Sermon from June 3rd

Trinity Sunday – Romans 8:12-17 (John 3:1-17, and Psalm 29)

Rev. Michael Fry preaching

at East Bethany PC

June 3, 2012

As Christians we have received an incredible inheritance! 

But before we get to that, let’s think of the things we inherit…

·      Jewelry, land, houses, money, stocks, cars, and so on. 

o   If we have older brothers and sisters we have inherited the clothes they grew out of or the bicycle they used to use. 

And who normally inherits thing? 

·      People who are included in the will. 

o   And if there is not a good will then the people involved usually fight about who gets what and this can often turns in to bitterness. 

We have inherited things that we do not realize.  For example: we inherited the families that we are part of as well as their history that includes all the benefits and trauma or drama that come with them. 

We have also inherited the earth we live on, our faith, and the church that we participate in, which also like our family has a history that includes joys as well as disappointments and hurt.  

As children of God who are led by the Spirit, we are promised freedom and life.  As Sons and Daughters of God we have received the same inheritance as Christ – who was raised from death and is with God in heaven.  As heirs with Christ we have received the abundant gift of grace. 

As Children of God we are obligated to live according to the Spirit and to bury sinful actions instead of following human nature.   And in doing so we are freed from living by the constraints of this world. 

What I mean is that we do not have to play by the same rules as everyone else.  Of course the bills we have still need to be paid and if we have a job we should do it and enjoy it as much as we can but as heirs of God we do it with a different attitude which I think is summed up best in Micah 6:8, that our life with God requires us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. 

When we do not do justice, love kindness, or walk humbly with God as we are called to do we become slaves to the world around us.  We get worn down because we look out for ourselves instead of others.  Trying to protect ourselves we become callous instead of compassionate.  We are concerned continually with the question, What is in it for me?  Which leads us to ask ourselves on Sunday morning, What am I going to get out of going to church?  Wrapped up in this question is, Is it worth the trouble of getting dressed and going? 

We learn this behavior and these questions because of just about everything that surrounds us – on TV, the internet, even billboards.  We learn this behavior from people who are around us – friends, colleagues at work, other children at school, people we look up to or who are prominent in our lives – such as parents, teachers, actors, and athletes. 

From these role models we learn – how to win and how to lose, how to handle anger and disappointment, attitudes of pride and arrogance or attitudes of grace and humility. 

From athletes we learn that performance is tied to their contract that is negotiated by an agent and that they are under so much pressure to win that it is acceptable to use steroids and super painkillers if it means that they can compete on a higher level. 

We learn of bounty programs like the New Orleans Saints football team where players were rewarded for intentionally injuring players on opposing teams during their games to improve their chance of winning. 

In politics we learn the importance of tearing down our opponents by pointing out their faults, exploiting their weaknesses, and encouraging fears that potential voters might have – this is further encouraged by how we can like or not like something or someone on Facebook, which is another kind of voting that we do. 

What we see teaches us how to view and interpret the world.  If we see negative images we are more likely to think negatively about our selves and be suspicious of other people.

·      In a normal day are we more likely to see images of life and healing or images of death and violence? 

·      Do we view the world we live in as a world of abundance or scarcity? 

·      Do we have a spirit of gratitude or do we take things for granted? 

Living by the Spirit as Paul encourages us to do frees us to live with compassion without fear, to share God’s love with others in word and deed, to enact the grace we have received.  We are freed to worship, to honor God and our neighbors, living generously in sharing what we have with others. 

In our every day lives, living by the Spirit frees us so that we may do what God likes instead of what the world likes, allowing us to be different from our neighbors. 

We receive status in God’s eyes, we are adopted as children of God.  Good parents not only love their children, but they provide for them, clothe them, protect them, comfort them, tuck them in at night, they set boundaries for them, and they teach them how to live. 

As Christians, God has freed us from captivity to the world and has promised to care for us in abundance. 

Let’s look at this abundance for a moment.  The very first miracle or wonder Jesus performs in the Gospel of John is turning water into wine.  He is at a wedding where the finest food and drink is provided and they run out of wine.  This is a disaster imagine going to wedding and sitting there waiting for your slice of cake only to find out that it isn’t coming because somebody miscalculated.  If it were me I’d be pretty mad. 

But not Jesus he goes and provides not just wine but an abundance of wine 180 gallons of the best wine you can imagine.  What was an opportunity for disgrace and criticism turns out to be a moment for grace to be shared and for the steward of the wedding feast to be complemented. 

So let’s go back to the cake that we are waiting for that is not coming and that we are insulted because we gave up our Saturday afternoon or evening to come to a wedding where the couple shows their ungratefulness for our support by not having enough cake and what happens, but suddenly more cake appears and this cake is even better than the cake that the others who got some earlier got.  I’d be thrilled and I’d want other to have an opportunity to taste this cake too. 

If God can do this with wine and cake think about the possibilities for our life! 

This is the inheritance of abundant life we receive when the Spirit adopts us as God’s own sons and daughters. 

And the Good News is – God has adopted you as his own beloved child.