Living in the Spirit
June 15, 2017
Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-8
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. –Romans 5:1-5
I personally want to thank God for inspiring Paul to write the book of Romans and Paul’s following through on the task. I know of no scripture dealing with discipleship that is more practical and thus helpful to answering our calling than the words quoted above. Paul is challenging us to follow through on our call of Kingdom building no matter what obstacles we encounter.
It is funny what I remember from my high school education. One pithy saying that has stuck with me is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Fred Craddock in a sermon some years ago called the church to task for its lack of enthusiasm. I learned a new word hearing him speak. He introduced me to the French word ennui*, which like many other borrowed foreign words is now appearing in our English dictionaries. It means a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction: languor or emptiness of spirit: tedium, boredom* Have we lost the spirit of our faith? Have we lost the Spirit of our faith?
What is holding us back from being the people of God, assigned to be a blessing to all other peoples, assigned to love God above all else, and to demonstrate that love through our love of others? A couple of weeks ago I cried with a young woman interviewed on the evening news. She and her Muslim friend were saved from harm by three men who intervened when a white supremacist attached the two. The attacker turned on the men killing two of them and injuring the third. In the interview, the young woman said through her tears, “They died for me.”
We followers of Christ should be able to relate to that. Has our individualizing of our faith divorced us from the pain and suffering of others? Have we gotten so caught up in trying to whitewash the essence of Jesus’ ministry that we have forgotten his suffering, endurance, character, and hope? Everything he did as God Incarnate, he did for others. Everything.
Prayer: Lord,
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit. Amen (Psalm 51:11-12)