"Christians Alive"

As people look for something authentic and genuine in their personal lives, as people look for some kind of benchmark for their level of self-improvement, many ask, "How can I become a better Christian?" The trouble is that much of what passes for "Christian" today is little more than vague Americana, like doing what is expected of every law abiding citizen, or just being a good neighbor. On the surface, such living may appear to be genuine. On the other hand, it could be a charade, or even hypocritical.

Maybe you made a new-years resolution to "do better." Maybe you have done that several times. Maybe you do it all the time. But you’ve probably figured out that it’s tough to do better all the time.

Are you searching for more in your Christian life? One popular response to this quest is to "Turn everything over to Jesus and ask God to come into your life!" But not everyone is inclined to do that. Many are convinced that God would not set foot in the door, even if their lives were open to Him.

Another response urges just giving up the quest altogether. Why fight it? Christian living? Don’t bother. Besides, in the end, God’s grace always exceeds sin. Reportedly, the Russian holy man, Rasputin, held that those who sin boldly and require the most forgiveness will certainly receive an equal measure of grace – and then some. Sin freely and comfortably because God will be more generous toward you.

Really? In our text for this morning from Romans 6, the Apostle Paul takes on such a notion. He asks; "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" In the same breath he answers with a resounding "No!" God gave His Son to redeem sinners, but He did not waste His Son so you and I may continue in sin.

So, is there an answer to the question "How can I become a better Christian?" There is, and the answer is here in the words of our text. But it is a radical answer – and we must be open to that. The answer is as radical as the very death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

No one lives better as a Christian until his or her human nature suffers a sure and certain death. To explain that statement, or to say it another way, No person may become a better Christian until he or she comes to grips with the sin in his or her life. Our sin is something that we have to own up to, and then we have to decide that something must be done about it. Do you have some kind of personal program for grappling with sin?

We all share in Adam’s fall. Our propensity for sin is called "sinful flesh" in the New Testament. Paul says in Romans chapter 7 that "there is no good in it." You can call it the "Old Adam," or "old nature." But unless our sinfulness has been broken and defeated, there is no helpful answer to the question "How may I become a better Christian."

And if you are not asking yourself "How may I become a better Christian?" from time to time, or have never asked yourself that question, maybe you are more seriously enslaved to the inclination to sin than you realized.

But as we struggle with sin, as we try and try to do better, it seems impossible to repress our old nature. It seems impossible to overcome our sin just by sheer will power and determination. It seems like there is no escape from sins power and dominion in our lives. We’ve tried everything, but the years have taught us nothing but that such efforts are futile. A more radical solution is called for, and St. Paul sets it before us.

You hear the expression every now and then among disgruntled employees in a company or restless people faced with frustration with the central administration of a business or an institution. You might even hear it at church. When people are frustrated with the people in charge, you might hear it said "There is nothing wrong in this situation that a few funerals would not help."

Of course, stuff like that is morbid and shouldn’t be said at all – except that’s exactly what St. Paul is saying. What prevents you and me from becoming a better Christian could be resolved by a funeral – of sorts. Yes, a funeral for our old sinful nature would be a great help to living out our Christianity.

St. Paul is not talking about the funerals cited in the obituaries of the newspapers. True, death may excuse us from the obligations of life, but sin is a debt that cannot and will not be buried in the grave. Sin follows us into eternity – unless – unless it dies a radical death while we are still living this side of the grave.

How does this work? How can this happen? Listen to the language of the Apostle as he explains; "…we are buried with Him (Christ) by baptism into death." "…our old man (person) is crucified with Him that the body of sin might be destroyed." "…we have been planted together in the likeness of His death."

Christ the Son of God became involved with our sinful nature, not as a sinner himself, but as sin-bearer when He laid down His life on the tree of the cross. Whether we are in the flower of youth, in the prime of life, or in the crown years of advanced age, there must be a funeral conducted for this sinful nature of ours. It must suffer the ultimate demise. It must be united with Christ and it must die in His death on the cross. Otherwise, we may as well just give up trying to become better Christians.

Kind of radical huh? Tell me, you ask, isn’t there a more civil and convenient way to deal with the obstacles we face – and then improve as a Christian? Isn’t there some other way to handle that old nature? Think about it. If you are sincere about this matter, you want to repress the inclination to sin, and you think you are successful most of the time. Yet disappointment and the sense of guilt returns to haunt you time after time.

Or maybe you try a different approach. You substitute another pattern of behavior. If you are selfish by nature, maybe you try to be more outgoing and generous. Maybe this works for a while until reality puts you back in the dog-eat-dog world and where the survival of the fittest is no game for good hearts and gentle people.

So easily – and predictably – we revert back to selfishness. The "old flesh" wins again. We learn the hard way that our old nature is tough and stubborn. The "Old Adam" will not listen to the words that come out of our mouths. It will not be scolded or embarrassed, restrained or repressed. It will not yield to will

But it just so happens that a funeral has already been arranged for this rebellious sinful nature, the "old nature" that embarrasses you and harasses you and spoils even your best intentions to be a better Christian. Foiled is this "old nature" that pulls you back two steps for every step forward in Christian living.

