CELEBRATE FREEDOM: A MORE PERFECT UNION

We continue to Celebrate Freedom as we go into this summer.  The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States begins with “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union….” This is a telling statement because it seems to assume that it will not be perfect, just better than the other governmental unions.  They had experienced the tyranny of an oppressive system and understood the pain of living without genuine freedom.  These words also assume that even though all human unions are prone to failure and by nature imperfect, there is a path that enables humanity to find a “more perfect union.” Our sermon this week has the title, A More Perfect Union.  All human relationships are infected with sin.  The power of human brokenness is evident from our governmental structure through every level of human relationship.  Yet, our founding fathers had a sense of hope about the power of God at work in our world.  Perhaps the scripture for this week Romans 8:6-16 encouraged their hope and lifted their vision that God wanted us to be free.  Human sin is still powerful and destructive, but we have been set free from its power!   As we encounter life and circumstances, this seems not just unlikely but impossible! It is only possible if we realize that the only “more perfect union” is one that God desires to share with us in Jesus Christ.  This union is one that God forges for us and comes as a gift of grace.  If we are willing to choose this union over all the other possibilities of our lives, it will lead to joy, peace, and transformation.  It turns doubt into determination, fear into faith, and graves into glory.  We pray that you will find your heart being lifted, your mind being focused, and your spirit being filled by the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead as you read Romans 8:6-16.

Romans 8:6-16: The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. ¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation– but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. (NIV)