If you ever get to Venice, one of the places to see is Saint Mark’s Square, the spot Napoleon called “the drawing room of Europe.” But if you go there, make sure your belly is covered up. It’s not that there’s exactly a dress code, but there is an expectation of decorum. At any given time there can be thousands of people in this famous square which is surrounded by great architecture and sites of historic importance. But some people just don’t get it, and they aren’t above wandering onto the square bare-chested or with their midriff exposed. Some carelessly drop litter and others try to set out picnic lunches on the square. Still others treat the nearby Grand Canal as if it were a beach. So recently, in addition to posting signs naming the prohibitions, they have started employing a squad of women as stewards of the square to make sure tourists are not taking unwarranted liberties and pay due respect to the historic property.
These stewards, wear special T-shirts to identify their role and they try to do their work in a friendly way. They speak several languages so as to deal with foreign tourists. Most visitors who are corrected by a steward respond positively. However, when tourists turn aggressive, the women are able to call in police backup who can hand out fines ranging from 25 to 500 Euros. Actually, the stewards aren’t there to stop people from enjoying themselves, but to remind them of the importance of conducting themselves in a way that recognizes the beauty of the place.
Our reason for discussing all this is not to lament the state of our dress or manners, but to illustrate the idea that there are times and places where we need a steward to direct us in how to be in the square of life. That can be hard to hear in our individualist, don’t-fence-me-in society, but it’s true nonetheless. And that brings us to our reading from Romans, where the apostle Paul contrasts what he calls life in the flesh with life in the Spirit. Romans 8:1-11.
The letter of the Apostle Paul to Romans is a fascinating letter. You can spend a life time discussing the glorious riches found in this epistle. One verse in particular has shaped the understanding and eventually led to the conversion of the great reformer Martin Luther which is Romans 1:17, “Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.” In his own words Martin Luther said, "At last meditating day and night, by the mercy of God, I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith. Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open."
The sixteen chapters of Romans can be divided into two major sections. Chapter’s 1-7 talks about the depravity of man and God’s provision for salvation. Chapters 8-16, what I call a “Manual for New Life” talks about how to live out our New Life.
Much of what the Apostle Paul says in Chapter 8 is tied to chapter seven. In chapter 8 He starts with a glorious declaration in Vs 1-2, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” This is a weighty statement which has eternal implications. In order for us to fully appreciate this statement let me Illustrate from a legal point of view.
I. GUILTY? OR NOT GUILTY?
Let’s suppose you have been accused of a murder and were brought before the court. The prosecutors have presented their evidence and requested the court to grant justice by demanding the highest possible punishment which is a death sentence. How would you feel listening to that request of the prosecution? You are waiting for the juries decision; Guilty? Or not Guilty? The jury has arrived with a guilty verdict on all counts, and pressed for death sentence. Now you know you are doomed for certain, but some how hoping for a different out come. If any one can change the outcome would be the judge. Would he change or would he not?
All of a sudden the judge steps in and sets aside the juries verdict; and to every ones surprise pronounce you as “Not Guilty.” Can you imagine what a surge of emotions would flood through your whole being? You will feel like you’ve been given a new lease of life; won’t you? That’s what Paul precisely was describing in this passage. According to the law we were all guilty of breaking God’s commandments hence were pronounced sinners, and condemned to die. To that extent Paul cried out in Romans 7: 24, “what a wretched man I am who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!
In that light now read, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The phrase no condemnation means not only justification (of a forensic sort) but also deliverance from this body of death, i.e from the doom to which the body of flesh is subjected to. Those who are in Christ now belong to the new community which is the body of Christ of which Christ Jesus is the head and the center.
I want us to focus on a small word “now”! One commentator said, “A new era has clearly opened and what used to be true is no longer relevant. The single word “now” is sufficient to unfold the whole range of incalculable change that has come into our spiritual experience through Jesus Christ. Though not perfect people we live in a new sphere.” In other words before we came to know Christ as our savior we were hopeless sinners, condemned to not only physically die but also be separated from God eternally in hell. But now in Christ all that has been changed. We are no longer guilty; we have been justified, and have been given new life. This is how Paul describes this new life in Gal 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Jesus Christ has made us his own by shedding his precious blood, therefore now we no longer want to live the way used to live, but we want to live in order to please God. How can you and I live out our new found faith in this sinful world? That is the central theme of the 8th Chapter, where Paul explained that there are two possible ways to live in the world. One is guided by our human nature and the other is guided by the Spirit of God.
