What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

–Romans 7.24, 8.1-11 (NIV)

All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

–John 6.27-39 (NIV)

In chapter 7 of Romans, Paul has been describing the deleterious effect our fallen nature has on us, even on those who profess to be Christian. We must constantly battle it lest it reassert control over us. Paul concludes by crying out, “What a wretched man I am!” This is from Paul, of all people, the one whom our Risen Lord directly confronted on the road to Damascus! What can that possibly mean for folks like you and me?

Paul tells us in Chapter 8, and what he tells us is good news. Yes, we are fallen individuals. Yes, we must constantly wage war against our fallen nature. But as Paul reminds us today, we don’t wage war by ourselves. We have the help of God’s Holy Spirit in us, helping us overcome our body of sin and reminding us of God’s glorious promise to us in Jesus.

This, of course, is why we engage in our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, self-examination and denial, and reading Scripture–to make room for God’s Holy Spirit to live in us so that he can help us overcome all that is within us that keeps us separated from God. What this means in practical terms is this. While we may experience setbacks and detours along the way, our relationship with God will be restored because we have his very help in doing just that. It won’t make our work any easier because we are naturally self-centered. But we are assured final victory because we have made room for God’s Spirit to live in us and help us overcome our weaknesses and infirmities.

And as Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel lesson, we engage in our Lenten disciplines willingly and with a glad heart for all that God has done and is doing for us. Sure, we lament our sins and our brokenness, but we engage in our Lenten disciplines with glad and thankful hearts because we know it is for our own good. The more room we make for the Holy Spirit to live within us, the more he will be able to help us overcome our brokenness and heal us. There will be days when we don’t feel like we have the Holy Spirit living in us but that doesn’t change the fact that he does! When we have the Spirit living in us, we have God’s assurance that we are Christ’s. And when we are Christ’s there is now no condemnation for us. By his wounds we have been healed (Isaiah 53.5). Thanks be to God!

So what will this look like in our daily lives? When we are Christ’s and have his Spirit living in us, it changes our whole outlook on life as well as our behavior. We cannot have Christ in us and remain the same. When we have the Spirit living in us and healing us, our orientation moves from an inward to an outward focus. We become more acutely aware of the needs and hurts of others and we are given power to minister to them. The Good News that by faith we believe is something we want to share with others. After all, who doesn’t want to share good news with other people so why wouldn’t we want to share the best news of all?

Moreover, when we allow the Spirit to control us, we become more willing and able to extend mercy instead of wanting to enact revenge. We seek reconciliation instead of enmity. We revel in forgiveness rather than ongoing hostility. We are open to Christ’s influence so that he can use us as he calls each of us to serve him by serving others. This will look somewhat differently for each person and your mileage may vary. But whatever it is Christ calls you to do, you can be confident that he is using you as an agent of his Kingdom. He is calling you to deny yourself, take up your cross each day, and follow him to bring God’s healing and reconciliation to his broken and hurting world and people.

This will require you to suffer at times for the sake of his name. It means that you will face opposition and sometimes active persecution. But you will see this as a badge of honor, not disgrace. It won’t feel good on one level but knowing that you are being faithful to your suffering Messiah will more than mitigate any bad feelings you might have over facing opposition and persecution for Jesus’ sake.

Yet none of this is possible if we don’t first make room for the Spirit to live in us and exert his wonderful influence on us so that we can conquer or selfishness, fear, petty agendas, and self-reliance. None of this is possible if we remain separate from and hostile toward God. But when we say yes to God and make room for him to live in us, the sky’s the limit on what he will enable us to accomplish for him. Our Kingdom work may never make us rich or famous but we will have great capital in God’s economy. We have life in us right here and now. We find meaning and purpose in living. We find ourselves, our truly human self, by losing it to the Spirit’s influence in us. And of course we have the promise and hope of a glorious and eternal future, the hope of New Creation, a New Creation that God is using us right now to help implement.

This is why we pursue our Lenten disciplines. It is not because we are masochists or some kind of dreary individuals. We pursue our Lenten disciplines so that we can say yes to God’s glorious invitation to us to enjoy abundant life starting right here and now, a life that will stretch throughout all eternity. It is life that not even the death of our mortal bodies can destroy. If you have not done so already, what are you waiting for? Say yes to God’s wondrous and mind-blowing invitation to you in Jesus.