Romans 8: 15-17: Inheritance...How will your life change?

            I am going to ask you a familiar question. I am sure that it is a question that you have pondered off and on for months, years…but not every day. This question may come to you when you hear a reference to it. When we see the commercials for how much the powerball or Lottery (which ever one) is for the week. You now know the question: “what would you do if you one the lottery?” Now, when you hear this question, I bet your mind races with how you would spend it. I know mine does. Every now and my wife play that question as if it were a game and we would begin the long list of things that we would do and who we would take care of. Sometimes it is fun even though it does not get us anywhere.

            Now, Let me ask the question in a very different way. What would you do if a relative…a long lost relative left you this massive amount of an inheritance? Would we wonder who that relative is? Would we search our brains and begin to ask our relatives who this long lost relative is and how did you become the heir of what they had left to you. Would you rack your brain trying to figure all that out, first…Then begin to think how to spend it?

            I want you to think, not in terms of money and possessions. Think about this scenario in terms of your life. How would this affect your life? Would you change the way you live? You might have to because when people find out about this inheritance, you might have relatives coming out of the woodwork wanting a piece of your inheritance. Would you have to change where you live? You might have to. What about how you act, how you treat others, and the list can go on and on.

            The point is that your whole life changes. Everything that you once did before, you might continue to do or you might have to change some things. We hear the stories of the Lottery winners whose lives have changed, whether they wanted them to or not: they did change.

            In our second Reading of Romans, Paul makes us aware that our lives are about to change. In fact, in verses 15-17A Paul plainly states why our lives will forever be changed. “¹⁵For 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!’ ¹⁶it is that very Spirit bearing witness^* with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and 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.”

            Did you hear that one particular part that Paul points out to the Romans and to us? He tells us that if we are children of God that we are heirs of “God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” Not only heirs of God but joint heirs! I think Paul just told us that we have one the ultimate lottery. What do we know about being an heir of God? What is God’s ultimate fortune? Is it eternal life, a place where everyone can know that they are safe and loved, is it knowing that no matter how broken we can get that God is still with us in three (Trinitarian) expressions (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit so that we know we are not alone?

            The answer to all these is yes! BY Paul telling us that we are inheritors of God means all that God has created, we inherit from God. God created the heavens and the earth, this beautiful land outside our door, around this state and around the world. You know these places. They are the places that when you really look at it, you think “Thanks God for creating this thing of beauty!” When you see creatures I their natural habitats, whether it be through documentaries or tours that you take, you are in awe of how God created them.

            Again, Paul tells us that we are inheritors of all this. SO what do we do with that information? I don’t think Paul is telling us so that we can figure out how to spend it all or use it up. I believe that Paul is telling us this because he is hoping that we recognize how our lives are changed by this information. Being an inheritor means that there is a level of responsibility. It is the responsibility to take care of what we have inherited. Paul’s words remind us that God is the one who created all of this, seen and unseen.

            Paul tells us that this inheritance is life-changing. Knowing that God has given us the greatest gift, changes how we live, how we act towards creation and towards one another. I hope that it changes how we look at one another. The Vice President of our Synod Council, Yolanda Tanner, is a circuit court judge in Baltimore City. This past week she shared with 500 people the struggles that she goes through in making decisions; decisions about people’s lives. She shared with all of us how she struggles to see the Good, the bad, Justice in the system, as well as what may be the righteous thing to do.

            This is what it means to be a child of God…an inheritor of God! Inheriting from God means sharing the grace that God shows with others, it means thinking before we speak, whether it be because it is what we want or what is best. It means our lives change in not being too quick to judge other people by their actions; sitting with people in a difficult situation trying to understand them instead of just wanting things our way. It means walking a little taller knowing that God is here, in and among us, in us and working through us to help each other in good times and bad times.

            Being an inheritor also means being bold enough to stand up for the Gospel of God. It means boldly proclaiming that Jesus Christ, God’s only Son went to the cross for you and for me SO THAT we would be children of God and inheritors. It means using what Jesus taught us about God; the healing, mercy, and the love that God showed with and for us…and sharing that with one another.

            See that’s the rub in all this. Being an inheritor of God means that we have responsibilities and it is not always easy; but it is also NOT impossible. Because of the three expressions of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) we are free from the bondage of sin and God invites us to live our lives differently; in a way that is pleasing to God because of ALL that God has given and we have inherited. And so, we come back to the question: Now that you know you are a child of God…an inheritor of God’s, how will your life change: AMEN!