The picture to the left notwithstanding, I did not preach about Canada and how wonderful it is nor how much I love my country, flawed as it is. This Sunday’s sermons are all about wages and eternity.
It might seem like a peculiar combination but both of these ideas are very much in our Epistle lesson, Romans 6.12-23. They are primarily found in the last verse of this section, which is also the last verse of Romans 6, where Paul says, ” For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23 NRSV)
You certainly don’t have to listen to last Sunday’s sermons to have these make sense but there is a very strong overlap between last these two Sundays. This will surprise no one as Romans 6 is a reasonably cohesive chapter. Last week we talked about how grace doesn’t give us license but rather frees us from the burden of sin whereas this week we are talking about how we are going to serve one of two “masters”; we will be slaves to sin or slaves to God. This is one of the places where we are not dealing with a false dichotomy but a real one. There is no middle ground you can choose, as Bob Dylan sang, “you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” The thing is, when we choose to serve God, when we choose to move into a relationship with God, through Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit, it is only then that we can enjoy the freedom of not serving sin and all that entails.
Knox Presbyterian No one wants those wages (to download, right click and select “Save Link As . . .”)
St. Mark’s Presbyterian No one wants those wages (to download, right click and select “Save Link As . . .”)
Blessings,
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