Yes, a funeral was arranged and that funeral occurred simultaneously with Holy Baptism. "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" pleads the Apostle in verse 3 of our text.

We are not just observers or onlookers at Calvary, where Christ died for our sins. Through our baptisms, we have been drawn into the history of those redemptive events. Yes, more than even history, we are drawn into the action of those events, and united with Christ.

The Old Adam is drawn to the cross and crucified with Christ. And that is the final solution to the power of a sinful nature. It’s a solution that we could not discover or apply ourselves.

People who travel to Israel, the Holy Land, are deeply affected by the places where Jesus Christ lived and spoke and ministered to the people. Who would not be impressed and deeply moved, standing where the cross stood, bearing the body of the Lord, who bore in his body our sin and guilt? Or, standing at the sepulcher from which eternal life sprang for you and me when He rose from the grave. The words from the Sermon of our Lord flood the mind when one walks in the hills above the towns surrounding the Sea of Galilee.

Still, a more moving experience is to recall, that, yes, "We were there!" in such a dynamic way, when, in Baptism, by water and the Word, drawn to the cross, our old sinful flesh died in the redeeming death of the Lord Jesus so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin. When from the cross our Lord cried out, "It is finished!" our sinful nature and all of its ugliness were finished.

When He gave up the spirit and died, our sinful flesh gave up its power and authority over our lives. United with Christ in His death by our baptism, the "old nature" went kicking and screaming, because that sinful nature is now truly crucified, dead, and buried. Just as quickly, in the same moment of our Baptism, as St. Paul recounts, a new person emerged, united in our Lord’s resurrection.

In the moment of our Baptism, the power of sin was broken, the "old nature" died and was sealed in defeat by the Lord’s death, and we were quickened in that same Baptism moment to newness of life. More than mere improvement, we were transformed for such newness, an action as radical as the Lord’s rising to life on His resurrection day.

Holy Baptism is no small thing. While many Christians are all thumbs when it comes to trying to explain their own baptism and its blessings, St. Paul states clearly that in this Sacrament there stands tall the cross of Christ, the axis on which the Christian life turns, the better, improved, Christian life.

If you are a person who has not yet been baptized, something can be done about that. But if you are baptized and continually forget your Baptism or neglect it, if you are going through life misunderstanding or under-valuing your Baptism, well, that’s just inviting back and giving free reign to the "old nature," which makes you a slave to sin all over again.

This shouldn’t be. When a funeral is conducted for the sinful flesh, a birthday happens and is celebrated at the same time, for "…we believe that we shall also live with him!" exclaims St. Paul. Do you share the Apostle’s belief? Are you alive in Christ because the power of sin is broken? To be so alive means that we’re done with the things of which we’re ashamed. There are places we will no longer go, things we will no longer do. Lines have been drawn and boundaries have been set out when we now live with and for the risen Lord.

And the Christian, now alive in his or her Lord through Baptism, is also open to new areas of living which he or she had never considered, pathways of love turning into service to others and bringing fulfillment and joy. With the "old nature" buried, getting out from under our old dominant selves, we are free to soar to new heights, free to get our hands dirty, so to speak, and down to earth to serve.

With a fresh and new outlook, crowned with a living hope, baptized into Christ, and putting on His newness, we move through life toward a blessed future. We are certain that, baptized, we shall live with Him.

Maybe some of you are weary in the battle of life. You say this new life in Christ is just some kind of pipe dream. You say it’s too late for change. You are too set in your ways for something so radical as death to the "old nature" by Baptism and a new life in Christ and the power of His resurrection. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

I agree. You can’t teach the "old nature." But it’s not about teaching the "old" you, but it is about teaching the "new" person that you are out of Baptism. The "new" person can learn as he or she puts on Christ. So be what you are. Be alive as a "new" Christian. It’s the apostles’ fervent plea.

The documentary film "Scared Straight" was produced at Rahway prison in New Jersey where life-term prisoners attempt to literally scare the crime out of juvenile delinquents who have been flirting with felonies on the streets. The hardened prisoners are men dedicated to sparing the younger generation the years of misery and defeat that they endure in prison.

These prisoner-counselors lean on young offenders with a heavy hand. They are intense and urgent and honest about life in prison and vividly describe the crimes there, the abuse and the perversion, the fear and the hopelessness, all in order to plead with young people to choose life and not death.

Here in Romans Chapter 6, the Apostle Paul pleads with you, to consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God. The shackles of sin are broken and Christ has made you free to live the Christian life, each day better than before.

Now that by Baptism Christ has taken you to his cross and brought you out of the death of sin, look alive and live as you never lived before – alive to God, alive now, alive for the long haul, always and forever alive. He who lives in his baptism lives well, very well indeed. Amen.