March 17, 2010 — Fifth Midweek Lenten Service
“The Cross and the Sins of Christians” — Vicar Mankin
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Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
There was a popular comedian in the early 70’s named Flip Wilson. In his act he would do something outrageous like come out on stage in a dress and say, “The devil made me do it.” It was the character Geraldine’s excuse for everything. Her explanation for sinning was always the devil. This does raise an interesting question. As Christians, why do we still sin? Does the devil make us do it? Why do we struggle with the flesh and why do we still do what we know is wrong? Did the devil make us do it or is something else going on? Is there a relationship between Bearing the cross and sin for the Christian?
Often for Christians, bearing the cross is knowing that we still sin and we still feel the effects of sin. We hate our sins, and we hate it when we sin. I hate the fact that I know I sin even when I don’t know that I am sinning. Saint Paul sums it up nicely in his letter to the Romans. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (Romans 7:14-15 ESV) Some misguided Christians even think they can go without sinning. However, we know from the Scriptures, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 ESV) Why can’t we stop sinning? Even when I don’t sin outwardly, why does my mind race towards evil? Even if somehow we could keep from sinning, which we can’t, we are still going to die from the
effects of sin. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24 ESV) I know that my body will still fail, because sin still dwells within me. Thanks to Adam, our very nature is corrupt; the effects of sin ripple down to even this generation.
The pitiful reality is that all of creation is still suffering as a result of our sin. All creatures are now subject to that tyrant, the devil, and as Christians we are made to suffer as long as we are captives in the devil’s kingdom. The Fall, brought on by the sin of our forefathers, has sold us into captivity under the devil. But, as Christians, we know the devil’s rule is short, his kingdom was defeated at the Cross. When Jesus suffered death on the Cross, all of our sins were with Him. The debt we owed was paid in full. The devil’s rule over us was smashed. The devil is in full retreat and the judgment is coming. He is still lashing out at us urging us to sin and causing the faithful to stumble. Living in this state as prisoners of this sin-filled flesh is torture, it is truly bearing the cross.
We know this world and we in it are not what we should be. That’s why with great sighing and longing we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come.” In other words Lord please return quickly, free
us from the devil’s kingdom. Free us from this horrible plague we must endure. Free us from this bondage of sin and the devil, from wicked people and our own conscience.
Thanks be to God we don’t struggle against this sinful flesh and the devil alone. I know that my sinful nature was drown in Baptism and, in Baptism, I received incorporation into God’s Kingdom. The Holy Spirit bears witness to my soul of the One who has overcome the devil and has been liberated from sin and death, Christ Jesus. The Scriptures read like a newspaper, “The battle is won! Hold your ground; your liberator is coming!” We are free: free from the guilt of our sin; free from the punishment we deserve as collaborators in Satan’s rebellion against God; we are even free from the power that sin has held over us. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for
unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14 ESV) Through Jesus Christ we can be free of the effects of sin. On the last day, this sinful flesh will be gone. When Christ returns, we will be given new bodies, free of sin, like Christ's perfect body—a body that sin cannot decay or destroy. We will be moved into our new home—the Kingdom of our Father, a Kingdom that will have no end.
We still bear the cross of sin; but, hold on, stay strong. Keep the faith: faith in God’s promises; faith that we have been given power over sin, the power not to sin; faith that even when we fail and fall into sin that Jesus has already paid for our sins. Hold on, you only need to bear your cross a little longer. Jesus won! God is coming. He is with us. We don’t have to give in to sin and the devil. When you hear the phrase, “The devil made me do it,” think to yourself I am baptized, I’m a Christian. Through Christ Jesus, the devil can’t make me do anything. The devil can’t even destroy this body, Christ will raise me from the dead. We’re free. Amen.
