14th Sunday after Trinity—September 1, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Paola, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: Galatians 5:16–24
“Walk by the Spirit”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
There is a word that grates on me whenever I hear it in politics or religion, and that is “progressive.” I don’t mind the car insurance company, I suppose, because I’ve always been content with Geico. But the word progressive has no meaning in itself. It’s a word of measurement: are you progressing towards a particular goal or not? If my girls learn that they have grown another inch, then that is good: they are progressing towards maturity. If I have gained another five pounds, then that may not be progressive if my goal is weight loss. Then again, if I am working out, those five pounds may be muscle rather than fat. So the word “progressive” always refers to a goal and how you are progressing to that goal.
What if you have a bad goal?. Would it be “progressive” to keep going on that path to the goal? You could make the argument “yes,” I suppose. You are progressing somewhere. But most of us would say no! Turn around! Go the other way! It’s not good to progress towards something dangerous or evil.
It’s like if you’re in a car and you take a wrong turn somewhere. I’ve done this before. I was heading to Topeka, and when I got on I-35 by Ottawa, I forgot that I needed to take the very next exit to head north to Lawrence. I realized my mistake when I was getting signs for Wellsville and Gardner. What I needed to do is what I did: turned around at an exit and headed back. I was a bit late for my meeting, but every minute I stayed on I-35 would make me doubly late.
The same is true in our personal lives. The Bible always talks about our Christian life as a way or a path. Of course, we call Jesus “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). But “the Way” became one of the first names for Christianity, as you can see multiple places in Acts (9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22). This is because our faith is not only a religion of the mind. It’s a faith that must also be lived out, in trust in God and works for our neighbor.
Proverbs speaks in these terms. In our Old Testament reading, we have contrasting paths. There is the way of God: “I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness” (Prov 4:11). There is the path of evil: “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil” (4:14). The whole book of Proverbs is about this topic: living and believing as God would have you walk versus following that which is evil.
Proverbs is not the only book that touches on this topic. Jesus gives us instruction for life, as does our Epistle lesson for today. Paul says this: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (5:16). He then goes on to talk about how the “desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh” (17). There is a war going on in your heart. You have a flesh that is corrupted by original sin that wants to lead you away from God. You have part of you that wants to lead you astray to the path of the wicked.
Paul gives a long “vice list.” The first three deal with sexual sins: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality. The next two deal with sins against God: “idolatry and sorcery.” The next eight are social or relational sins: “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy.” The last two are sins of excess: “drunkenness and orgies.” Then he wraps it all up with this phrase: “and things like these.” These vices are not merely character flaws, as Aristotle and the ancient philosophers understood vice. Vices betray unbelief in our hearts. God knows this very well, so he warns us against them. These vices do not just affect our earthly well-being, but they can affect our spiritual eternity as well: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (21). Devoting your life to this way, to these vices, does lead outside of the faith.
And, if a Christian find himself caught up in any of these, here is what Paul says in Galatians 6, which follows this reading: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:1–3).. These vices are not the end of the story. They are not what God has meant for you. He wants each of us to struggle with our vices knowing that he has claimed us as his own, and he desires a better future with us.
God knows that vices come from unbelief. He also knows that virtues come from faith. You must have the Holy Spirit in your heart before you can do what God wants you to do. It is not a matter of mere willpower that will overcome these temptations. God wants you—all of you—and He wants to work his grace in you. God gives you his righteousness to promise you forgiveness and grace. It is not earned by practicing virtue or becoming a better person first.
And then, as you believe in God and live in the Holy Spirit, he gives you gifts. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (22–23). Perhaps as you struggle against vice, you can practice virtue. Any one of these works against the vices, against sin. These virtues speak to faith, personal relations, and self-control.
These virtues will help you progress to the goal that God has set for you, which is eternal life with him. Yes, they will help along the way with your earthly life. They will help you when you fail and regress. But through repentance and faith, God does his work of sanctification in your life, progressing you little by little to the man or woman he wants you to be.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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