Text: Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. (Rom. 6:16 NLT)
Trouble in the World
Everyone has a god.
Sure, there are those who would say there is no god. There are those who might not go so far as that, but they simply say there is no way that we can know god – if there is one. The Bible even tells a story of those who say to Jesus “Lord, Lord.” They thought they had a god. They continue, “we ate and drink in your presence and you taught in our street.” Or Matthew goes so far as to have them say, “did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ (Matt. 7:22 ESV)” And Jesus responds, “Go away. I never knew you.” You might even think you have the one true god. But we often fool ourselves.
Because this is what it means to have a god. Whatever you fear, love and trust above all things. That is your god. This is one of Martin Luther’s deepest insights. And it is right there is the small catechism. He expands on it the larger catechism. You are a creature. You are made. You are made with a purpose. The fancy greek word is telos – end. You are pointed somewhere. There are good works laid out in advance for you to walk in. But unlike the grass or the lilies of the field whose purpose is simple and they will obey it – to come up in the morning, look beautiful and fade – God gave you a will. And we often choose new gods. We often choose something else – something lessor – to fear, love and trust above all things. We often choose to obey a different purpose than the one we were created for.
And everyone has such a God. But few actually understand what they worship. Who they obey.
There are some default gods. The world likes power. There are untold numbers of people and institutions that are dedicated solely to accruing power. They will promise you access. You’ll be in the room where it happens. You’ll be in the inner ring.
Some like a specific form of power – money. Which is always funny. Because most of us think money is a life of ease and luxury. But if you listen carefully to people like Elon Musk or Palmer Lucky they sound an awful lot like the teacher of Ecclesiastes. When goods increase, the ones who eat them increase. Riches and the ability to enjoy them are separate gifts. And they rarely come together. The one who is given the task of piling up, usually leaves it all to a bunch of idiots. If you want such a wry story go look up who Henry Ford served, and who the Ford Foundation – his money – now servers. This too is meaningless a chasing after the wind.
And then there are all kinds of minor deities: Pleasure…that one will eat you up fast. As this generation’s greatest poet – Dana Gioia wrote – pity the beautiful. Pity the looksmaxxers who are already withering.
Even things we would normally put on the good side of the ledger: knowledge, wisdom. If you fear, love or trust any of these things above everything else, you have put a weight on them that they cannot bear. You’ve built your house on the sand…and the storm is coming.
Christology
But here is the good news. Christ has set you free. Once we were all bound to one of those vicious gods. It didn’t really matter whether it was because of Satan, the World or our own Flesh. We were bound. The apostle Paul would call it bound to the elementary principles of the world. You are going to serve someone. You are going to obey something’s law. We all came into this world slaves of something. And none of us had a choice. In sin my mother conceived me the psalmist would say. We would go along to get along right up until the grave. It is easier conforming yourself to the shape of the world. Be water the Taoist would say.
But Christ has freed you. He exposed those gods for what they are – frauds. They will eat you alive and never give you what your heart truly desires.
He exposed Satan’s lies. You will not be like God.
He exposed the world’s lies. You do not get what you deserve. The world will crucify the innocent if it is the easiest path. If they get in way of lunch.
He exposed our own hearts. It is not what goes into you that makes you unclean. It is what comes out of our natural hearts.
Christ exposed all those gods that we served for what they were – grasping and vain attempts at immortality. Desperate cries for love from things that would not love us back. What did it benefit Alexander or Caesar to rule the world? They are still dead. And we all sell out for much less than Caesar.
But Christ did not consider equality with god something to be held onto, but freely gave it away. Taking on the form of a servant. So that he could be the slave of all. The slave of all…who freed us all. Freed us from our illusions of grandeur. Freed us from whatever fears of death drove us into the promises those petty gods. Freed us from all the elementary principles of the world. Freed us from all the laws that bound us. He took that all to the cross. Christ paid for it all. The sins of cosmos.
And Christ gives us – gives you – your first real choice. You have been freed. You are still not God. You are never going to be God. You are a creature. You are going to serve something. But Christ gave you a choice. Who are your going to obey. Who are you going to fear, love and trust above all things.
Moral
You can present yourself back to you favorite petty god. They will certainly take you back. And there are plenty of people who are more than glad to slip back into that comfortable servitude.
Or you can present yourselves to Christ. You can present yourselves to the God who calls you brother. You can present yourself to the God who loved you, when you were anything but lovely. You can present yourselves to Christ whose promise is to sanctify and keep you. Unlike all those other gods who chew you up and leave you a shade. Christ welcomes you into eternal dwellings. Christ gives you a house on the rock.
You have been freed in hope. In the hope that you would use this freedom to freely serve. That you would choose righteousness. That you would choose the hard obedience that leads to life.
Christ has freed you for this choice. Choose your prince carefully.
Eschatological
Because there is eternal weight behind this choice.
It is life or death.
You are going to serve something. You are going to be obedient to someone, even if it is just your gut.
Everyone has a god.
Be sure you know who you are serving. And what they are promising.
May you so pass through things temporal, that you do not lose the things eternal.
May you choose wisely who to serve.
The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Know who you are being obedient to. It has eternal weight.
If you are blessedly unaware of that absurdity, Mrs. Alito, wife of the Supreme Court justice, likes to fly flags. One of the flags she has flown was the Revolutionary War era “Appeal to Heaven” flag (pasted in somewhere near here.) It was commissioned by George Washington for the small six boat Continental Navy. The pine tree was a symbol of New England – Pines being quite common. The phrase, “An Appeal to Heaven,” is a reference to John Locke. Locke was the English enlightenment philosopher whose thought probably did more to inspire early America and its governance than anybody else. Maybe even more than the Bible, although that could be argued. In this case Locke argued in his Second Treatise on Civil Government, “where the Body of the People, or any single Man, is deprived of their Right, or is under the Exercise of a power without right, and have no Appeal on Earth, there they have a liberty to appeal to Heaven, whenever they judge the Cause of sufficient moment.” In that quote you can hear such later American phrases as “endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.” There is also the foundational American idea of the Social Compact, think the Mayflower Compact. The governments are established to ensure rights. If those governments deprive citizens of rights, they have broken the compact, and there is a right to “an appeal to heaven” or revolution.
