To whom do you yield yourself? A Meditation on Romans 6

As an American, and a veteran, I take a great deal of pride in the freedom of our people, and of our Republic.  As a nation, we were formed in the crucible of war against tyranny, and framed our government with a Constitution that preserved this land as the home of the free and the brave.  We are a people who prize our freedom, enshrine it in our laws, emblazon it on our public buildings, and sing it in our anthems.  We salute our soldiers, those past and present, fallen and survived, for guarding and preserving our freedom.  It is certainly true that we, both as individuals and as a people, have used our freedom in better and worse ways over these centuries we’ve had it, but in our genius and our stupidity, freedom has been a constant and cherished virtue.  Even when we abuse our liberty, we still hold it in high regard, as something worth the price of occasional error.

Our text in Romans for this week, forces us to look a bit deeper than our political and national patriotism is accustomed to peer.  Here we find a universal truth about mankind:  no one is actually free.

As galling as that may sound to American ears, it is true.  Human beings are never really free.  We enter this world by the choices of our parents and the grace of God, and we leave it when we can no longer fend off death.  Not a single human being has ever given birth to himself, nor defied death to live forever, so that he might say, “I am free!”  We enter this life on the whim of others, and from our first breath to our last, the tyrant Death keeps his shackles tightly about our necks.  His power is greater than any can resist, and at the last, he comes to all, taking from them the breath of life they clutch to with all their might.  What is true of the rich and powerful, is also true of the weak and powerless:  all shall die.  The mirage of freedom that we prop up for ourselves between the moment of our birth and the moment of our death, lasts only until it is broken by words like “cancer,” or the defeated voice of the doctor who says, “I’m sorry… there’s no more I can do.”  Natural man, all alone under the tyranny of Death, has no hope of escape, regardless of how posh his castle, or robust his bank account.  Such is the lot of mankind, to be slaves of Death.

But God has something to say to us, chained under a tyrant far greater than any of us could master.  He speaks of the world as He made it, without Death.  He speaks of a world that existed in perfect unity and harmony with Himself, who is the source of all Life and blessing.  He speaks of a world in which He placed man, where He could live in happiness and peace forever, as sons and daughters of the King of the Universe.  And He speaks of the day in which man chose to leave the King of Glory, and serve a deceitful rebel… one who promised much, but delivered only the shackles of Death.  As man chose to leave the Author of Life, they followed the wicked path of the evil one, who led them inexorably into the clutches of a tyrant implacable and merciless.  Having chosen evil over God, they exchanged their good and rightful King, for the brutality of a slave master.  Once servants of God, heirs of His Kingdom, they became slaves of sin and Death, heirs only to hell.

If this were all there was to the story, it would still be true, and just, and right; even if it were eternally and infinitely tragic.  No one enslaved to Death, doesn’t deserve Death and hell—for all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God.  But our Creating and Saving God was not content to leave us in the slavery we had chosen for ourselves, nor to be the prey of Death.  To rescue His people from their fate, and the chains which bound them to their dark master, He sent His Only Begotten Son into our flesh, that He might conquer Death forever.  In the great Mystery of the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, surrenders Himself to the tyrant of our race, and humbles Himself.  He humbly takes the form of a servant, though He is King of Glory; He brings grace and mercy, though He is Judge of All; He is beaten, spat upon, and nailed to a cross, left to die, though He is the Author of Life; He descends to the place of the dead, and preaches liberty to the souls chained in darkness; He rises from the dead on the third day, having bound Death and the Devil, and in His own flesh paid the price of our sin; He speaks even now to the world the Gospel of salvation, that as He lives forever, so shall all who trust in Him.

And to you, to whom this Word has come from the Author of Life, the Savior of the World, Jesus Christ, also comes the power to break the chains which bind you in sin under the tyranny of Death.  His Spirit comes to you through His Word, convicting you of the evil you know you are guilty of, and giving you faith to believe that Jesus has paid for your wickedness, that you may live forgiven in Him forever.  His Word calls to you, giving you a new birth from above, by Water and Spirit, so that in your Baptism, Jesus’ death becomes your death, and His Life becomes your life.  United to Him in a death like His, you become united to Him in a life like His, where Death no longer reigns over you, and hell is no longer your inheritance.  Your life becomes hidden in Christ, and all that He has won for you, is yours.

You have been bought with a price—the precious Blood of the Son of God.  He has broken your chains that bound you in your sins, conquered your tyrannical slave master, and made you an heir of heaven.  He has made you free indeed, to love and serve Him as you were created to be, in perfect harmony with Him, singing forth His praises forever.  And so we are reminded, that man is always and only in one of two states:  a servant of God who lives forever, or a slave of Death who dies forever. 

Remember the God who bought your freedom and restored your place in His Kingdom, that you may always present yourself to Him in living faith, which serves His righteousness forever by His grace.  Do not turn back to the evil tyrant who enslaved you by sin unto Death.  For the one to whom you yield yourself, is your Master indeed:  Jesus Christ unto life, or the devil unto Death.

By the power of His Holy Spirit, working through His Holy Word:  Choose life. Amen.