Sermon from October 23, 2011
"Keeping in Step with the Spirit"
Galatians 5:16-6:10

The Apostles' Creed has a line in it that Christians confess the world over and promptly forget: “I believe in the holy, catholic church.” We seldom talk about it. It deserves a lot more attention than I am about to give it; but I’ll tell you one compelling reason why that line is in the Creed.

The reason in a nutshell is this: God is at work in the Church. He is at work here. Let me show a biblical basis for saying that. Philippians 2:13 says: It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. The word you in that verse is plural. God works in you as a community of people who believe in Jesus Christ. God works in you, “the holy, catholic church.”

And look at what He is doing. He works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. He acts on our freedom of choice so that we choose to live in a way that serves His good purpose. He does not coerce; He persuades.

Sometimes people who have been Christians for a long time think they know what His good purpose is. Sometimes they get part of it right, and sometimes they get it wrong. I think it is wise not to say dogmatically, “I know God’s good purpose.” There’s too much mystery there.

That raises a question. Is there any way we can cooperate with God’s good purpose, even if we don’t know exactly what it is? Actually, cooperating with God is a more promising course of action than trying to figure out the specifics of His purpose. Cooperating with God has more to do with what kind the Bible calls living by the Spirit. I’d like us to read through one of the great passages of the Bible that lays out what it means to live by the Spirit. Let’s get started. The passage begins in Galatians 5:16.

Spirit and Flesh
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. We cooperate with God’s work in us when we live by the Spirit. You may not have any idea what it means to live by the Spirit. Before we are through this morning, you’ll know. On the other hand, we know all too well what it means to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Gratifying those desires does not cooperate with God’s work in us.

Paul made the point in the next verse. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. Living by the Spirit and gratifying the desires of the sinful nature are mutually exclusive. As a Christian, your desire to please God will challenge your desire to gratify your sinful nature. Your desire to gratify your sinful nature will challenge your desire to please God. You are in a spiritual battle.

You have to choose between those two lifestyles. The apostle didn’t leave us in the dark about those two lifestyles. First, he characterized the sinful nature and its desires. Verses 19-21. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

I’m always taken aback that part of me wants to do some that stuff. In one way it’s not surprising. Those behaviors make their way into our minds almost everyday as entertainment via television, movies, and the Internet. We are exposed to them so much that they no longer shock us. Those behaviors also make their way into our behavior and the behavior of people we know, and if we or someone we know are the victims of such behavior, then, they trouble us greatly.

It’s Paul’s statement at the end of verse 21 that we forget or downplay. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. In Romans 1:32 Paul said of these behaviors: Those who do such things deserve death. In Colossians 3:6 Paul said of these behaviors: Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. That’s a topic for another day that I don’t think people want to hear. But it is true. Let none of us say we haven’t been warned. Paul moves on to behavior that marks living by the Spirit.

Verses 22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Whatever God’s larger purpose for the Church may be, He works in the holy, catholic church to produce those nine habits. Living by the Spirit means living by and learning to live up to these standards set by the Spirit.

I love the way verse 23 ends. Against such things there is no law. Sometimes people think that the heart and soul of religion is telling people what not to do. Do you ever think that? Paul was saying, “Au contraire! Have a look at what God is cultivating in you. Nothing there is forbidden.” Wouldn’t you like your life to be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? What’s not to like? God wants to turn us into something beautiful. Why are we satisfied to imitate the silly and savage behavior we see in the world? God wants something infinitely better for us.

A Major Milestone
Do you want to live up to the standards set by the Spirit? I hope so. Paul offered a reason to live that way in the next verse. The verse doesn’t resonate at first, because his language is alien to you. But we can make sense of it, and it just might cause you to think more seriously about what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Verse 24 is Paul’s unconventional definition of what it means to be a Christian. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. He begins with a lovely expression: Those who belong to Christ Jesus. Do you belong to Christ Jesus? Is that how you think of yourself?

What does it mean to belong to Christ Jesus? It means you believe in Him. You believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead to an indestructible life. It means you have said publicly in baptism and in word that Jesus is Lord, that He is number one. It means you are determined to live like He is number one in your life.

If you don’t belong to Christ Jesus, why not? Why not take the first step in that direction today? Believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and you will be saved from the wrath to come. Believe in Christ and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and join the Church. That’s how a person belongs to Christ. The public way to show that you belong to Him is to be baptized. We are having a baptism on November 20. Just sign later on the Connection Card that you want to be baptized, and we’ll make it happen.

