Living Uniquely

Introduction

It is great to be with you today. I want to thank Captains Markham for the opportunity to fellowship with you and to bring God’s word today. I was challenged by Captain Quinton to prepare a sermon consistent with an “outside of the box” theme. Well, that was an easy one for me because I feel that the mission of the church is a little different than the common model we often embrace. So that is what we are going to talk about today, but first, let’s have a word of prayer!

Scripture

Romans 12:1–2 NLT

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Historical Context

So to give a little historical context, Paul father is Jewish Roman citizen of Tarsus. Therefore, Paul received his roman citizenship at birth. Paul was converted to Christianity on the road to Damscus, and has since realized his call by Jesus to preach the gospel to the gentiles. So, given his Roman citizenship and his specific calling, this letter to the church at Rome is a natural one for him to write.

In the first 11 chapters of his letter, Paul lays a theological foundation of justification through faith. He first writes of sin, then God’s provision for salvation, the freedom that salvation brings, and the scope of salvation for both Jews and Gentiles.

What Paul did next is the same thing that we are looking at today, he launched into what a responsive life to that salvation should look like. He knows that tradition and folk theology have misaligned people’s understanding of what a proper response should be, so he works in his letter to realign that with a more accurate and appropriate understanding. He needs to get the church in Rome to think outside of the norm that they have been exposed to so that they can live a unique life more alligned to Christ’s mission for the church.

Folk Theology

So what exactly is this folk theology that I am speaking about? Folk theology is simply the theology that has been skewed by misrepresentations. Consider for a moment those old cartoons where the cat dies and suddenly has wings, a harp and is floating in the sky on a cloud. We all laugh at the poor cats outcome, but the reality is that it misrepresents the truth about whatr happens after death. It is innocent enough, but when generations of children see this and no one ever corrects what has developed in their minds, an improper theology encroaches into adulthood. And it doesn’t end there, even Christian songs such as “when we all get to heaven” can cause some confusion. After all, Revelation 21 clearly shows God establishing His kingdom on earth. So which is it, are we going to heaven or is heaven coming to us?

You can see how things, albeit done in innocence, can have detrimental effects on theological formation. So Paul is clarifying here to the church in Rome what sin has really done, what the salvation made available throughJesus really means, and how it should be appropriately responded to.

The Kingdom Has Come Near

To really set ourselves on a proper course to fully understand Paul’s appeal for appropriate Christian response, we need to review a few things about Jesus, and if you were at Men’s Camp a few weeks ago, you may recognize some of what I am going to share today. Since the beginning of man, God has entered into covenant relationships where He agrees to be our God, meeting our needs and heeping blessing upon our lives. Our side of the covenenat, each and every time, calls for us to trust and obey Him. That is it! Yet, each covenant that God has established with the human race, He has fulfilled His part and we have absolutely failed in ours.

Our first failure took place in the Garden of Eden where our first parents traded the righteousness of God and its associated freedoms for the sin of Satan and its associated bondage. Yet, God made a way for our salvation through the law of Goel, or Kinsman Redeemer. If you’re unfamiliar with this, you can read about it in Leviticus 25 starting at verse 39, or you can go to the book of Ruth and read about how Boaz, having been the nearest willing and able living relative of her deceased husband, became a kinsman redeemer claiming Ruth as his wife.

Under the law of Kinsman Redeemer, there can be no male relative in Adam”s lineage found. After all, the the first man sold himself into bondage, so the only legacy he could leave is bondage. None of his subsequent sons, and sorry ladies but the law only allows males to be the kinsman redeemer, none of his subsequent sons would have the ability to break this chain. But in God’s plan, Jesus became human through His mother Mary, so he is certainly a relative. Because God is His birth Father, He is born in freedom, not bondage, so He would have the ability to be a kinsman redeemer.

Exemplified by Jesus

So, God has a plan for the redemption of mankind and He sets it in motion with the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary. There is some brief scriptures about his childhood, his temptations in the desert, and then the gospels launch straight into His ministry and we read about how in Christ Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!

Jesus exemplified something different. Roman rule placed unfair burden on the people, and the church’s poor interpretation of religious law created further hardship. Yet, in Jesus, we see unique things such as compassion, love, healing of the sick (even on the sabbath), feeding of the poor. In Jesus, the kingdom of heaven had come near because he brought with him the ethical rule of a loving and caring God, an ethical reign unique to those of establsihed world leaders.

