Title: God Has Your Number
Text: Romans 8:12-17
Thesis: The Holy Spirit knows who we are, how we are and how to help us.
Introduction
Not so long ago in Ireland, if you sent a letter to Patrick Murphy at the village of Ballybucklebo in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland… your letter would arrive at the post office. The postmaster knew everyone in Ballybucklebo, but there was a problem in that there might be 3 Patrick Murphys living in the village. So he would deliver the letter to the oldest Patrick Murphy who would read the letter and realizing it was not to him would return it to the postman who would redeliver it to the second oldest Patrick Murphy who would read the letter and decide it was not to him and return it to the postman who would then “reredeliver” the letter to the only other Patrick Murphy living in the village. Quite the system.
Today in Ireland every home is assigned a specific number so every Patrick Murphy has his very own house number so every Patrick Murphy gets his very own mail. What a great idea. We should try it.
It is reminiscent of the telephone line we had when we lived on our farm in Madison County Iowa. It was a party line which meant all of our neighbors shared the same line. So if anyone received a call all of the neighbors could listen in if they wanted. Every family had a specific ring so while everyone heard the ring, that ring was specific to one household. In that everyone knew everyone’s ring everyone knew who was being rung.
For example one ring might be 3 shorts and 1 long…. Ring. Ring. Ring. Riiiiiiiing. Another might have 1 short and 2 longs. You get the idea. Eventually the phone company installed a private line system which meant everyone had their very own phone number where they could be reached.
All this folksy stuff about having one’s very own private line phone number and having one’s very own house number is to say, “God has your number.” That is, God knows who you are and where you are and you are not to be confused with another neighbor on your party line or another Patrick Murphy living in your village.
This morning I am saying God’s Holy Spirit is actively engaged with each of us right where we are.
Where we are is not necessarily an address… where we are may be a state of mind. Many people live in a state of emotional insecurity or even spiritual insecurity.
I. The Holy Spirit give us assurance that we are children of God, Romans 8:15-17
God’s Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 8:16 (I John 5:11-13)
God wants his children to be secure in their relationship with him. I John 5:11-13 reminds us that God has given us eternal life and that his life is in his Son… the person who has the Son has life and the person who does not have the Son does not have life. And then the text specifically states, “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.” I John 5:11-13
There may be a good reason for feeling spiritually insecure. As we look more closely at this portion of our Romans text we immediately feel a tension. Verses 12-14 speak to life before Jesus or our pre-Jesus situation. Verses 15-17 speak to our life after Jesus or our Post-Jesus situation.
My first thought is that the Holy Spirit speaks to our insecurity by helping us understand our Pre-Jesus Situation and our Post-Jesus Situation
Many of us are insecure about our appearance. Joan Rivers was known for her love affair with cosmetic procedures… she said she didn’t care what people thought about the preposterous 739 procedures she was alleged to have had done.
The most popular procedures addressing our insecurities with our appearance are: Liposuction. Rhinoplasty. Breast augmentation. Eyelid. Tummy tucks. Face lift. Dermabrasion. Lips. Chin… and so on.
I recently watched a television program called “Botched.” It is about people who have had botched plastic surgeries who go to some Hollywood surgeons to get things fixed. Viewers can watch the initial interviews and witness the procedures and then see the outcome. It’s a classic before and after scenario.
It our text today we need to see ourselves as initially botched by our old life.
Before Jesus we had a lived with a certain situation… we call it the old life.
A. Our Old Pre-Jesus Life, 8:12-14
You have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates you will die. 8:12
A week ago we got a peek into the workings of the criminal element of biker gangs. From my reading I gather there are bikers that consider themselves 1%ers… they are the violent extreme in biker clubs. The other 99% of bikers are law-abiding citizens. The Bandidos and Hell’s Angels are among the 1%ers.
Last Sunday in Waco, Texas we saw the underbelly of biker culture in action. 9 people were killed and 18 wounded in a shootout between the Bandidos, Cossacks and law enforcement. Jay Dobyns, a former undercover agent in the biker gang culture said, "They prey on the Americana of it… And it's sexy and it's glamorous. The reality of it is that it's a very dangerous world, inhabited by violent men. And the reality of it is that it's very unsexy and it's very unglamorous."
Like the Mafia, motorcycle gangs aren't interested in big public display but the cornerstone of that culture is a willingness to kill - and die - for your club. And that's what you saw in Waco.
My limited understanding of what it means to be in a hardcore biker gang is that once a member… always a member. The same is said of prison gangs. There is no escaping the life short of death.
That is one way we may look at our Pre-Jesus Lives.
1. Before Jesus we lived by the dictates of our sinful nature.
Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Romans 8:6
When you are locked into a lifestyle, culture or habitual pattern you live according to the dictates of that lifestyle, culture or pattern. And while we may feel some sense of security and belonging there is no sense of security with God. Being under the control of one’s sinful nature leads to death or eternal separation from God.
That separation also is evidence that we do not belong to God.
