Living Call: Hopeful Realism
The Rev. Dr. John Judson
July 17, 2011
Romans 8:12-25
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Nicole had a lot to lose. Chances are few if any of you know who Nicole is, but you will know her grandfather, Warren Buffett. When Nicole was four her mother married Buffett’s son Peter. Peter later adopted Nicole and her twin sister. Nicole had fond memories of growing up around the Buffett clan. She would go to her grandparents for Christmas and other holidays, receiving accolades from her grandmother for her growing art talent. Warren and his wife put Nicole through college paying her tuition and room and board. Things were going well until Nicole was approached by Jamie Johnson, an heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune if she would appear in his documentary entitled The One Percent. The One Percent was a documentary about the one percent of America’s population that controls almost forty percent of America’s wealth…of which Nicole and Jamie’s families are included. Nicole was intrigued and asked her father for his blessing, which she received. Unfortunately she did not ask her grandfather. Immediately after the film’s release she received this note from her grandfather. “Nicole, "I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin." Nicole was out. She had crossed the line. Nicole had a lot to lose and she lost it all including her family.
In some ways we find ourselves in the same position as Nicole…not that any of us have billionaire grandparents. What I mean is that we have a lot to lose in our relationship with God because, if we believe Paul, we are in line to inherit gifts worth far more than billions of dollars. The question becomes how do we know that God will not pull a Warren Buffett and take it all away? How do we know that we will actually inherit what is promised to us? Before I answer that question, which we will get to, I want to make sure we understand clearly what it is that we stand to lose; what are those gifts we stand to inherit.
The first gift we stand to lose is one which many of us may not have actually spent a lot of time thinking about; that is the redemption of our bodies. If we look at verses 22 and 23 we will find this interesting concept. “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” I would guess that most of us have been taught and have come to believe that the ultimate destination of those who follow Jesus Christ is heaven. We tell jokes about St. Peter at the gates and about playing golf in heaven…though to some that might seem more like hell…because we think the Pearly Gates are our last stop. The New Testament however offers us a very different scenario. The Bible reminds us that earth is our final destination. That just as Jesus was resurrected, raised from the dead to flesh and blood, so too will we. This is the redemption of our bodies. We too will be raised with Jesus into an eternal physical life…where yes we can play golf…or not. This is the first thing we have to lose.
The second thing we have to lose, which is an extension of the first, is that we get to participate in and enjoy a renewed earth. This is what Paul is talking about when he writes, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subject to futility, not of its won will, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope, that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the glory of the children of God.” All of that is to say that just as God is going to redeem our bodies, making them new and alive. God will do the same for all of creation. In other words all of those places where we as human beings scared the land or have abused God’s good earth, God will redeem and set right. This blue green planet will once again the Eden, if you will, that God desired it to be. N.T. Wright even goes so far as to say that part of this earthly redemption is that the redeemed people of God participate in the remaking of creation; setting right what we have destroyed. That is the second thing that we stand to lose.
We return then to the real question at hand. How do we know that God will not pull a Warren Buffett and send us a letter saying, “I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a child of God, nor have the rest of my children adopted you as a brother or sister in Christ.”? I ask that because the church of Jesus Christ has not made its mind up about this issue. Many of you here in fact grew up in Christian traditions in which this scenario was a real possibility; in which God could, for any number of reasons simply cut us off. In the Presbyterian tradition one was cut off if one was not of the elect. In the Roman and Orthodox traditions a person was cut off if they blasphemed the Holy Spirit, which by the way has a scriptural basis. Some Free Will Baptist traditions declare that if you die with a sin for which you have not asked for forgiveness you are a goner. And finally there are other traditions that state that if you are part of their church and you leave you are lost as well. So how then we do we know if this inheritance we have been promised will be ours.
We know because Paul tells us so. Let me explain. In this passage Paul writes about our relationship with God. He speaks of us as children of God being able to cry “Abba, Father.” He talks about us being children and heirs. While all of this is good however it still allows for the option of God pulling a Warren Buffett. However that is not the final word from Paul on our relationship. Instead he offers one more relational concept, adoption. For you and I this might not mean much but for Paul and for persons in the First century Roman Empire it meant a great deal; for an adoptive relationship, unlike a blood relationship was irrevocable. Adoption in the Roman Empire was a clearly defined legal procedure. It was public. It required seven witnesses. It was recorded by the state. Once someone was adopted their past life was gone; debts, relationships, everything. The adopted one became, legally, a new person with new family and all of their rights of inheritance were guaranteed by law. Most importantly the adoption could never be undone. It was permanent. In other words Paul carefully chose the language he used about our relationship to remind us that God’s adopting us in Christ Jesus meant we did not have to fear losing that love, but that instead we can live in hope.
Paul finishes this section with some amazing words about hope. And when he speaks of hope he is not talking about hope as in “I hope I win the lottery” but hope which is based in the surety of God’s love and grace. It is hope based on what God has done and will do in the future. This kind of hope is best summed up by one of my seminary friends who had visited the Middle East and had an extended conversation with a Greek Orthodox Priest. The priest asked my friend if he wanted to know the real difference between Protestants and the Orthodox. My friend said he did. The priest put it this way. “You Protestants are always worried about your salvation. We Orthodox just get to enjoy it.” The gift of being adopted by God is that we get to enjoy our salvation. We get to enjoy the knowledge that we are and always will be children of God.
My challenge to you for this week then is this, to ask yourselves, “How does enjoying my salvation, rather than worrying about it, change how I interact with my friends, family and co-workers?”
