Third Sunday After Pentecost (C) 2019

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: Galatians 5:18
Theme: Led By The Spirit



Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

Life is never absent of meaning. The challenge comes in understanding and believing that life in God, with God, and from God is never without hope. Unless you believe the universe was self-generated, that it popped into existence under its own intrinsic power, you believe in God. Unless you believe our existence is the result of random and chaotic forces, you believe there is purpose and order in creation. The Bible teaches that God’s purpose and order for creation is not generic. It has definition in Christ. Today the focus and future of Zahli Hampel’s life has been re-orientated. She is an object of Christ’s love, a member of His family, and an heir of His kingdom.

Meaning and purpose in life doesn’t mean it’s without struggle- quite the opposite. Satan is in continual opposition to God’s purposes and so are our selfish sinful natures. The apostle Paul speaks about these things today saying, “The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”1 What are the desires of the flesh? “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”2

The pivotal medium in this struggle is our conscience (though, of course, the Bible also speaks of our heart, our spirit or soul, and our will). When the conscience doesn’t struggle against temptation, then either we have a false peace (that is, we actually don’t recognize something as being against God’s will, when it truly is), or, we’ve given into the desires of the flesh. Examples are easy to name and are virtually infinite. We’ll consider just a couple. Firstly, in the context of marriage and sexuality, many people, including many Christians, now have a falsely peaceful conscience about sexual activity outside of the bonds of marriage. They simply don’t recognize it as being against God’s will. Therefore, their consciences are not pricked. Others have their consciences stirred, but have given into the desires of the flesh, thus ignoring them. The transgression of God’s plan for sexual relationships has profound and far-reaching implications for both individuals and societies. We can see the grief and harm it’s causing all around us.

A second example is greed, which relates to the Ninth and Tenth Commandments on coveting3. Greed is widely extolled as a virtue in Western Society. It’s often cloaked in ideas and concepts that make it sound positive. The ambition to achieve easily becomes an excuse to exploit. When things become monetized- valued with dollar signs- perspectives on what gives life meaning can become badly skewed. Money can’t solve all problems. And though it can provide many comforts, it really is true that money can’t buy happiness if, happiness is understood as enduring joy. Scripture says, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”4 It also says, “You cannot serve both God and Money.”5

It’s important to remember that though we sometimes successfully hide our sins from others, we can never hide them from God. We still try, like the drunk husband who snuck up the stairs quietly. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the bumps and bruises he'd received in a fight earlier that night. He then proceeded to climb into bed, smiling at the thought that he'd pulled one over on his wife. When morning came, he opened his eyes and there stood his wife. "You were drunk last night weren't you!" "No, honey." "Well, if you weren't, then who put all the band-aids on the bathroom mirror?"

The condemning law of God causes the conscience to be in distress. He does that to drive us to repentance. Conversely, the gospel, the Good News of forgiveness, gives the conscience true comfort and peace. Yet, He does more than pardon the penitent sinner. He gives strength to battle temptation. How does Christ overcome our temptation to pursue greed, for example? He does it in two basic ways. Firstly, the Spirit teaches us that nothing we can ever possess compares to the value of the soul. Secondly, He does it by providing for our daily needs.
This includes giving us the ability to work. The Scripture says, “Do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”6

How does the Spirit overcome our temptation to lust? He does it by providing a faithful husband or wife. He does it by providing the blessing of children through the intimacy of marriage. He does it by giving our conscience assurance that we’re not missing out on God’s blessings while others pursue unrighteousness. Dear friends, none of God’s provisions mean that temptations will cease. Satan will work on our weak points until we draw our final breath. Yet, he has no answer for the manner in which Christ equips us and the Spirit attends us. The holy promises of God are not dependent on human weakness, but on divine power. In the Lord’s Supper we are nourished with the food of immortality.

Dear friends, God has plans for us beyond the present. He has chosen us for eternity. The stakes are high. Heaven is not some circumscribed place in the far-off corner of the galaxy. Hell is not on the distant, cold and dark side of the universe. Heaven is the unhindered, unmediated, glorious and majestic presence of God experienced by those freed from the confines of this fallen existence. Hell is that dimension of existence completely devoid of God’s presence and blessings. It’s the place where wickedness and evil have full expression.

God is not some magical, legendary character written into mythical sagas about fanciful times and places. He is the all-powerful Creator of the universe and Redeemer of humanity. His love is so profound that in the person of Jesus God assumed our human nature. He doesn’t make distant, detached decrees, treating us like pawns in some grand game of chess. Christ came to fallen humanity and immersed Himself in the brokenness of our world. He embraced our fallenness, our wickedness, our depravity, our deep ungodliness. He didn’t turn away from being heaped with our guilt and shame. He willingly submitted to crucifixion to atone for our sins. He triumphed over death exiting the grave on the third day.

He did this for every human soul, no exceptions. Do you think God’s concern for Zahli is any less than that of the most honoured person in history? Christ’s blood was shed for her, just as it was for us. Baptism isn’t a charming little ceremony where an adorable infant or saintly adult is symbolically wetted with a bit of water. It is an act of divine intervention. In baptism the Holy Spirit raids the domain of Satan and the world of unbelief and rescues a soul from his grasp. As the Scripture says, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”7 There’s nothing the devil hates more than God’s word, His truth, and the presence of Christ bringing forgiveness and life. There is always a purpose for living. We are led by the Spirit and He won’t be asking Google Maps for directions. He knows the destination and He knows how to get there. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Third Sunday After Pentecost
30 June 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Galatians 5:17
2 Galatians 5:19-21
3 See Exodus 20:17
4 1 Timothy 6:10
5 Matthew 6:24
6 Matthew 6:31-33
7 Colossians 1:13