The Decimation of Death -Romans 5:12-21.

Every world view, whether it is materialistic or metaphysical needs necessarily to deal with the question of death. In fact these worldviews arise because of death. Socrates considered the father of Philosophy defines philosophy thus; ‘is not Philosophy the study of death’. Death is the great negation, the monstrosity, the great power against whom we stand in our impotence. Not so for the apostle. From his letter to the Romans explodes a message that rings the death knell for death. The passage read to us today is a much discussed one. Great themes are compressed and are handled with ingenuity. ‘Original Sin’, ‘Adam-Christ Typology’, ‘Grace’, ‘Anthropos’, responsibility, jostle with constructions like ‘pollon mallon’, ‘ef ho’ etc. The passage is so ‘top heavy’ that when we come to the end we are drained out, and that is where my interest today lies. For here lies a theme that erupts with such certainty and universality that it demands to be accepted, rejoiced over, lived and proclaimed. The theme is ‘The decimation of Death.
The Empire Falls
The passage begins with the statement ‘through one man sin entered and death through sin, and it goes on to say, that death spread and ruled. Then through the comparison and contrast between sin and grace, between Adam and Christ, it is shown how mush greater the Grace of God through Jesus Chris is. Though it looks like the interest is in the origin and transmission of sin, on deeper study it becomes clear that the issue that is being discussed is not really the etiology of sin but the destiny of those under the rule of sin and death. This becomes clearer when the meaning of Sin is elucidated.
Four words occur in the passage in relation to Sin namely hamartia, paraptoma, parabasia and parakoes. Hamartia is ‘missing the mark’. What is this mark? The Jewish understanding of Sin is that of transgressing the Law. Paul questions the completeness of this understanding in v 13 and 14. He raises the issue of why people died before the Law was given, and notes that people died even if they did not transgress in the same way as Adam? Then sin must be an issue bigger than individual transgressions.
Let us look at the other words that Paul uses. Paraptoma means ‘a falling beside’ and is used in the sense of a ‘deviation. Parabasis means “crossing over besides’ and parakoe means ‘hearing beside’, ‘hearing amiss’, disobedience. All these have in common ‘a beside’ state’, a ‘Para state’. They denote that it is an abnormality. If missing the target is the picture, then the arrow is not one which we released, it is we who are the arrow. Now sin gets an added dimension of ‘being in an abnormal locus’.
In Romans 5:1-11, Paul declares the results of Justification. To be set free from sin then should mean that we, who were missing targets, must now hit the ‘Bull’s Eye’ each time. But that is not how the immediate results of salvation are described. They are described as Irene, peace (from eiro- to join), as Katallagen, meaning ‘reconciliation’, ‘harmony’, ‘exchange’ etc. If the meaning of salvation is a ‘joined’ state with God, then Sin is a ‘separated’ state from God. The dimension is not in individual terms but one that is for the entire humanity. Therefore Sin is redefined as the state in which entire humanity is in a state of separation from God.. Since God is Life, this would mean Sin is a state where death rules. We have not missed some target at a distance, WE HAVE MISSED GOD! Death is the result. Paul does not differentiate this death into spiritual death, physical death etc. Death means all that death is, as the absence of life. It includes our relentless progression towards death, the process of dying and decaying and the state which characterizes all of these.
The good news is that this ruler has been annihilated by another super-ruler ‘Grace’. If death is ruler then Grace is a ruler too. If the rule of Sin and death increased, then the Grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ ‘super increased, overflowed and dethroned death, Now grace rules in eternal life. We have been used to thinking of Grace as a softie. But grace is the violence of God against an upstart which has claimed God’s beloved. God acts in the fury of Grace to reconcile what is God’s, to God’s self. Hallelujah! The rule of death has ended. Since Paul knows this, he in a very interesting manner has used the Aorist tense all through the passage to describe the rule of death, ebasileusen. In the light of what has happened Paul will not recognize death as ruling any more. It is finished. He discusses the rule of death in retrospect, as a thing of the past. Death’s rule has been decimated.
The Site of the victory
The scope of this victory is universal. The dimension is cosmic. But is this something in the abstract? Where exactly is this victory to be realized? The answer, though occurring later in the letter is stunning. The site of this victory is the BODY. If the spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his spirit living in you. This is amazing! This is climax! This is not the dualism of Plato. Neither is it, the admirable but inadequate way of the Stoics. This is Good News! The translation of the victory of God’s Grace in Christ takes place exactly in the transformation of the perishable body into imperishability. Whatever the process that will kill this body; infection, malignancy, genetic or degenerative disease, sword or plague, famine or flood, the baby with anencephaly or the aborted fetus, God will raise up this BODY. I am speaking from the perspective of the dying in all these examples. The ‘Grace Ruled State’ means that our bodies will be transformed from their nature to perish. Glory be to God.
Such a wonderful situation demands a response. We need to have e good look at our bodies. There needs to be a change in our consciousness. We need to like our bodies. The reason is that THE LORD LIKES OUR BODY. Why ever would he resurrect the body and transform it? God does it because God wants it. God is the SAVIOUR OF THE BODY! None of us need to feel inferior about anything in our bodies in comparison with others. The Lord likes my body. I’d better like it too.
To affirm that God likes our Body means that God likes every body. He does not advice a withdrawal into metaphysical speculation. Instead, contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality (Rom 13:13), if your enemies are hungry feed them, if they are hungry give them something to drink (Rom 12:20). Everything we do, including thinking and praying is done in the body. This means that we involve ourselves in the care of each others’ bodies. This theme could be expanded greatly but I need to move on.
Drawing out the conquest of death even further, the whole creation will be released from its bondage to decay. God likes the dust that he created and all that is on it. Why else would God redeem it? We better begin to like the earth too. We shall begin to look at creation with awe. We shall reclaim the wonder of nature. We shall get involved where it is distorted. God likes the world.
Again in the interfaith, and intercultural meets, what a treasure we would bring to share. The context is universal, the hope is electrifying. Even if some think it is a fantasy, even to them we’d have shared hope, if not anything else. We will proclaim the evangel with freedom and gay abandon. It will not be a stressed out affair. Christ is Kurios, just as set over against Caesar; here he is set over against a greater enemy, under whom we all suffer and he has overcome it. Will not hearts be warmed? Has not this land of ours has hungered for such certainty for thousands of years?
And in all these situations, the oppressed in every way are priority because the body suffers most here. Where such a things are happening, we should be there naturally.
Having said these, I am convinced that there is a more Primal response to this good news. It is a response that is a natural one to good news of such magnitude. It is a response that should flavor each one of the above mentioned responses. What is this response? Even as Paul dictates his letter, he erupts; O the depths of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God …..To him be Glory forever. Again in another letter he bursts forth; Where, O death is your sting? Where, O death is your victory? This is the spontaneous opening of the floodgates of joy. This is the primal response to the good news; JOY. We must reclaim Joy. It is our inheritance. We must be characterized as a happy people. Whatever we do in terms of liturgy, prayer, piety, evangelism, social action or any other thing, if it does not arise from joy, then we have missed the mark. The primal response then to the decimation of death, is JOY.
Brothers and sisters, I will conclude. Death has been destroyed. The site of this victory is realized in our bodies, which will be raised up, transformed from their bondage to perish. We offer ourselves in the joyous caring for each others’ body as we await his coming. Therefore,
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say Rejoice
[Meditation by Dr. Samuel Sidhart Swamidoss ( ssswamidoss@yahoo.co.in ), Final Year B.D Student, in Gurukul Chapel ]

