Romans
6:1-11: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may
abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not
know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we
too might walk in newness of life.
For
if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be
united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was
crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing,
so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been
set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will
also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never
die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died
to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must
consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Beloved
in Christ, everyone is looking for fifteen minutes of fame. We’ve been promised
as much. We’ve been told that it is our only hope and consolation in a world
crowded with billions of people: the chance of someone seeing us on TV and
being recognized as someone special while for the rest of the time we live
anonymous, forgettable lives. And yet we know that we may not get fifteen minutes.
It may be more like fifteen seconds. We fear that those fifteen seconds will
show us clad in our pajamas and with disheveled hair as we scratch our stomach
and say to the camera, “Well, I told the officer that I saw someone running
through the alley who matched the description.”
How
awful it is to live and die without our lives ever mattering! And so we turn to
all sorts of things to prove that we really do matter and that we have value.
Think of how much we identify with a particular job or sports team or TV show
or author or video game. We want to be known as the number one Doctor Who fan
or the person who can rattle off all the statistics for our football team. Or
we try to be the wittiest person on Facebook. We try to have some quirk that makes
us special and unique. But we soon discover that someone else is quirkier than
we are. You’ve collected all the baseball cards of every player for the Cubs or
White Sox for the past fifty years, but you discover that someone else has done
that and collected all the player’s autographs as well.
We
want to be someone special, but it is not easy. And that is why so often we
turn to sin. Every temptation tells us, “Here is a way to make yourself feel
loved and special.” Temptation says, “Use God’s name to curse; it will make you
feel more important than the chumps who believe in keeping it holy. Or mouth
off to people in authority, for that will make you feel all grown up and in
control. Or have that little fling because that will make you feel loved for a
while. Lie, steal, and cheat your way to the top, because success is the only
thing that counts and it doesn’t matter how you come by it.” Now temptation
never delivers on its promises, which makes us feel worse than before. We have
lost our dignity or broken our heart or alienated others by our behavior. And
so sin doesn’t give us the happiness it has promised, but leaves us more
miserable than before.
But
how can our lives matter? What if we were part of something so much greater
than ourselves? Think of all the people who lived through the Great Depression
and served in World War II. They were called “the Greatest Generation” and are
held in awe by us who followed. We honor even the lowliest grunt in the army or
navy because they were part of something awesome. But, of course, we do not
live in such times. (Thank God we don’t have to risk life and limb the way they
did!) But it would have been nice to have been part of a momentous event in
world history, so as to say, “I was there. I participated in it.”
Well,
we can say that. You see, we have been united with Christ and His
baptism, death, burial, and resurrection. We have taken part in the most
pivotal events of world history. We are no mere bystanders, but by virtue of
our baptism and Christ’s baptism we have died, been buried, and been raised by
God along with Christ. You don’t have to become the number one fan of one thing
or another to matter. You have been united with the Lord of the universe, the
almighty Son of God. The death He died to sin we died too. The resurrection He experienced
we experienced too.
It
all began because Christ was baptized. Yes, there had been plenty of people
baptized before our Lord was. But they were all baptized so that God could work
repentance in them and forgive their sins. John’s baptism was all in
anticipation of what Christ would do. John’s baptism meant nothing in itself.
Only because Christ would come with the power of the Holy Spirit would any
baptism have any meaning.
And
Christ showed that He was the one for whom John was looking. As He left the
water, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove, showing that He had
been anointed by Almighty God. And then God the Father spoke, “You are my
beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.” Together the testimony of the
Father and the Holy Spirit showed that Jesus was not being baptized for the
same reason other people were. No, Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus entirely
pleased His Father. There were no sins for which He needed forgiveness. Instead
He had a holy mission now from His Father.
Everyone
previously had been baptized in the hope that someone like Jesus would come.
