The message given in the Wednesday night Lent service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on March 22, 2023. The Bible verses used are Romans 8:1-17.
We’re all God’s children. You believe that,
right? Everyone says that. All of us, each and every one, is one of
God’s children. There’s even an old hymn, The Family of God, that starts
out, “We’re all God’s children.” It’s one of the most basic things to
say, that we’re all God’s children.
But it’s not what the Apostle Paul says in our reading for
tonight. Paul does not say “we’re all God’s children”. Paul says,
“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
Why would Paul say that? Well, look at what Paul goes
on to say. Paul says that if we are children, then we are heirs.
Heirs of God. Co-heirs with Christ. If we are led by the Spirit of
God, God elevates us to the same level as Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus is
the Son of God, but you are a Son or Daughter of God, too. And I’m a Son
of God, too.
If. If we are led by the Spirit of God. By
implication, then, those who are not led by the Spirit of God are not children
of God. Now, that does not mean God does not love them. It does not
mean God just ignores them. But it does mean that they are not elevated
to that same level as Jesus Christ. The only way we get that status is to
be children of God, and the only way we get to be children of God is if we are
led by the Spirit of God.
Now, maybe it sounds strange to some of us to say that
there are human beings who are not children of God. Maybe it even sounds
hateful or offensive. But I want to remind you that I’m not the one
saying it. The Apostle Paul is. I’m just telling you what he
said. If anyone has a problem with it, that problem is with the Apostle
Paul, not with me.
But here’s the good news. We may not all be children
of God, but we all can be. Each one of us has the chance to be a child of
God. All we need to do is allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit of
God. If we are, then we are, then we are children of God. So, in
effect, God allows us to choose whether to be His children or not.
Of course, making that choice is not as easy as saying the
words. We also have to live them. That’s the hard part, of
course. But Paul tells us how to do that.
Here’s what he says: “Those who live according to the
flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live
in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit
desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed
by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is
hostile to God; it does not submit to God, nor can it do so…You, however, are
not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the
Spirit of God lives in you.”
So, it’s a choice. We live according to the flesh, or
we live in accordance with the Spirit. Our minds are set on what the
flesh desires, or our minds are set on what the Spirit desires. On the
one hand is death, on the other hand is life and peace.
It sounds simple. And, in a way, it is. It is
simple. It’s just not always easy.
Now, we need to go back and unpack a couple of
things. Saying that we should not live according to the flesh does not
mean that we should ignore our basic human needs. We have to eat to live,
and I believe God wants us to live our lives on earth to their natural
span. Around here, we need to have a warm place to live if we’re going to
survive, and again, I believe God wants us to do that. God did put a
basic survival instinct into human beings, and God did that for a reason.
Taking care of our basic human needs is not living according to the
flesh. It’s doing what we need to do to survive.
Living according to the Spirit is not ignoring basic human
needs. What it is, is a mindset. It’s an emphasis. It’s
putting God first, ahead of everything else. Ahead of our own
wants. Ahead of our jobs. Ahead even of our families. It
means making God the absolute number one thing in our lives. Period.
Now, again, that does not mean we should ignore our jobs or
ignore our families. Most of the time, there won’t be a conflict between
those things. In fact, I really cannot imagine a situation when God would
ask me to choose between Wanda and Him. But if it ever happened, I would
need to choose God. For a Christian, God needs to be first, above
anything and everything else. That’s what living in the realm of the
Spirit is about. That’s what having our minds governed by the Spirit
means.
So, what is your mind governed by? What is my mind
governed by? Are our minds governed by the desires of the flesh? Or
are they governed by the desires of the Spirit?
If we take this seriously, these are questions we need to
think about. And they’re not always easy to answer. That’s true for
a couple of reasons. One is, as we’ve said before, human beings are great
rationalizers. We are really good at coming up with reasons why we should
do the things we want to do, and just as good at coming up with reasons why we
should not do the things we don’t want to do. It can be really easy for
us to convince ourselves that we’re being governed by the desires of the
Spirit, when in fact we’re being governed by the desires of the flesh.
But another reason is that it’s
not always easy to tell whether we’re being governed by the desires of the
flesh or by the desires of the Spirit. It’s not like we can make a list
of activities and say, “These are the things that are desires of the flesh, and
these are things that are desires of the Spirit. Do the things in the
second list, don’t do the things in the first, and you’ve got the golden ticket
to heaven.” It does not work like that.
It would be easier if it did, right? Well, probably
not. After all, that’s what all that Old Testament law was all
about. Do this, don’t do that, and you go to heaven. And it was a
burden.
And that’s one of the best ways we can tell if we’re being
governed by the desires of the Spirit. When we do things for God, do they
feel like a burden? Are we doing them just because we feel like we have
to, rather than because we want to serve God and please God? Do we feel
God working with us and through us as we do those things? Or do we feel
like it’s a slog, something we have to do, but something that we take no joy or
pleasure or satisfaction in doing?
Paul says that the mind governed by the Spirit is life and
peace. If we’re living in accordance with the desires of the Spirit,
we’ll be at peace.
And that’s true no matter what our circumstances are.
Now, that does not mean everything will go the way we want it to go. It
does not mean we’ll never have problems. It does not mean we won’t have
times of sadness or pain. That’s not what peace is about.
Peace is about being able to handle those times. And
that’s what living in accordance with the desires of the Spirit does for
us. That’s what having our minds governed by the Spirit does. It
gives us the confidence that, whatever happens, God will be with us.
Whatever happens, God will help us through. And whatever happens, no
matter how bad it may seem, the promise God made in the Bible will eventually
be kept–that God will work it for the good of those who love Him.
A mind governed by the flesh cannot give us that kind of
peace. The things of the flesh may make us feel good, for a while.
They may make us happy, for a while. But they cannot bring us
peace. Those good feelings eventually fade away. And so we look for
something else that will make us feel good. And when that feeling fades,
we look for something else. And then something else. We’re
constantly looking for something that can give us that temporary good feeling,
that temporary happiness. But none of it ever brings us true peace.
True peace can only come from a life lived in accordance with the desires of
the Spirit. True peace can only come from God.
I think all of us want to feel that peace. And maybe
you already do, I don’t know. But if you don’t, then I encourage you to
put your trust in God. Trust God enough to make Him the number one thing
in your life. Trust God enough to let your mind be governed by the
Spirit. Put the desires of the flesh behind you, and trust God enough to
live your life in accordance with the desires of the Spirit.
It may not be easy. But the peace we will get from
trusting God will be more than worth it.
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