A Spirit of Adoption

Preached at Hanover Street Presbyterian Church

On June 11, 2006

By Pastor Thomas C. Davis

Text:

Romans 8: 12-17

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh? for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ?if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Sermon Text

I've been hugged a lot this week, consoled, and encouraged.  Thank you, people of Hanover.  Thank you!  I didn't know whether you would understand the call I feel to work with people of other faiths, so that together we might weave a fabric of friendships strong enough to resist the acids of noxious nationalism and religious fanaticism that are spilling over the globe.  Years ago, much before 9-11,  a Lebanese exile in Miami said to me:  "You Americans are so idealistic, and so naïve.  You don't realize how fragile tolerance and democracy are.  My country was once a tolerant and democratic nation, but it imploded into darkness and strife.  That could happen here," she said, her eyes pleading for me to wake up. 

Now I see that she was right; but also, that it's not too late to resist demagogues who intimidate and manipulate us, turning gullible citizens into hate mongers and killers.  It's not too late to weave a protective fabric of friendships. That is what I feel called to do in my home town.  I don't know exactly yet how to go about it, but I'm confident the Spirit will show me.  Many of you hugged me this week, and said:  Tom, we do understand.  We hear God's call for you on this.  Go for it!  It is so good to be understood and affirmed!  Thank you!

Church, we are in the season of Pentecost, the season when we celebrate the gift of sacred Spirit to the disciples of Jesus.  We heard about that in last week's reading.  Paul wrote about sacred Spirit in today's passage:  "All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."  Let me repeat that verse:  "All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."  Now, if you think of the Spirit of God as the Holy Spirit, that is, the third person of the Christian trinity, then you might conclude that only Christians can be children of God, for only they believe that the Spirit of God is inextricably tied to Jesus of Nazareth.  But Paul doesn't speak of the Holy Spirit in this particular passage.  He speaks of the Spirit of God, a phrase that turns up in the Hebrew scriptures, where there was no knowledge yet of Jesus.  Can we hear Paul's assertion--that all people who are led by the Spirit of God are God's children--can we hear that with ears tuned to a wider frequency than Christian theology usually allows? 

As I think about my studies in comparative religion--that's the discipline of comparing and contrasting the beliefs and practices of various world religions--it seems to me that most scholars miss a very important common characteristic which faithful people across numerous cultures and traditions exhibit:  that is, they pulsate with and exude sacred spirit.  What do I mean by that?  Well, if you're looking for a Biblical explanation, you could turn to Paul's words in Galatians 5: 22-23, where he says that the fruits of the Spirit are love, and joy, and peace, and long-suffering, and kindness, and goodness, and faithfulness, and gentleness, and self-control.  Now, I ask you:  Have you known at least a few people who have shown at least a few of these lovely fruits of sacred spirit? Why yes, of course you have!  Now, let me ask another question.  Considering all the people whom you have known who have born these spiritual fruits:  Have all of them been Christian?  Perhaps you will say yes, or perhaps you will say no, according to the extensiveness of your acquaintances and friendships.  In cities, where we tend to rub elbows with people unlike ourselves, perhaps we will be more likely to meet people who, though they are not Christian, definitely do exude sacred spirit.  That is, they are loving, and joyful, and kindly, and good-hearted, and gentle, and so on.  These qualities--which we could call spiritual qualities--obviously are not exhibited by Christians alone.  From my experience as a pastoral counselor who worked not just with Christians, but also with people of other faiths and with people who professed no traditional faith, I would say that sacred spirit shows other qualities in people too:  Sacred spirit moves people to be creative, to think and act outside the box.  Sacred spirit moves people to be hopeful, even in the most degrading and appalling circumstances.  Sacred spirit moves people to seek reconciliation and union with others.  Sacred spirit arms people with courage, to stand up and be themselves in the face of terrifying opposition.  Sacred spirit moves people to seek justice, not just for themselves but especially for the "least of these", that is, people with no clout, the downtrodden, the dispossessed, and the dis-spirited. 

Sacred spirit is widely evident in the human race, not just in Christians.  Children of God are people anywhere who welcome sacred spirit, so that their own spirits pulsate with its energy, and bear marvelous fruit for themselves and others.  This does not happen automatically, of course.  Our own spirits, by dint of suffering or malnourishment,  may wain, almost to the point of dying; or worse, they can grow resentful, and bitter, and vicious so that they labor at cross-purposes to sacred spirit.  Al Zarqarwi was a spirited person, no doubt about that.  He was full of energy, but it was malignant energy, opposed to love and kindliness and gentleness.  Despite his pretensions of piety he was a child of God gone wrong.  He was not a monster, as some have said--merely a child of God gone wrong.  That can happen to any of us who close our hearts to sacred spirit.

Saul, later called Paul, had almost closed himself to sacred spirit, just as Al Zarqawi did.  Saul was into offing people, just like him.  Saul carried a hit list with him when sacred Spirit overwhelmed his own spirit on the road to Damascus.  Saul a child of God going wrong, was utterly turned around by the spirit of Jesus, a spirit of forgiveness, reconciliation, gentleness, love.  Having been adopted by this forgiving, kind, and gentle spirit, Saul's own spirit was converted.  Thereafter he went looking for people like himself, people who for one reason or another felt shut-out and up-tight.  And he told them:  You are not shut-out.  You are a child of God.  You are not an outsider.  You are a child of God.  No matter that you are not a Jew, a child of the covenant of purity.  You are a child of God.  You have the spirit of an adopted child, who knows that he or she has been picked because of love.  Rejoice in this:  You are a child of God!  No matter that you can't make yourself believe what other people say you must believe in order to be worthy.  You are a child of God!  God brought you into this world.  God's spirit makes your every breath possible.  God's spirit wants you to pulsate with holy energy for good.  You are a child of God.  God loves you.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad that you have a spirit of adoption.  Don't fall back into fear and anxiety.  Don't be manipulated by those who say that you aren't worth anything unless you think as they do.  You are a child of God.  Live then, in joy, in peace, and in thankfulness.  Amen!