2. Before Jesus we did not belong to God
But you are not controlled by you sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit of God living in you. Remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all… Romans 8:9
A second aspect of our Pre-Jesus lives is that we are not children of God in the spiritual sense.
Consequently our way of life and our lack of relationship to God does not make for spiritual security.
So on one hand we have the tension of our Old Pre-Jesus Life in tension with our New Post-Jesus Life.
B. Our New Post-Jesus Life, 8:15-17
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 8:14
The first change in our New Post-Jesus Life is that our relationship to God changes. The botched “before” is gone and we have a new “after” picture.
The first change is the fear factor in our relationship with God.
1. After Jesus we are no longer fearful slaves (to our sinful nature)
You have not received a Spirit that makes you fearful slaves… Romans 8:15a
One of the huge differences between our pre-Jesus lives and our post-Jesus lives is the difference between fear and freedom. As slave to our sinful nature our perception of God is judge. But as adopted children we have the freedom of being children of God.
It seems there is something of a fascination for climbing over the wall at the White House or landing a drone on the White House Lawn or actually breaching security and gaining entrance to the White House. Those who have tried of late are finding out that they would have been wise to have considered the fearful consequences of their actions…
There are many stories about first families and the children who have lived in the White House. It was actually quite a family place back in the day when the Roosevelt’s had 7 children and a menagerie of pets. Amy Carter had a tree house in the back yard and a pony named Macaroni that roamed the White House gardens. The most memorable are Caroline and John Jr. Kennedy. When Caroline began the 1st grace Jackie Kennedy made a classroom on the 3rd floor where Caroline and 10 of her friends went to school. The fact that JFK enjoyed having his children play in the Oval Office is well-known. There was even a secret door under the President’s desk where John Jr. could hide.
This little bit of history serves simply to remind us that there is a vast difference between the freedom and privilege and access of the President’s children and those who are not.
As God’s children we can freely play in the Oval Office, so to speak.
The second defining aspect of our New Post- Jesus Life is that we are adopted.
2. After Jesus we are adopted children of God
Instead, you have received God Spirit when he adopted us as his own children. Now we call him, “Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm we are God’s children. Romans 8:15b-16
Our son picked up a really cool tree-house, swing-set, slide and whatever from Costco. It was really quite elaborate but he managed to put it together by himself and sent us pictures of the boys playing on it.
Later when we visited, we got to see the action first-hand. They live in a neighborhood where the children have the run of the back yards on their block so all the kids play on all the backyard stuff. It was fun to see our grandsons and the neighborhood kids playing. Great fun and everyone was welcome to come and play.
That evening I had a blast reading 5 Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed… one fell off and bumped his head. Mamma called the doctor and the doctor said, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed.” And I sat at the dining room table with a stack of white paper and a laptop on a website with instructions for making paper airplanes. It seems the simple model I used to send soaring in my high school study hall is now boring, so Grandpa had to learn to make some freakishly complicated paper airplanes.
I had fun being a climbing mountain for my grandsons to clamber all over. I had fun reading 5 Little Monkeys and I had fun making paper airplanes for my grandsons… but I was not the least interested in making paper airplanes for forty neighborhood kids. The lads were my grandsons and the only other person on the planet who can make that claim is other grandpa, Grandpa Greg. They are our grandchildren and they enjoy a special privilege and place in our lives. They are ours and we are theirs and the lads know it!
In reading John Stott’s commentary on Romans I was reminded of the significance of the term “abba, Father.” The term used is a homey family word. It is the way a small child speaks to his or her father. I do not mean to trivialize but in our vernacular it means “daddy.” The intent is that we speak to God with childlike confidence that we are loved and will be heard.
John Stott also cited Martyn Lloyd-Jones who suggests that when we come to Christ and become children of God, we experience this new relationship emotionally as well as intellectually. So while we preach “facts, faith and feelings” in this case God intends for us to have a profound feeling of security in our Father’s love… God wants us to be absolutely assured of our relationship with God as his children.
Conclusion
Tullian Tchividjian (cha vi jn), pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida tells this story: At least twice in the past year, I've been late for a meeting or an appointment and haven't been able to find my car keys. Certain that either my wife or one of my children had misplaced them, I've frantically run from room to room assigning blame. "Who was playing with my keys? I put them right here on the counter and now they're gone. They didn't just vanish into thin air! Who picked them up? Where are they? I'm late." And right when I'm about ready to order mass executions, I walk into my bedroom one last time to look (huffing and puffing, moaning and groaning), put my hand in my pocket, and find my keys. They'd been there the whole time. (Tullian Tchividjian, "God's Word in Two Words," Christianity Today, 8-29-13)
The point I wish to make is this: The truth is we do not have to live this way, frantically and frustratingly searching for something we already have. The gospel is God's good news announcement that everything we need we already possess in Christ. Because of Jesus' finished work we are children of God. In Christ we already have all of the justification, approval, significance, love and security we need. We are secure with God.
Among the many things the Holy Spirit does, today we are reminded that: God’s Spirit assures us of who we are by removing our fear and the insecurity of not-belonging, replacing that with the freedom and the security of belonging… of being children of God.