II. TWO WAYS TO BE IN THE WORLD: (Vs 5-8)
Paul describes the first by using the phrase “living according to the sinful nature.” Paul here makes a reference to our human nature or our humanness with all of its vulnerability to sin. By nature we have an inclination to be self-serving, and seek instant gratification. When our human nature is left to its own devices, and craftiness it moves in the direction of lowering standards, of considering acceptable what previously was not.
For example our human nature wears sweat pants and a tank top to the formal banquet, and sees no problems with that. It makes us compromise morality in the name of friendship. It tells us to do whatever makes us feel good. Paul says those who are guided by the human nature have their minds set on what that nature desires. James warns us of the danger of being led by desires especially the evil ones. James 1:14, “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin; when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
When we operate solely out of our human nature, we need a steward of some sort just to stay out of trouble; mere laws, guidelines, prohibitions, rules for admission and the like are not enough. That’s because our inner nature is a self-centered rebel, hostile toward God, can not and will not submit to God’s laws whereby it makes us loose peace makes us the enemies of God and eventually brings Spiritual death.
How can we avoid these dangers? We need someone telling us when we are straying and may be even calling for back up to get us to behave. Paul calls the other way of being is living according to the Spirit. He is of course referring to the Holy Spirit, the indwelling power of God. The biggest difference is that the overriding motivation and guidance the person in the Spirit receives is not from his or her human nature but from God. The steward in the square in this case is the Spirit of God in us.
III. THE STEWARD IN THE NEW LIFE.
Do you remember, that Jesus said, in John 14:16-18 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Jesus explains in John 16: 5-14, what would be the work of the Holy Spirit. He convicts us of sin, gives us wise advice through his counsel, guides us in into all truth and finally He will bring glory to Jesus by revealing God’s will to us. In other words the Holy Spirit will be the steward in a Christian’s life.
Sometimes, when we speak of being “converted” or “born again” or “deciding to follow Jesus,” we are thinking only of a moment in which we change direction, but of course, that is just the beginning. Paul here talks about walking in the Spirit as allowing that moment of change to blossom into a way of life. And we can characterize that way of life, that walking in the Spirit, as listening to the internal steward/Spirit.
Remember that the Apostle Paul was writing to a Church who had an experience of turning to God, of deciding to follow Christ, of being converted, and having their sins forgiven. He tells them that it was just the starting point, they must not just coast on that momentary experience; they must start to take the right steps in the right direction! It’s a long journey.
Paul himself recognized that walking in the narrow way is not always easy; there are temptations and difficulties to face along the way. So he urged the converts to pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit so that they would be filled with joy on the journey and find direction from within as to how to walk in the new path of life. Or, to use our current metaphor, they needed a steward in the square of life to guide them in how to walk in the Spirit — not only to keep them from just having a good time, but to show them how to conduct themselves in ways that recognize the sanctity of being in God’s presence.
Similarly, we need that internal steward/Spirit as well. We so desperately need the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to keep us in check when we are going in the wrong direction. Paul emphatically says in Vs 9-11, “And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Can you imagine what power that requires to bring a dead man to life?
The Holy Spirit is power full. Jesus said; in Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” How can we receive that power which will keep us from sinning and help guide us along the way? By humbly seeking it, praying for it, and asking our heavenly father to fill us with the Holy Spirit. That is how we can live victoriously in our Christian lives.
Let’s ask God to send the steward His Spirit into the square of our lives, to show us how to walk the walk, and to experience deep, life-giving joy in doing so. May I challenge you; this coming week you would put away everything that distracts you and ask God how you might live a life that would be pleasing to him? In other words try to disconnect from your hand held digital devices and connect with the only real life giving source in the entire universe that is God. Amen.