So far, so good! It’s what Paul says about those who belong to Christ Jesus that is alien to the way we think. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. He used that language two other times in this letter. In Galatians 2:20 he said of himself: I have been crucified with Christ. Galatians 6:14: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

What did he mean that we Christians have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires? Think about it. When the Romans crucified a man, his life was over. I believe Paul meant: When you believed in Christ, your life without God came to an end. You gave up the freedom to gratify the desires of your sinful nature. You belong to Christ now. You are under new management. He has plans for you that are quite different from the passions and desires of your sinful nature.

There is something painfully inadequate in calling Christians church-goers. It is so institutional, so conventional, so uninspiring. It might raise eyebrows, but it would be closer to the truth if we thought of ourselves as cross-bearers. It is so daring, so challenging, so counter-cultural. In the spiritual battle between living by the Spirit and gratifying the desires of the sinful nature, cross-bearers refuse to gratify the desires of our sinful nature, and they live by the Spirit, whatever it may cost us, and however long it may take.

You here, who belong to Christ and have ears to hear what I am saying, stop thinking of yourselves as church-goers. Think of yourselves as cross-bearers. Think of yourselves as men and women who do not belong to the ungodly desires of this world but to Christ, and who are living by the Spirit and are learning to live up to the standards set by the Spirit.

Keeping in Step with the Spirit
So, how do we do it? Verse 25 uses language that suggests a helpful path forward. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. The first August I came to the East Coast, my future in-laws drove me down to Annapolis to the Naval Academy. First year Midshipmen had not been on campus long, and they were on the parade ground in their white uniforms, marching. It was not a pretty sight. They were not all in step with the cadence.

How do we HHHOHHOkeep in step with the Spirit? Verses 22-23 told us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Pick two of those behaviors, one of which is easy for you and one of which is hardest for you, and begin deliberately to practice that behavior in your different relationships. For example, gentleness is easy for me. I am seldom harsh with people. So, I cultivate gentleness in my relationships. Peace is not easy for me. I fret. I worry. I lose sleep. I tell God and myself that I trust Him, but I don’t act like it. So, I have to work hard at trusting God and looking for Him when life goes off the rails.

The apostle gives some marvelous examples of how we can keep in step with the Spirit in our life together at BVBC. Verse 26: Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. You mean that Christians might behave like that to each other? Yes. Here is the alternative in Galatians 6:1: Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. I am grateful for the apostle’s realism. We give in at times to the desires of our dark side.

I am also grateful for the tenderness of verse two and the caution of verse three. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Jump ahead for a minute to verse 10: Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. I see you doing that as you visit people in the hospital, take meals to someone’s home, drive a friend to a doctor’s appointment, help someone move, build houses with Habitat for Humanity, talk with homeless people at Sojourners Place, and furnish rooms at the Sunday Breakfast Mission.

Paul summed up his teaching in verses 7-9. He stopped using the language of soldiers marching and took up the language of farming. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

If you go on year after year, gratifying the desires of your sinful nature, you will reap destruction. If you go on year after year, living by the Spirit, well, from the Spirit you will reap eternal life in ways you never expected.

Keeping in Step with the Spirit
I have two challenges for you, one personal and the other communal. First is the personal challenge. Keep in step with the Spirit. Live by the Spirit. Let’s be that kind of church. Think of yourselves as a community that does not belong to the ungodly desires of this world but to Christ. Think of yourselves as a community of cross-bearers that lives by the standards set by the Spirit and is learning to live up to those standards, whatever it may cost you, and however long it may take.

Start with the nine habits God is working in you to produce. Find the ones that are easy for you to do and work to make them as beautiful and effective in your relationships as possible. Find the ones that defeat you every time and begin to pray for change and work for change. Share some of your victories and defeats in your small group or Sunday class or with a close friend. Get them to pray for you.

Second is a communal challenge to keep in step with the Spirit. The Pastoral Staff and the Board of Deacons of this congregation are trying to keep in step with where the Spirit is leading this congregation. We have been praying and working since February on what steps we should take that will enable BVBC to be better prepared for ministry opportunities we will face in the next 5-10 years.

We are not infallible. We are in some ways just learning to keep in step with each other and with the Spirit in this way. I want to share with you over the next four Sundays what we are dreaming and planning. Our prayer is that if we are in step with the Spirit, you will dream and plan and execute with us. We want you to join with us in a prayer breakfast for these dreams and plans on Saturday morning, November 19. You’ll hear more about that.

Near the end of the Gospel of John the risen Christ said to His followers: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” – John 20:21-22. The impulse of that commission is what I feel living and working in us: “I am sending you.” We are on a mission. We want you to go with us, to keep in step with the Spirit with us. We’ll be a blessing to our community.