Which Way Does Your Compass Point?
Romans 6:1b-11
by Jim Westmoreland
I recently read a story about an Air Force doctor, who was stationed for a
while in the Mojave Desert. There in the desert Chuck loved to ride his motorcycle. While
riding alone one day, he crashed, breaking his leg. To get the medical attention he
needed, Chuck was forced to ride his motorcycle back to the base. But there were problems:
his hand brake had broken off in the crash, and his broken leg was on the side of the
footbrake. Chuck finally made it back to the base, but he could not and did not stop at
the gate. As he slowly passed by, the sergeant standing guard naturally felt compelled to
stop him. Chuck was not in uniform when the guard caught up with him and began to flaunt
his authority, rebuking him for not stopping.
In pain Chuck had finally taken enough, and with his southern drawl he interrupted the
Sergeant: "Now, just hold on, Sahgent. Befoe you go on, I think there are three
things you 'otta know. First, Ah'm a Majah. Second, Ah'm a doctah. And, third, Ah've got a
broken leg." "Yes, Sir!" the Sergeant responded, "Let
me help you to the hospital!"
There are times when knowing a few facts can have a great impact on our decisions and our
actions. Most of us have gone off "half-cocked," only to discover later that we
acted without understanding the situation. In our text Paul is pointing out to his Roman
readers some very important facts they must know, which will be the basis for the way they
will live as Christians.
Fred Craddock, the great Disciples of Christ preacher, educator and writer, tells this
story which illustrates the choices that we must make as Christians: "It is not with
the blink of the eye that a thirty-something year old will say to me, "Let's see now,
was it next Sunday that my daughter was going to be baptized?"
I said, "Yeah, next Sunday."
"Well . . . she has dance lessons next Sunday."
I said, "Well, this is Sunday morning."
"Well . . . the dance lessons are at 10:30."
"On Sunday morning?"
"Yeah, the dance studio has classes on Sunday morning.
I said, "On Sunday morning? That's what she said, Sunday morning.
I said, "Then we have a decision to
make, don't we?"
There was a time when the point of this story would be obvious and not even questioned.
But not today. Today, we live in a culture where it is a mark of character to "do our
own thing." Some may rush to this family's defense by suggesting, "Maybe that
was the only time this 'special' teacher taught dance lessons." Or, "maybe that
was the only time anyone was free to take her to dance lessons." Or, "Maybe,
because the daughter played ball every day that Sunday morning was her only available time
for taking dance, which she really wanted to do."
The point in the story has to do with deciding whether to follow Jesus or whether to do
one's own thing. This is the point of the question in the title of this morning's sermon,
Which Way Does Your Compass Point? How do we find direction for our lives? How will we
make decisions? Will it be a choice to follow Jesus? Or will it be to do our own thing and
let God take a back seat to our priorities. Instead of our compass pointing toward God,
when we make excuses and make everything else first in our lives, then our compass points
toward ourselves, which leads us away from God. And so, we must ask ourselves, Which
Way does My Compass point? Which direction am I going in my life? What am I
making my priorities? What am I letting come between me and God?
The book of Romans is Paul's powerful presentation of how we are made right with God.
Martin Luther intensely identified with its message of justification by faith so much that
he tried to reform the teaching and practices of the Catholic church in his day. In
Romans, chapter 6, Paul begins to share what we might call his theology or understanding
of sanctification, which means the process in a Christian's life of living not under to
control of sin.
Our passage today in chapter 6 follows on from v.20 in chapter 5 where Paul tells us that
the OT covenant came with a curse. The Law prompted sin, but "where sin increased
grace abounded all the more." Now, in chapter 6 Paul quotes the slander of the
legalists who suggest that his teaching on justification inevitably leads to
libertarianism, a belief that we can go on sinning without any restraint since we are
already saved. They argued that his teaching implies that sin is a good thing, for God's
grace in forgiveness is activated in proportion to the sin. Paul's answer is, "how
can we who died to sin still live in it?" Paul then uses our identification with
Christ in baptism and in His death as the way we are able to overcome sin in our lives.
Paul says we have been baptized in Christ. Our baptism is our public proclamation of our
inward spiritual relation to Christ. When we came to Jesus, confessing our sin, asking
forgiveness and giving our lives to Him as the One who saves us and makes us right with
God, that is what our baptism proclaims. It is an outward symbol of an inward experience.
Paul compared it to putting on an outward garment or uniform in Gal. 3:27. In water
baptism we identify with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection.
There is a sense where we are identified with Christ in his death -- as he has died so we
die to sin. There is a sense where we are identified with Christ in his resurrection -- as
he lives, so we rise to a new moral life in him. When we identify with Christ, we are
setting our compass on true North, and when we have done that, we can know which way we
are going. Because of our identification with Christ, believers should consider themselves
dead to sin and alive to God "in Christ", v. 8-10.
Paul also says in v. 8 that "we will also live with him." We are alive to God
both legally (justified) and morally (sanctified). At death, when every person faces God,
the picture is that of a trial. Believers are saved, not because they have
been good enough, but because Jesus was good enough. We are justified,
which is a legal term meaning having right standing, because Christ died for our sins. By
receiving Christ, not because we deserve what he did for us, but by God's grace, we are
justified, saved, made right with God.
Sanctification is the process of living a Christlike life after we give our lives to
Jesus. We are "saved" in the legal sense in our relation to God when we become a
Christian. But our growing in Christ and becoming dead to sin is a process that continues
throughout our lives.
To be dead to sin does not mean that we no longer sin. It means that it is not in control
of our lives. It no longer has dominion over us. Sin will no longer rule over us. We will
sin, but our orientation, our compass which is set on Jesus Christ as true North, will be
toward godliness. Which way does our compass point? Is it set on Jesus or are we still
letting self and all of our "want to's" and "don't want to's" and
"just don't feel like its" keep us wandering in our own shallow and destructive
circles.
Steve Mays tells the following story: Major League Baseball pitcher Steve Trachell used to
play for the Chicago Cubs. In those days, he didn't take the mound anytime he wanted, he
pitched only when the coach said he could pitch, and he pitched the way they told him to
pitch.
"Now, he plays for the New York Mets. Picture this hypothetical scene: The Cubs are
playing the Mets, and, before the game, Trachsell's former coach with the Cubs approaches
him and says, 'OK, Steve, we've mapped out your pitching strategy for today's game. We
want you to pitch only fastballs, down the middle, waist-high. Got it?' What would
Traschell say? Maybe, something like 'Sorry, you're not my coach anymore. I don't play
fora you. I play for the Mets.'
A player's former coach can't tell him how to play the game. He has a new coach, a new
boss, a new master to serve. Its the same way with us. When we became a Christian, we
switched teams. Our loyalties changed. We used to be a slave to sin, but now we don't have
to anymore. We now have a new master to serve. V. 11, "Even so consider yourselves to
be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." We are no longer slaves to sin.
Where do we get our values? How do we choose and rationalize our priorities? What drumbeat
motivates us? Who gets us energized and excited? Which way does our compass point?