“Die with Christ or Live Enslaved”
Sixth Sunday After Trinity – July 11, AD 2010
Romans VI: 3-11
What a joy and privilege it is to be a witness to the Sacrament of Holy Baptism today. Wouldn’t it be grand if we had as many baptisms in our church as we have that other sacrament ordained by our Lord—Holy Communion. Maybe we need to work harder at the Great Commission that Jesus gave the disciples as recorded at the end of St. Matthew’s Gospel: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world. Amen.” [St. Matthew 28: 19-20] Thank God that Jesus is with us “always” because we certainly need him every step of the way in our spiritual journey, don’t we? As St. Paul makes it clear in our Epistle reading from Romans, Chapter 6, baptism is the beginning of a new life in Christ. But paradoxically, we must also experience death in those waters of baptism. Let’s take a closer look at how St. Paul explains this paradox, for it sheds light on the very essence of our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” St. Paul asks rhetorically. As Christ was dead and buried, and then “was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Here it is understood that the imagery of baptism as experienced by most of the early believers was probably immersion. The believer being submerged under water is symbolic of being crucified and buried with Christ and the believer emerging from the water is symbolic of being raised from death into new life in Christ “in the likeness of his resurrection.” These outward signs are given inward spiritual grace through the action of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost further empowers the believer to live a godly life since the “old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” The “old man” that is crucified with Jesus is a reference to humanity’s sharing in the sin of Adam and living enslaved under the rule of sin. But Christ took on the world’s sin through His incredible self-sacrifice that served to expiate our sins and redeem humanity from sin. Christ’s resurrection is a sign of the ultimate victory over sin and death, which those who are united with Him can also share in.
“For he that is dead is freed from sin,” says St. Paul. Like a mortal body that is really dead can no longer sin, a spiritual “body” that is “dead” no longer turns to sin but “lives” as Christ now lives, in the assurance that another death is no longer possible because death no longer has dominion. Christ took sin upon Himself but once for “he died unto sin once” and now “He liveth unto God.” St. Paul would have us take this example of Christ to heart as he exhorts the faithful to “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
So as baptized believers, how do we walk in “newness of life?” and how do we “liveth unto God” and no longer walk in darkness, enslaved to sin? St. Paul goes on to say in the verses that conclude Chapter 6, we must be “as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” He also say that now that we “have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is a spiritual walk, and sometimes a race, that we are on that leads to sanctification or holiness. But this is by no means a risk free endeavor. Read further in Romans and see how even St. Paul struggled with sin and wrote “when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” [Romans 7: 21] and also exclaimed “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” [Romans 7: 24-25a]
We know intellectually that we must die with Christ or else the alternative is to live enslaved to sin. But dying to sin with Christ can be as difficult as dying in our mortal bodies. You may have heard of or read the book called On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross that came out in 1969. Her book posited that there are 5 stages that a person facing death goes through: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally Acceptance. Like facing physical death, we can be in denial about our enslavement to sin, can’t we? “Oh, I’m not really such a bad person. All this talk of sin is so old fashioned. Let’s just groove on positive energy. No bad karma, please.” We can take this attitude to the next level of anger very easily. “Don’t you dare rebuke me for my behavior, you hypocrite! You’re just as bad or worse! Your holier than thou attitude makes me sick!” Or maybe it’s anger toward God. “God you made me the way I am! It’s all your fault!” Then, there’s the bargaining phase. That can turn into an interesting exercise in compartmentalization and “works righteousness.” “God, I need to give in to my pride and passions in this area of my life, but I’ll be sure to go to church every Sunday and give a good amount in the collection plate. I’ll even say 10 Hail Mary’s and 20 Our Father’s. You’ll still love me, won’t you Lord?” Eventually, depression may set in. “My life hasn’t gotten better, Lord. I’m still a mess. What’s the point of praying if you don’t answer my prayers. All I want to do is sleep in Sunday mornings.” The final stage of acceptance may come from a culminating crisis of faith – a dark night of the soul, or from a crucial event that emerges from a failure to really deal with repeated patterns of sinful behavior. Sometimes God has to knock us aside the head before we see the light. Sort of like Saul was knocked off his donkey – to put it politely.
When that acceptance stage is reached, you can’t get re-baptized again, although you might think you need it. But you can give thanks to God that His Grace has been sufficient to heal your bruised soul and redirect you onto the path of righteousness. Yes, it takes supernatural strength to die daily to sin and walk completely in the Light of Christ. We simply can’t do it all on our own. Fortunately, God has given us the means of Grace to assist us and strengthen us through His Church, through Sacred Scripture, and through the Holy Sacraments, especially Baptism and the Eucharist. We can always remember our baptisms by crossing ourselves with holy water. We can also experience Grace through the sacrament of penance or confession. Finally, prayer is vitally important for maintaining relationship with Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Ghost, who is our Comforter and Giver of Life. Both in private prayer and in common prayer, God’s Grace abounds if we participate with humble devotion and expectation. Pray continuously for God’s grace to follow Jesus Christ and grow in sanctification through the power of the Holy Ghost. It is He alone who can bring us salvation and eternal life. If each of us lives more fully in God’s Grace and the love of Christ each day, we will notice a qualitative difference in our relationships with people as we love neighbor as our self. We will surely catch more than a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven we all want to be a part of – in this life and the next.
And now unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all might, majesty, honor, and dominion, as is most justly due this day, both now and forever, Amen.