Psalm 145:8 affirms these chracteristics of God affirming that He is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love”. The world seemed cruel. It took advantage of the poor, and disregarded the sick. You could not even touch them according to religious interpretation of the law, or you yourself would be deemed unclean. That is why people fell in love with Jesus, because he was eager to touch the sick and heal them, and he fed the poor instead of taking advantage of them. Everyone loved him except established authorities whose flourishing lives were threatened by his presence. So Jesus represented everything that could bring relief and hope to a broken people. He lived a unique life!

Exemplified by the Church in the Power of the Holy Spirit

So how does this bring about a renewed understanding of how we should live? Well, Jesus went about the next 3 years teaching and exemplifying righteousness, both in word and example, and did so until He reached the cross where He died for you and me, fulfilling the obligation of kinsman redeemer. Then he rose three days later, overcoming the grave and creating a pattern of for you and I so that we, too, may have everlasting life. And if like me, you have proclaimed Him as your savior, then you, too, are responsible to go and make disciples as directed in Matthew 28:19-20.

But here is where Paul’s teaching in today’s scripture really starts taking shape. He talks about things like sacrifice, holiness, reasonable service. He says to “not be conformed to this world: but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds”.

How many of you are familiar with the Greek philosopher, Aristotle? Aristotle was a clever thinker, and one of the things that he addressed was how to attain eudaimonia, or a life of flourishment. The greek’s were always interested in how human’s could flourish more like the lives of the gods. Aristotle said that it was done through virtue, and that virtue was built through a series of things. First of all, you had to observe a person of virtue. Then, you would put their actions into practice until it became habit, and after a period of time, those habits would give way to virtue. They would no longer demand effort, but would become natural responses. For Aristotle, the more virtues that one attained, the better they would live, and the happier life would be.

Well, Aristotle was close. God, in giving us a kinsman redeemer, also gave us someone of virtue to observe. Paul, in Ephesians 5, tells us to follow the example of Christ Jesus. So we do that, and by putting into practice his example, we build virtuous character ourselves. But God’s model is better than Aristotle’s because where Aristotle stops at observation and practice, God continues with implementation and couseling by placing the Holy Spirit within us as a life-long guide and advisor. He motivates us to continue. He refines us and makes us better. That’s the process of sanctification, the tenth doctrine of The Salvation Army.

So what difference does this make in our mission as the church in today’s world? Just as Jesus proclaimed that in Him the Kingdom of Heaven has come near, we are to proclaim the same things. Just as Jesus proclaimed both in word and deed, we do the same thing.

Is anyone here familiar with the Battle of Actium? Octavian and Marc Antony were at war with each other to become emperor of Rome. The Battle at Actium was a decisive battle securing Octavian victory. Everyone knew that he would be the victor, but it was necessary for him to continue dealing with skirmishes for several more years before returning to seat the throne in Rome.

Octavian is known for bringing a time of peace and flourishment to Rome. Even though he would not seat the throne for several years after his decisive victory at the Battle of Actium, his followers back in Rome began living life differently, exemplifying what life under his authority and rule would look like.

Friends, that is precisely what Paul is calling us to do in today’s scripture. We stop living as if we are still under the old authority, we renew the thinking of our minds and live like Revelation 21 has transpired and the kingdom of Heaven has already come. We live like our salvation is about more than just us, so we cannot be satisfied with simply going to church and praying private prayers.

Through word and deed, just like Christ Jesus did, we promote the ethos of God’s heavenly reign by exmplifying it each and every minute of each and every day. We deny ourselves earthly pleasures that are inconsistent with the ways of God, and we pour out a life of service to people who need to taste His goodness, who need to find hope! We live this ethos out in every avenue of our lives. We do not compartmentalize our religion aside from everyday life, we bring it into the everyday, allowing it to reshape how we live and interract with out communities. We go to town hall meetings and challenge agenda items that place undue hardship on God’s creation, not just humanity. God created more than man and sin has affected it all. So, we live to reclaim all that sin has tainted, and it has tainted eveything.

Conclusion

If in our sin, we gave the devil all that we had, shouldn’t we do the same for God in our salvation? The church is to promote that Christ has is King, that His ethical rule is good. People in today’s world are looking for something unique; hope! We need to live not like it is a future reach, but it has already been realized in our lives. We need people to see that we may be in this world, but our citizenship is certainly somewhere else where a powerful, kind and benevolent ruler works to give us full and joyful lives!