesus which may/will put us at odds with dominant culture. But a theology of suffering can be tricky.

There is a strong Biblical and theological thread that names Jesus’ death as contributing to salvation or redemption. However, if we join with Jesus and take up our cross, we are not becoming little saviors. Additionally, there has been the tendency for people in power to encourage those who are poor or marginalized or otherwise suffering to view their suffering as redemptive and in line with following God. In this, a theology of redemptive suffering is used as a weapon of oppression.

The invitation to walk with Jesus as heirs and co-heirs is a call into the fullness of life—both present and future. But it is also a call to participate in the hard work of healing, justice, and peace. It is a joining in with the work of God, while we participate, we are also carried along in the grace of God. While we act, we also trust God’s action.

But there is more. This is not only a human-Divine bilateral relationship. The passage continues, ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. This is the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. In First Nations Version we read, The creation all around us is waiting on tiptoe for the Creator’s sons and daughters to be revealed in the full beauty of who he has created them to be.

Not only is all of creation participating and waiting for the big reveal—the full healing—but it is also suffering and will also be made whole.

 “that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, 

It is easy to see the suffering of creation. I first read this passage this week on the day Phoenix broke its record for most consecutive days above 100 degrees. That humanity’s sin, both past and present, is harming God’s good creation is both evident and should bring concern and action. In this also, we anticipate God’s future redemptive action but also recognize our clear call to act. Today, however, this will not be our primary focus.

As part of my role in preparing and now implementing the Church of the Brethren’s Resolution–With Actions and in Truth: A Lament of the Doctrine of Discovery I have continued reading indigenous authors. This week I began reading Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining our Future by Patty Krawec. While the suffering and groaning of creation caught my attention, the author challenged my framing of “creation.”

She described how differing creation stories have contributed to differing relationships and understanding of human in relation to the rest of creation. She writes,

“Unlike the Christian creation story, the Anishinaabe creation story does not contain a fall or expulsion…The Anishinaabe also have a story of wandering, a circulating of sorts, around the lands in which the Creator placed us…Our migration is not a search for home; it was a return…I remember learning in church that this world was not our home, that we were strangers in a strange land and that our hope was in heaven. That changes how you look at things. Instead of listening to what the land might have to say for itself, you listen only what God might be saying through it, reducing it to an empty vessel. It diminishes our investment in the world around us and disconnects us from everything, including people, because we don’t listen to them either. Relationships become a means to an end, a way to evangelize people so they, too, can become unmoored and disconnected from everything except Jesus.” (Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining our Future, Patty Krawec, 26-27) 

She notes that the Christian understanding tends to lead to theologies of separation and superiority of humans over the rest of Creation. This is where I felt challenged. I noted that even though I have a fairly strong theology and ethic of caring for Creation, I still tend to act from a position of power—perhaps unilateral towards Creation or on behalf of Creation. I wonder, how would my understanding of agency shift if I began to rework my understanding. I didn’t get it figured out before this morning, but I am intrigued.

As we continue to expectantly wait, to groan, and to work with all of Creation, how is the Spirit speaking and showing us the way? Who will the Spirit speak through this week? What might the Spirit call us to, or which relationship may she open up?

May we go in eager expectation, expectant hope, and Holy curiosity for the words of God.

Romans 8:12-25

So then, brothers and sisters, we are obligated, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, ²⁰ for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, ²³ and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.