At the conclusion of the service, the pastor was standing at the back door shaking the hands of the worshipers as they filed out of the sanctuary. One man who rarely attended church shook the pastor's hand and the pastor pulled him aside saying, "My friend, you need to join the army of the Lord!" The man replied, "I"m already in the army of the Lord." The pastor asked, "Then how come I only see you at Christmas and Easter?" And the man whispered back, "I'm in the secret service."(1)
I fear that there are far too many people who call themselves "Christian," who are in the secret service these days. If we observe their lives, there is very little data to support the notion that they are actually followers of Christ. Their behavior is indistinguishable from people who have no religious convictions at all.
In this morning's passage from Paul's Letter to the Romans, he speaks of the way in which people's lives are changed when they become Christians. He says that there is to be a qualitative difference in our character, and he speaks of this transformation by using two terms which many people have found confusing. The terms are flesh and Spirit. Paul says that it is basic human nature for people to live according to the flesh, however those who follow Christ are to live according to the Spirit.
What does Paul mean by contrasting flesh with Spirit? Some have mistakenly concluded that Paul was condemning earthly physical pleasures while calling on us to strive for some dreamy spiritual state in which we live saintly lives. Some have gone so far as to interpret this to mean that you don't drink, you don't cuss and you don't have sex - or at least you don't enjoy it.
But the Christian faith is not opposed to physical pleasure. God wants us to live rich lives where we experience the beauty and the excitement and the delight which life can bring. It is important for us to keep in mind that even as serious as the apostle Paul was, he lists "joy" as one of the fruits of the Spirit. Despite the trials and hardships which life can bring, God wants us to enjoy life.
When Paul says we should not live according to the flesh he is not denouncing physical pleasure. What Paul means by "living according to the flesh," is living a life which is self-indulgent. Paul understands that God has created us to live in relationship with others. And whenever our focus is solely on our own personal needs, we are not living our lives as God intends. We are depriving ourselves and we are depriving others of the deep fulfillment that life can bring.
And so Paul counsels us to live not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. What is life in the Spirit? It is not a saintly existence reserved for only a handful of pious people. Rather, it is a life which is characterized by the same qualities that were evident in the life of Christ - love, kindness, justice, hospitality, truth, forgiveness, generosity, hope. When we live our lives according to the Spirit, we let Christ's love flow through us touching the lives of others, bringing healing and wholeness to people's lives.
A colleague remembers a woman named Lena Schultz who lived in a tar paper shack, just outside the city limits of his home town in Minnesota. People who lived down the street in better houses, called her homely and unattractive. Several of her teeth were missing, and her face and arms were often marked by bruises left by her husband whenever he returned home drunk out of his mind.
Harold was twelve years-old when he first met Lena. He delivered newspapers and she was the last customer on his route. By the time he reached her home on frigid winter afternoons, he was cold and exhausted. Slogging through deep snow with a heavy newspaper bag on his shoulders, he would wish that one of his customers would invite him in for a few minutes to warm up. But it never happened. That is, it never happened until he reached the tar paper shack. There he could see, through the tiny window, the face of Lena Schultz, who was watching for him. The ritual was always the same. She would fling open the door, welcome him with a big smile, and then offer him a seat at her kitchen table. He was usually shivering by this point, and so he would soak up the warmth of her pot bellied stove, and she would pour him a cup of hot chocolate and give him a plate of cookies.
A number of years passed and the boy grew into adulthood and he forgot about this woman. Then one day, he received a package in the mail from his sister. She had been cleaning out their parents home following their death, and she had discovered a small diary that had been given to him as a Christmas present when he was twelve years-old. He opened it immediately, and began reading what he had jotted down years earlier. As with most boys that age, he didn't stick with it very long. The records ceased after one week. But at the back of the book, he discovered an interesting list he had made- an itemized list of all the cash gifts he had received from his paper route customers that year.
As he read down the list of names, he pictured in his mind, the faces of his customers from long ago as well as their houses. This was during the depression and so the gifts were all very small. Most gifts were a dime, a few were a quarter, and there were two entries for 50 cents. Then, when he turned the page to read the name of the last customer on his route, his eyes became misty. Lena Schultz. Her gift was one dollar. The largest gift was from by far, the poorest person. And the memories came back to him of how kind and generous she was in the midst of her own poverty and suffering.
And then he remembered what surely must have been the source of her kindness and generosity. He recalled the time when his father, who was a barber, accepted the invitation of one of his customers, to attend an evening service in a store front church. His father invited him to go along. It was a small congregation in a poor neighborhood, but they sang out the hymns in a very spirited fashion. And the young boy looked around to see the people who were there and saw Lena Schultz. She had a Bible on her lap, a hymnal in her hand, a bright smile on her face, and she was singing her heart out. She was singing about the goodness and generosity of God which had transformed her life. And having tasted fully of the love of God, she could not help but pass that love on.(2)
That's what it means to live according to the Spirit. It is not a high an exalted life which is beyond the reach of most of us, but rather a way of life open to everyone who seeks to live their lives with the help of God's grace.
NOTES
1. Shared by Larry Kemp on EcuLaugh
2. Harold Skillrud, "A Time to Boast," preached on The Protestant Hour, July 6, 1997.
© 1999 Gregory Knox Jones, all rights reserved