Receiving new life, put off the old.

 

Sermon for Trinity 19, October 2, 2022

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Amen.

Ephesians 4:22–28  ²²As far as your former way of life is concerned, you were taught to take off the old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires, ²³and to be renewed continually in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and to put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness.  ²⁵Therefore, after you put away lying, let each of you speak truthfully with your neighbor, because we are all members of one body.  ²⁶“Be angry, yet do not sin.”  Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.  ²⁷Do not give the Devil an opportunity.  ²⁸Let the one who has been stealing steal no longer.  Instead, let him work hard doing what is good with his own hands, so that he has something to share with a person who is in need. (EHV)

Receiving new life, put off the old.

Dear friends made alive in Christ,

            Most likely nearly all of us had grandparents or great grandparents that immigrated to this country, and in doing so, they often made many changes in their life.  They wanted to fit in with their new neighbors, so they learned a new language, perhaps dressed in a new way, learned new laws, learned to eat (and even like) some new foods, and formerly unfamiliar customs often became regular habits.  At the same time, immigrants often clung to many of their old, familiar ways.  They brought seeds, recipes, and styles from the old country.  Dances, memories, and the old culture was celebrated and preserved so they wouldn’t forget their origins.  Thus, for every new settler, life became a balancing act between the old and the new. 

Our Lord, on the other hand, would have us be completely renewed in the new life and citizenship He gives us, for the old ways of our natural man lead to condemnation and death.  Therefore, the Holy Spirit inspired St. Paul to write telling us that after Receiving new life, we are to put off the old.

The old life that we lived before knowing Jesus was “corrupted by its deceitful desires.”  This is true for all of us, as it has been true for every person since Adam and Eve sinned.  Paul summarized what the Scriptures teach about the nature of mankind when he wrote: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one.  There is no one who understands.  There is no one who searches for God.  They all turned away; together they became useless.  There is no one who does what is good; there is not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)  By nature, we didn’t know God and couldn’t understand His message.  By nature, every aspect of righteousness was foreign to us.  Sin was the normal.  Hatred, mockery, idolatry, and deceit were the practices we learned from our father.  In that kingdom of the world ruled by the prince of darkness, we were all destined to suffer the cruel death of hell.

Unlike immigration in our times, we didn’t enter the new kingdom because we wanted a better, safer, more prosperous life.  In fact, being dead in our sins, there was nothing we could do to escape our previous condition.  However, we had a Rescuer, one who loved us enough to come down to earth to pick us up out of the mire and destruction of the devil’s war against God, to cure the paralysis in our souls, and to give us a new life.  Hundreds of years before His Son walked among us, God promised through the prophet, Ezekiel, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you.  I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put my Spirit within you and will cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will carefully observe my ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

So, how did we become citizens of this new kingdom and new way of life?  Jesus told Nicodemus, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God!  Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh.  Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6)  Our lives were changed; indeed new life was given to us through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel and Baptism.  We couldn’t go to God, so He came to us and made us alive through faith in Christ Jesus. 

Having thus been born again by the Spirit through Baptism and the Word, we have been granted citizenship in the kingdom of heaven, and with that citizenship comes new habits, new language, and a new way of life.  We had to learn the meaning of words like grace, forgiveness, justification, sanctification, omnipotence, transcendence, love, and many more.  We learned of a baptism that washes away sins and grants faith in our Savior.  We learned about a Supper that provides medicine for the soul, forgiveness, and strength to bear us up while we remain in this baren land until our new King takes us home to everlasting glory and peace.

Now, if our forefathers believed it was important to make changes in their lives so that they fit in among the citizens of this new land in the same old broken world, how much more important should it be that we live like citizens of God’s kingdom, even while remaining here on earth?

Paul’s letter answers that question.  He tells us “to be renewed continually in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness.”  With our new faith in Jesus, we are justified before God.  That means we are declared innocent and holy in the eyes of the One who created this world and everything in it.  Along with our justification comes sanctification, the process of making holy, or dedicating our lives to God and His service.  This holy living is a continual need and process in our life on earth, because until we enter heaven, we remain corrupted by our old, wicked flesh. 

Therefore, putting on the new life dare not be neglected.  If we allow ourselves to be drug back into the old habits and the old lies of the devil, we are in danger of returning to his control and abandoning our citizenship in the kingdom of God.  The image of God that Adam and Eve had at creation was lost in the fall, but it is credited to us again through faith in Jesus.  It is the same for you and me as it was for Abraham, who “believed in the Lord, and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)  Since we have been given true holiness through faith, we truly want to live as Jesus lived for He was without any sin or any lack of trust in His heavenly Father.

We don’t come by this holiness naturally.  It has to be cultivated through the regular hearing of “the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)  To the Ephesians, Paul wrote, “Therefore, after you put away lying, let each of you speak truthfully with your neighbor, because we are all members of one body.”  Speaking the truth with love, we don’t hold ourselves up as better than anyone else, nor do we judge anyone as beyond the saving love of God.  At the same time, we dare not allow anyone to pretend that sin is approved by a holy God.  Our goal is never to elevate ourselves but to seek the rescue of those we are willing to love from the power of the deceiver who previously also controlled us.

To the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “Love is patient.  Love is kind.  Love does not envy.  It does not brag.  It is not arrogant.  It does not behave indecently.  It is not selfish.  It is not irritable.  It does not keep a record of wrongs.  It does not rejoice over unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)  He writes likewise here, “Be angry, yet do not sin.”  Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.  Do not give the Devil an opportunity.”  In this world of wickedness and evil ways, anger will come upon us naturally, and righteous anger may be necessary at times.  Yet, patience and love for our neighbors is far more valuable and effective.  The devil loves to use our injuries and hurt feelings against us.  If he can stir up our hearts to hate, he knows he is winning. 

However, the devil has already been defeated in the most important fight.  Jesus destroyed Satan’s rebellion by living on our behalf without ever once deviating from His Father’s will.  Living for us, Jesus kept every detail of the law.  Living for us, Jesus trusted God in heaven completely.  Living on our behalf, the only anger Jesus ever allowed in His heart was righteous anger against the evil one and against the works of those who basked in Satan’s lies.  On our behalf, Jesus died the death we deserved, yet He rose from the grave on Easter morning to live forever, so that we may live forever with Him in His heavenly kingdom.

To avoid giving the devil a foothold, we need to do everything in our power to avoid the sins that so easily corrupt.  We need to walk hand in hand with our holy Savior so that His perfection remains ours.  Then guided by God’s commands, we strive to do the things He commends and avoid anything that goes against the Ten Commandments.  At the same time, we know we daily sin much.  Therefore, we continually run back to Jesus confessing our sins.  At His gracious invitation we pour out our sins before Him in repentance, and because He has paid for the sins of the world, Jesus assures us again and again that He has interceded with His Father on our behalf and continues to do.

Paul continued his letter by encouraging his readers to remember the love God has shown us in Jesus.  He wrote, “Therefore, be imitators of God as his dearly loved children.  And walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)  This is what we need to remember as we seek to obey God.  Since we have been so loved that Jesus laid down His life on a cross to set us free from the devil, sin, and eternal condemnation, we too should serve our fellow man, and especially our fellow Christians, with the same love and forgiveness God has shown us.  For in place of our wickedness and sinful ways, the Holy Spirit brought us to repentance, holy living, and peace.  By His holy Word, He has been training us to live as the image of God both now and on into eternity.  Therefore, Receiving new life, put off the old.  Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.