Debtors to God

Paul is trying to explain God’s work which is, at some point, unexplainable. He also may be quoting a hymn that the Romans sang to share with them that he is not really saying anything that they did not already know. Or, he may be saying that we are, at the same time, children of God and waiting to be adopted as God’s children. As Luther said it, at the same time sinner and saint.

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Instrument of God

You have been freed from the bondage to sin and death and made whole by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. You can choose to live your life so that, through you, others see their own bondage and cry out for their salvation.

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United in Christ, not in Sin

The Christian faith was dividing families. Jeremiah gives a good description of what it sometimes means to answer God’s call. He was being made fun of and mocked. There were threats on his life. And when he tried to withhold God’s words it was like a fire burning within him. All three of our texts today are a reminder that to be God’s own does not guarantee an easy life. What is guaranteed is that God will not abandon you despite who you are, your mistakes and foibles.

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Love

The suffering that Paul is talking about is that suffering that came about because they were Christians and fulfilling the call of Jesus to proclaim that the kingdom of God had arrived. They were suffering for the benefit of others.

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Peace

They seemed to be fighting with each other over how to be a Christian and even who was the best Christian. They may have been arguing over who should be in charge. If they were constantly fighting and arguing over worldly standards, Paul argues, they were not living in peace. They were not showing how, by becoming a follower of Jesus, they had been changed by God.

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Long for The Lord

I can tell you hundreds of examples of people who I had never seen before show up at church wanting God to fix some problem. Then, after it is all done, they leave again. Some because the problem is solved so they can return to life as it was while others leave in anger because God did not answer their prayers.

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Life’s Foundation

When we do we often find ourselves lost and, like the Jews in Jerusalem asking, “What should we do?” For we, too, have crucified Jesus by our selfish desires. We have done and continue to do so because, in our journey, we do not always recognize Jesus just like the disciples on their way to Emmaus.

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The Rev. John M. Cawkins
Things Kept in Heaven

If your words fail you you can still proclaim Jesus by your deeds. We note that in our short account by John. Jesus gives the disciples peace three times. It is one of our tasks to take up that emphasis and promote peace in our world.

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The Rev. John M. Cawkins
What Were You Thinking?

One of my university professors often talked about a tension between freedom from something and freedom for something. Through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection we have both. We are free from the bondage of sin and death. Yet we often place the reward of this freedom in the world to come. Jesus did not come to us just to give us a promised future in God’s kingdom. While that will be glorious. Jesus came to us here and now, into our broken messed-up lives.

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What God has Handed to Us

We are just like the disciples. We see Jesus and wish to stay awake. We wish to proclaim God’s truth but are afraid of how others will receive it. We run from the cross afraid to pick it up for the burden it may bring. I could go on. You get the point.

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In the Spirit. In Christ.

Their attempt to solve their own problems on their own without God ended in disaster. Now, after messing up their lives, they were questioning who they were. They were even questioning God. You know people like that who wander away from God chasing after green pastures. Then, when disaster strikes, blame God for it. Their lives are like the dry bones in the valley.

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Promises Made, Promises Broken

While Paul uses the story of Abram and Sarai to talk about faith – they were willing to leave home based on a promise. He does gloss over parts of it to make his point. That point is the promise that God has given to us through Jesus. The promise of faith. Faith is knowing that God will not abandon God’s people.

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