And everyone baptized thereafter has been baptized because He has come. But if
Christ was holy, why did He bother getting baptized? Everybody else in world
history who has been baptized has done so in the hopes of receiving the
forgiveness of sins. But why should a sinless Savior be baptized? The answer is
that Christ was marking Himself as our Savior. We are baptized because we need
a Savior. Christ was baptized because He is our Savior and wants to take
on our burden. In baptism we wash our sins into the water. Our Lord then steps
into the waters made filthy by our sin and takes that sludge upon Himself. And
then Christ pours forth His righteousness into the waters, making them a holy
washing. And we enter the waters of baptism and find His holiness washing onto
us.
But
Christ’s baptism was not just a simple action with no greater consequences. The
moment He stepped into the Jordan River He was marked for death. Up until that
point He had been true God and true Man and He had lived a righteous life. All
of that was good, but it didn’t benefit us in any way. He was living as a good
God ought to do, but it doesn’t help us that God is righteous if we are not. If
anything, it drives home all the more how guilty and culpable we are before
Him. There is an unbridgeable chasm between the righteous God and us horrible
sinners. But in baptism Christ identified with us. In effect He said that He
was signing up for man’s responsibility, even if it meant death.
Thus,
Christ’s baptism guaranteed His death and the glorious resurrection that
followed. But here is a twist. Because our baptism is connected with
Christ’s baptism, it also means death to us followed by a resurrection. That is
the point that Paul makes in today’s epistle. Some people think that we are
baptized, forgiven, and that’s that. We can go back to living like utter pigs.
But Paul says that that is impossible. We have been baptized. We have died to
sin, just as Christ died bearing the guilt of our sin. We have come alive to
righteousness, just as Christ rose from the dead to experience a glorious
return to life. We cannot live in the old ways or refuse to live in the new
ones. Otherwise we would be denying the most important thing that happened to
us—our fifteen seconds that actually turned into a lifetime of meaning.
Let
me be careful here. I do not want to give a false impression. There are two
errors we can make when we discuss life after baptism. One error is to say that
it changes nothing. That is the error that Paul is refuting here. But another
error is to say that it changes us so drastically that we can never sin again
but instead live completely perfect lives. If that were the case, there would
have been no reason for Paul to admonish the Romans not to yield their bodies
to sin. Paul understands that sin is a real live possibility for us Christians,
even after our baptism. In fact, temptation may start to work overtime. But, of
course, Paul is talking here more to people who don’t even try to avoid sin. He
reminds them that there is something substantial that has taken place. We have
undergone a death-and-life experience and are never the same. Yes, we will
reach perfection only when we die and are raised on the Last Day. But still we
have begun to live a new life because we have died with Christ and risen with
Him.
It
is interesting that both these errors encourage people to live their lives on
autopilot. Those who say baptism changes nothing say that there is nothing that
needs to change. Those who say baptism changes them into perfect people say
that there is no need to take the call of the Christian life seriously since
they believe that they’re already doing it automatically. And that is why
Christians have to hear the Law of God again and again. We have to be reminded
of what is right and what is wrong because we are prone to get lazy and forget
such things over time. Yes, we even have to be rebuked by the Law because we
are just as apt to choose evil as good. And so we dare not think that we have
reached perfection or soon will.
At
the same time, though, we need to take the gospel promises of baptism even more
seriously. Here is real forgiveness and new life. Here we have been united with
Christ so much so that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives
in me.” We will fail many times in many ways as we try to follow
Christ, but God will forgive us our sins, for we have been baptized into Christ
and given His forgiveness.
But
what does this mean for our daily lives? First, we can face life boldly, for we
are in Christ. We are not haunted by our failures or our sins. We are righteous
before God. What confidence and joy that thought gives! Moreover, we are part
of history, indeed the biggest event of history. That means we have more than
just fifteen seconds or fifteen minutes or even fifteen years allotted to us
that really count. No, our whole being counts, for we have been united with
Christ. Our life-story is part of the greatest story ever told, the heart of
world history. And so my prayer, beloved in Christ, is that you will enjoy this
gift of salvation that imparts meaning to your life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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