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1 What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8 But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:1-11 NRSV)
Happy Tuesday, dear Friend! I spent today visiting with people who are just now slowly coming back to as normal a life as they used to live before the Coronavirus hit. I met a man who was joyously unpacking huge bags of sugar in hopes of getting his shaved ice business back on track. I met a woman who was more fortunate than others in that her boss paid her 70% of her salary to stay home while the store was closed. I read from dear friends who had to say their final goodbyes to their mother in hopes that one day soon a proper goodbye and celebration of her life can take place. For these and many more, our prayers. Prayers also for one another; prayers for yourselves.
At the conclusion of a funeral at which I officiated a fraternal order asked to have their rites after the Christian rites. These consisted of some scriptures and a final farewell that included the release of a dove as a symbolic departure of the deceased's spirit from the earth to the sky. The gentlemen doing that part of the graveside brought a nice gilded cage with the dove inside. From memory I recall them saying something to the effect that (Name of the Deceased), we release your spirit to the heavens, or something along those lines. They opened the door of the cage and nothing. The bird was content in the cage. They first tried to find a branch of a tree that they could use to poke the bird into action. The bird was just uncomfortable and ignored the pokes. One of the men then reached in and and grabbed the bird and lifted it up and let it go. The bird flew up a couple of feet and right back into the cage! It was both frustrating and embarrassing to the order; but nothing the men could think to do would make the bird leave its cage. To be fair, the bird knew no other way to live. It was fed and watered in that cage, and the idea of flying free among other birds was part of a world that it had not discovered.
Sadder still, there are some of us who resemble the remarks that Paul wrote in this passage. The cage of sin has had its doors flung wide open and regardless of what a free world holds for us, we still choose to stay in the cage. The idea of freedom cannot compete with the comforts of sin. This frustrated Paul, and one can only imagine what it does to God's heart. Jesus' death brought us freedom, but our stubbornness keeps us caged up. The certain restrictions of a cage that eventually include certain death seem at times more inviting than the yet unexplored life of freedom.
I will always treasure the memory of our first born exploring the "world" beyond the blanket on the floor. She crawled to the edge and using her hands touched it to make sure that it was secure enough to crawl onto. Once she discovered it was indeed solid, she turned to us and laughed and then crawled onto the floor and off the carpet and soon she was down the hallway away from us. She found freedom and she enjoyed it. One can only imagine a baby that chooses never to crawl and choosing to stay on the blanket on the floor for all time.
Paul celebrates the freedom he discovered in Christ. And he proceeds to explain the reality of all Jesus did for us through His death. Paul knows that we are invited to "walk in newness of life." That's a wonderful way to walk. A walk of faith and surety that Christ walks with us. This is the walk of one who has achieved something important and valuable in their life. Think a graduate who walks across the stage after 12 years of schooling; an athlete who has won an important victory for their organization; a sinner who rises from the altar a changed person because they have surrendered their lives and hearts to Jesus, and walks away from the altar in a new life. That person has surrendered his/her ticket to death to Jesus and walks away in the hope of a life that will never end.
Friend, how are you living your life? Are you content in your cage, or have you discovered that all that Jesus has done for you truly has blessed and released you? It it has, then tell someone so that more can enjoy the freedom offered to them by God through Jesus.
PRAYER: Awesome God, forgive us for the times we have been content to stay caged. We confess that being confined keeps us from doing the work we should be doing. Free us for joyful obedience so that we can truly reach the world in ways that bless God and God's kingdom. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Help open the doors of cages today; begin with the door on your cage!
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