Risk our life for Christ - Philippians 2:25-30

Before coming to Gurukul, during my probationary period I worked  in the Kalvarayan hills. This is the place where Ms.Helga Johanson, a missionary from Denmark worked. During her early days of missionary work she used to walk upon the hills to meet people. One fine evening when she was walking upon the hills she met a person with leprosy. She asked him “ Why there are rashes all over your body?”. The person answered “ It’s Not only me but there are many in the villages who are affected like this”.  She immediately started to work among them,  cleaning their wounds, applying medicine with bare hands, by doing this she took risk of her life. She lived one among them and many were getting cured.  She built a hospital to cure people affected with leprosy where still patients are treated for this disease. She lived for those people who were affected with leprosy and laid her life for them.

The text which we heard tells about Paul writing to the Philippians  about Epaphroditus and his service rendered to Paul. The Philippians on hearing that Paul was in person decided to send him a gift through Epaphroditus. They were not able to go and meet Paul as it was the distance which prevented them.    They not only sent Epaphroditus as a bearer of the gift but also to be Paul’s personal servant and attendant. Really Epaphroditus was brave man who took risk of his life. Being a personal attendant of A MAN   who is awaiting trial  on a capital charge is laying himself open to the very considerable risk of becoming involved in the same charge. In truth, Epaphroditus did risk his life to serve Paul.

In Rome Epaphroditus fell ill. He was so ill that he was near to death, but God in His mercy spared the life of Epaphroditus.  Paul says that for the sake of Christ Epaphroditus gambled with his life. He recklessly risked his life for the sake of Christ. In the days of the early church there was an association of men and women who were known as gamblers. It was their aim and object to visit prisoners and the sick, especially those who were ill with dangerous and infectious diseases. In the middle of 3^rd century a plague broke out in Cartage; the heathen threw out the bodies of their dead, and fled in terror. Cyprian. The  Bishop, gathered his congregation together and set them to bury the dead and nurse the sick in that plague-stricken city; and by doing so they same the city, at the risk of their lives, from destruction and desolation.

A Christian minister must have the courage to gamble his/her life to serve Christ and to serve people who  are in need. The church needs the gamblers of Christ. All of us must have to take some risks in order to achieve any change in the Church or in the world.  The people who are in need must be get benefitted by the risk which we take.  We risk making  mistakes and being misunderstood. “ If you don’t take risks, you’ll never take anything”, said a soldier. ‘Taking risk in the service of Christ’ is one way of describing ‘ FAITH IN CHRIST’. Let us ask God to give the courage to risk our life for Christ and to  be a witness for his ministry.  Amen.     

[ This meditation is led by Anandraj Paul Jacob, Final Year BD student ,on  September 16,  2010.]