Cliff Loesch July 13, 2008 Unfamiliar Things Romans 8:1-11        Once upon a time, there was a farmer in the central region of China. He didn't have a lot of money and, instead of a tractor he used an old horse to plow his field.  One afternoon while working in the field the horse dropped dead. Everyone in the village said, "Oh, what a horrible thing to happen." The farmer said simply, "We'll see." He was so at peace and so calm, that everyone in the village got together and, admiring his attitude, gave him a new horse as a gift. Everyone's reaction now was, "What a lucky man." And the farmer said, "We'll see." A couple days later, the new horse jumped a fence and ran away. Everyone in the village shook their heads and said, "What a poor fellow!"  The farmer smiled and said, "We'll see."  Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone again said, "What a fortunate man."  The farmer said, "We'll see."  Later in the year, the farmer's young boy went out riding on the horse and fell and broke his leg. Everyone in the village said, "What a shame for the poor boy."  The farmer said, "We'll see."  Two days later, the army came into the village to draft new recruits. When they saw that the farmer's son had a broken leg, they decided not to recruit him.  Everyone said, "What a fortunate young man."  The farmer smiled again - and said "We'll see."  [author unknown - www.inspirationpeak.com]        There is another way of looking at every situation and every circumstance.  This farmer knew not to overreact to the seemingly bad-nor to overly rejoice at the seemingly good.  Yet he displayed a kind of patience with the events of his life-and also a kind of faith that things would work out-that I'm sure many of us wish we possessed in greater measure.  Many times we long for a better view, a more complete view, of the events of our lives.  Many times we wish we could have patience through our trials-and be filled with peaceful faith, rather than fretful concern.  And as someone said, commenting on this story, "When our hearts are in the right place, all events and circumstances are gifts that we can learn valuable lessons from."        Yet where the farmer was content to accept the good and the bad and to recognize that setbacks can sometimes be gifts in disguise, all his friends and neighbors were quick to judge.  When anything happened, the whole community was watching.  And commenting.  They were always quick to offer their opinions.  And this is where we live.  There are times we feel that the whole world is watching-celebrating our joys, for sure, but also noting our misfortunes, and even ready to point out any slip-ups or shortcomings, and ready to offer advice and correction.  The truth is that most people are more forgiving and understanding than we imagine.  More people than we realize would prove to be accepting-or you could say they would love us anyway, or would love us no matter what.  But we, ourselves, often fear the judgment of the crowds.  We, ourselves, concern ourselves with what others might think.  In other words, I wonder if sometimes the judgments of others may be more in our own minds than in reality.        I found a little poem that I want to share with you today, too.  It talks about some of the thoughts and emotions that we experience-both positive and negative-as if they are unexpected visitors.  The poem goes like this: This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain all! Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whomever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. --Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Persian Poet [see www.inspirationpeak.com]        Now that is a beautiful poem filled with wonderful images and ideas.  I really like the part that says that whatever shows up at your door-no matter what assemblage of positive or negative thoughts you find knocking-"meet them at the door laughing and invite them in."  Indeed this is the path to transformation.  See what you can learn from them.  Greet them with laughter.  But standing outside our door, knocking, we might find sometimes some very unwelcome guests-shame, judgment, condemnation (whether self condemnation, or the perceived condemnation of others).        Rightly or wrongly, our lives are sometimes guided and sometimes misguided by our perceptions of what others might think.  Even while putting together this message and considering a story of a Chinese farmer whose religion is unknown to me, and a poem by Rumi, a Persian poet-it crossed my mind: "I wonder what people will think about this?-a poem by Rumi read in a Christian meeting for worship?"        We often live our lives under that umbrella of "what will people think?"  And sometimes it can be disconcerting.  We might worry about whether we'll be judged acceptable or whether we'll fit in.  We might worry about judgment or criticism.        Our text today from Romans says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  Can you imagine that?  No condemnation.  I think we live with enough self-condemnation and enough concern about the negative ways other people might think about us that the experience of no condemnation is totally unfamiliar to us.  It's like we live under an umbrella of "what will people think?"  And to step out from under that umbrella into the light of no condemnation in Christ-it's hard to fathom.  The umbrella experience we know.  Living with no condemnation is unfamiliar to us.         And trying to get our minds around this grace that God extends to us is not so easy.  It's hard to comprehend.  It doesn't make sense.  We know we cannot earn God's grace-and we know we don't deserve it.  There has to be a catch.  God's graciousness seems too great.  And it even seems too freely given-so we decide there must be something out there to balance this incredible generosity.  No, we cannot earn God's grace-BUT…  But-we still have to, you know, live up to our end, or change somehow, or follow a list of…rules.  But you see, in our attempts to explain God's grace-the way we try to balance God's generosity or to add qualifications to it puts us back in the same place we started: trying to earn it.  And no matter how long of a list of rules you can manage to keep, you know that you can't keep them all.  And no matter how perfect you think you might be, you know that compared to God's perfection you fall a little short.  That's why this very passage in Romans says in verse three: "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do."  Keeping all the rules is impossible.  We're not able to do it through our own strength-or through the flesh as this passage puts it.  And achieving anything that resembles perfection is impossible in our own strength, too.  God knows we're basically hopeless cases-but he loves us anyway.  And he sent his Son to do away with the whole system of law keeping or walking according to the flesh and replaced it with walking according to the Spirit.         Yes, transformation is important-and needed.  But it comes, according to this passage, not by will power but by living by the Spirit.  So in essence, rather than balancing God's great generosity-this incredible statement that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus-with the thought that well, we still have to try to keep all the rules-Romans 8 balances God's grace with living by the Spirit.  And living by the Spirit is a different path to transformation than rule-keeping.  It's a different way of getting there.  And I would say that we still often confuse the two-living in the Spirit vs. rule-keeping.  And I would add that living in the Spirit or truly understanding the freedom of living in the Spirit is yet another unfamiliar experience for us.         Certainly, as the two stories I shared earlier point out: God is at work in everything we encounter.  Even the negative things we experience may have a role to play as we become the people God wants us to be.        But as we explore the depths of this passage-may all of us become more familiar with these unfamiliar things: no condemnation for those who are in Christ, and living by the Spirit.  Let's step into the light of God's amazing grace, and let's discover more deeply what it means to live by the Spirit.