Lent 5 - April 2, 2017 Romans 8:6-11

Intro: The litany, that precious prayer of the Church, asks our Triune God to deliver us from (among other things) “lightning and tempest, from all calamity by fire and water; and from everlasting death”. And it is the heart that can pray this than can hear and cling to the words of today's Epistle reading from Romans ch 8.

1. The flesh is death, and the Spirit is life, so since we're talking about life and death, and either one or the other, it's best to be clear on these words.
   1. The way of the flesh is death, or as Paul says it “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” – so it's probably a good idea to know what Paul means when he says flesh.
   2. “Flesh” is often used by Paul to mean “the sinful nature” as inherited from our parents. The fallen human nature has self-seeking desires that oppose God. Paul does not mean that our physical bodies or the physical world are inherently evil, since they have been created by God though they are now fallen into sin. But Paul is talking about the mindset of the sinful nature, a mindset which is in agreement with sin and in line with sin, and therefore against God. That's a mindset that is death. But,
      
   3. The mindset of the Spirit is life and peace – so it's probably a good idea to know how we receive the Holy Spirit.
      1. See, by talking of the mindset of the Spirit, Paul isn't talking about some spiritual power that we have on the inside. He's talking about the Holy Spirit who brings life by faith in Jesus Christ. Can we receive the Holy Spirit by sitting around until we feel on the inside that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us? No. Can we do enough to earn the Holy Spirit? No. Can we demand the Holy Spirit because we say so? No. God gives the Holy Spirit out of love that we may live by receiving Christ's own holiness by the Holy Spirit's life-giving work. That's just what was foretold in our OT reading: “And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live”. That sounds like a gift, and an important one, because the alternative is death as the wages of sin.
      2. How do we receive the Holy Spirit? Well, the dry bones in the valley received the Word of the Lord by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, and lived. Jesus spoke to Lazarus, “Lazarus, come out”, and he lived. So when we are brought to life by the gift of the Holy Spirit from Christ Jesus our Lord, it pleases him to do so by his Holy Word. So where there is the Word of God and the gift of life through that Word, there the Holy Spirit is given. This applies to the visible Word, that is the Sacraments, which are the physical means of the Holy Spirit. Confessing these things, we may rejoice in the receiving of the Holy Spirit, which for the Christian is lifelong, as long as we are alive by faith.
         
      3. What comes with the mindset of the Spirit? Life and peace. This is a mindset that in agreement with the Holy Spirit and in line with the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit dwells in you, he brings you Christ's own righteousness, his own perfect life and sacrificial death which earns for you life and peace.
         The flesh is death, and the Spirit is life, but the Christian is both dead and alive.
         

2. The life in the Spirit is lived under a death sentence – thank God.
   1. Now most of the time we don't think it's good to live under a death sentence. Nobody wants to sit around waiting for the guillotine to drop. But for the Christian it is a good thing, because the Christian is both dead and alive. “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
   2. The body is dead because of sin – now this is why it is good to live under a death sentence. Because, in all honesty, I sin. It's not the mindset of the Spirit when we ignore the people who need our love and service (these are the people God has given us the special responsibility to care for according to our various callings), and it's not the mindset of the Spirit to turn around from ignoring to abuse either. It's not the mindset of the Spirit to gather in gossip so you can take pleasure because that person you don't like did something you don't like, and don't we all think so? It's not the mindset of the Spirit to put the Lord's Word or the Lord's house at the very very bottom of the priority list as if we have very little need for either. That sounds like the mindset of the flesh. And the mindset of the flesh is – death! But out of this despair comes this – the resurrection of Christ is life; the Holy Spirit dwelling within you is life because Christ Jesus is the one who declares you righeous and sends the Holy Spirit so that we may receive this great justification by faith alone; Christ's forgiveness is for me life and peace; plain and simple - the blood of Jesus is life!
      
   3. So hurray for living under a death sentence – my sinful nature lives under a death sentence that I may live. Death's dominion over me has been broken by the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord and giver of life, as we rightly say in the Creed. That daily death sentence is for my sinful nature and it's mindset, not for the mindset of the Holy Spirit, which is the mindset of faith. So the sinful nature is put to death daily until it is finally put to death at our death. Then we're free of our sinful nature, because our bodies will come out of our graves, but not our sinful natures. That's life in the Spirit. And that means we can never say we're done with our bodies, but we'll be done only with our sinful nature as we dwell with Christ who is resurrected in the flesh and who is perfect and holy. And he gives a Holy Spirit who makes us to be perfect and holy at the resurrection.
      
      1. But we receive this Holy Spirit now, as we have again been reminded. We're never, ever done depending on Christ our Lord for all salvation. So we receive this death sentence for our sinful nature when we are brought to life by the Holy Spirit through the Word and Baptism. And that's daily carried out in a simple way (though the sinful world doesn't understand, and can't understand because it rejects the forgiveness of sins in Christ's name). This death sentence and gift of life is carried out in repentance and faith (in such simple things as our morning and evening prayer*, Lord's Prayer*, confession and absolution, hearing God's Word, and at the Sacrament).
         
      2. So take heart, dear saints - Christ lives and the Holy Spirit puts to death the flesh. So when the deeds of the flesh are put to death by the Holy Spirit, there are no other deeds than carrying out our God-given callings according to the 10 Commandments. This is never done perfectly, since the sinful nature remains daily until our death – but this is done, thank the Lord. That's the Christian life, the life that is lived because of the life that is received, as Christ lives now and forevermore. And so we pray and suffer. Oh yes, pray and suffer, this is how we carry out our God-given callings. That's Romans 8 v 15-17, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” And trusting in our Savior, we'd have it no other way. Amen.