Wanted: Dead and Alive, Sermon Romans 6:1-11

*This sermon comes, in part, from a sermon delivered by Dr. Brad Braxton entitled Dead and Alive. Thank you Dr. Braxton for you inspiration and guidance.

O Lord, your Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Give us grace to receive your truth in faith and love, and strength to follow on the path you set before us; through Jesus Christ, Amen.

One of my favorite movie genres is the western. I love John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and all the other guys who have made this kind of movies in their careers. I think one reason why I like these movies so well is that the plot line is usually pretty simple and dependable. There are good guys who are usually handsome, clean-shaven, wear a white hat, and ride a white horse. The good guys are usually sheriffs, marshals, or Texas Rangers, with law and order and a badge on their side. The good guy always has a love interest and more times than not gets the girl in the end. Then there are the bad guys who are usually ugly, scruffy and dirty, they wear a black hat, and ride a black horse. They care nothing for law and order and they don’t need no stinkin’ badges. Both the good guys and the bad guys are good with a six gun. The plot usually runs like this, the bad guys run into town causing all kinds of terror and mayhem, they threaten the stability of the town or they rob a train, or try to rustle some cattle. The sheriff is forced to gather a group of lawmen together and fight the bad guys in the desert or down Main Street at high noon.

Sometimes the bad guys were so bad that the merited a special poster and reward for their capture. Sometimes they were wanted dead or alive. We have all seen these posters on the wall of the town post office or sheriff’s office. There is a drawing of the suspect and above his face we read the words in big, bold, black letters Wanted: Dead or Alive. In other words they did not care how this person was brought down as long as they got their man. If he was alive he would be tried, most likely convicted and hanged, and if he was brought in dead, well that would save them all the trouble. There are a few real life criminals who have been wanted dead or alive. Billy the Kid, Jesse and Frank James, and Poncho Villa are just a few who have had their faces on these posters.

The Apostle Paul tells the Romans in his letter that they too are wanted people. They are wanted not by the authorities, but by God and they are not wanted dead or alive, but dead AND alive. There is a poster in the heavenly realms with our picture on it with the words Wanted: Dead and Alive. This seems like a strange thing, this is odd. Death is the total and complete opposite of life. How can one be both dead and alive? Paul explains that we are to be dead to sin AND alive to God in Christ. We must die to sin in order to become alive in Christ. How do we do this? How can we die and yet become alive? Paul tells us that we accomplish this through baptism. Through baptism we are untied with Christ in his death on the cross. As Christ died and was buried so we die and are buried with him through baptism. It is a spiritual link with Christ. In our baptism we leave all the Sin and guilt at the foot of the cross and in the tomb. This is not the end. Paul continues saying that just as we die in Christ we also share in his resurrection. We are raised with Christ as new creatures so that we might walk with a newness of life.

There are some important distinctions that need to be clarified. Paul is not talking about sin as individual events. He does not mean sin as a specific lie, theft, or adulterous moment. Instead Paul refers to Sin with a big “S”. In this case Sin is a cosmic force that invades and pervades every aspect of our lives. Sin is the force that leads us to negativity, selfishness, cruelty, anger, vengeance, lust, and all the painful things that we do to ourselves and each other. Sin is the voice in our heads that says “It’s ok. Don’t worry about it, what is a little lie going to hurt? What your spouse, children, boss, friends, family don’t know won’t hurt them.” The only one who can break us out of this cosmic force is Christ. Only through the love of God in Christ can we break out of the darkness and into the light of life.

Later on in Chapter 6 Paul tells the Church in Rome that the “wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Sin that goes unchecked will led us to death. This is not a physical death, all must go through that transition, but Paul is talking about a spiritual death, a death that means separation from God. God does not wish it, but we choose it for ourselves. C.S. Lewis said that “the gates of hell are locked on the inside”. This means that those in hell choose to be separated from God. They chose the selfishness of Sin and reject the freedom of grace. God, out of his live, creates a more excellent way for us through the death and resurrection of Christ. We are buried with Christ and Sin is with us, but we also rise again with Christ and the power of Sin is broken. God does this because he loves us despite our sin. We deserve death but God give us life and that is called grace. Grace is that which is given, but is not deserved. John Wesley called this justifying grace; the moment that we are made right in the eyes of God. There are many theological theories that would explain how this justification works, but however it works; we die to Sin through the death of Christ.

There were and still are some who say that Sin is not that big of a deal. In fact the more we sin the more God’s grace is demonstrated. On the surface this makes sense, it is certainly more appealing on the surface. We get to do whatever we want and the slate is wiped clean. Paul rejects this notion outright. We have to make a choice we can either keep going the same way down the same path of destruction, or by the grace and love of God make a change into a new life with Christ. Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians that “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” Once we are dead to Sin and alive in Christ there is no turning back, there is no return. Jesus called for repentance. The word repent means to turn away, it means to make a 180º turn, an about-face away from the path we were on. There is no greater way to demonstrate this, there is no other metaphor to explain what repentance is than to say we die to sin and are alive in Christ. It means we completely stop on life and begin another. God knows that Sin does not bring true happiness, just empty, passing moments of temporary pleasure. God knows that a healthy, complete life is in Christ. A life of love, joy, freedom, positivity, and righteousness is waiting in Christ. Paul calls it a more excellent way.

This is a process. It does not happen overnight, in fact it is a lifetime of commitment, setbacks, learning, and trying again. John Wesley called this process Sanctification and it is a process that will not be completed until Christ’s return, until all creation is redeemed and made new in Christ and until God’s reign is on Earth as it is in Heaven. Theologian George Hunsinger said that we are in tension between the cross and the resurrection. We are between the justification and the perfection, between the death of the old and the fullness of glory in the new. Let us look toward the newness of life, let us come out of the darkness and into the light of Christ.

The question for all of us today is, what do we need to bury? What bad feelings, negativity, and darkness do you need to bury today? Maybe you have been gossiping behind someone’s back and saying hurtful things. Maybe you have a bad attitude that brings everyone around you down. Maybe you have shame and guilt from some passed transgression that is eating you up inside. Maybe you have doubts of God’s goodness and mercy for you. We have all failed to love each other and love God as he wants us to love. Today is the day, if Sin is clinging to you bury it with Christ. Bring it to the altar and leave it there. Let the Sin die there and return alive in Christ.

In the name of the Father who creates us, the Son who redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us. Amen