Jerry and I celebrated our thirty-third anniversary on March 15. Well, some might question the word "celebrated", and she might have even questioned it a bit. On that very day, Thursday, March 15th, I was in a meeting of the Regional Secretaries of the World Methodist Council.

But we celebrated, though I'll not tell you how! One thing I did was reread an anniversary gift of years back -- a book by Lois Wyse entitled Love Poems for the Very Married. If we were very married then -- we are very, very married now.

Like the football coach who had lost his fourth game in a row, and he returned home in deep depression. He refused to eat dinner, and stared vacantly at the living room wall. His wife tried to console him, "You still have me, Darling", she said."Maybe so," he brooded, "but there was a time this afternoon when I would have traded you for a first down."

All sorts of things happen to the very married. But I want to make it public now. I wouldn't trade Jerry for anything, though there may have been times when an offer of a good sermon would have been tempting.

Back to Lois Wyse and Love Poems for the Very Married. Listen to this one:You never madeA lamp base out of a crackerjack box,An extra room out of an unused closet.Or a garden out of a pile of clay...All you ever made wasA woman out of me.

Husbands, wouldn't we all like for our wives to be able to say that to us. "You did what was most important. You fed my hunger for meaning. You accepted my uniqueness. You didn't try to change me. You loved me, and I became who I was meant to be."

Wow!

It's not a long way from that to our scripture lesson. In the first five chapters of Romans, Paul has given us his reasoned doctrine of justification by grace through faith. We have absolutely nothing for which to boast, and we can do nothing to receive the favor of God. We talked about this in a sermon early in this series. We can only receive through faith what God has given us. God's righteousness is given us in the death and resurrection of Christ. Everything is grace.

So, Paul begins the sixth chapter of Romans with the question: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?"

Then he answers adamantly in verse 2: "By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it."

Then comes that amazing affirmation and that challenging call. The affirmation, verse 3, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" Then, the call in verse 4: "We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we, too, might walk in newness of life."

"Walk in newness of life." Because of what Christ has done for us, we are new persons. Now, he says, walk as though you are new persons. Walk in newness of life.

I.

What does that mean? -- to walk in newness of life? To answer that, let's look at another question: How Christian are we Christians? How Christian are you?

A few years ago, the Christian scholar, Wilfred Cantwell Smith, wrote a book, Questions of Religious Truth. He concludes that book with a chapter bearing the title, "Christian -- Noun or Adjective."

Dr. Smith says that if he is asked if he is a Christian, he readily answers, "Yes!" But, if someone asks him if he is Christian, using the adjective, "the situation changes radically." Do you see the difference in the questions? Are you a Christian? Or, are you Christian? In one question, Christian is a noun -- in the other one, an adjective.

Do you see the point? Do we use Christian as a noun or as an adjective? If someone asked you if you were a Christian, you would say "Yes," -- but if they didn't put that little article in there (a Christian) -- if they didn't ask if you are a Christian, but rather said "Are you Christian?", using the word as an adjective, you might find that a searching question -- a disquieting one. "One that undermines your complacency." Dr. Smith said, "Indeed, to ponder it is to set all atremble. The noun is comforting, the adjective is demanding."

I know what Dr. Smith is talking about, and so do you. I am a Christian, but I know that I do not always act authentically and consistently Christian. So the noun-adjective distinction with that word makes me very uncomfortable. I hope it does you.

J. A. Davidson, who inspired this line of thought, says, "We are misled when we think of being a Christian and being Christian as matters of achievement." St. Augustine, one of the most influential thinkers in Christian history, said that "God deals with us, not as we are, but as we are becoming." Martin Luther reflected this insight when many years later he wrote, "The Christian is not in a state of being, but in one of becoming." Christian-ness, then is not a condition but a process." (J. A. Davidson, Perspectives and Prejudices, "Christian: Noun or Adjective", Pulpit-Digest, July August 1983, page 18).

So, it is a legitimate question: How Christian am I? How Christian are you?

In an earlier sermon in this series on The Christian Walk, I said it is not our choice whether we will become new persons; that's a work of grace. Our choice is to start -- to move in the direction. As Paul says, "To walk in newness of life." It is when we do that that God's grace will have a chance to make us the new persons we are -- to make us Christian Christians. Get that. Christian -- adjective -- Christians -- noun. Christian Christians.

So, with that question, "How Christian are we?" as a backdrop, let me suggest three Christian movements for us Christians to make as we walk in newness of life. One, add flavor to your kindness. Two, let goodness take life in you; and three, give compassion a chance.

Let's explore these movements.

II.

First, add flavor to your kindness.

Philippe Vermeir, a French pacifist was imprisoned for refusing to bear arms for his country. His courtesy and kindliness and simple forbearance proved a trial to his heart-bitten jailers, and when he was released his record was given this ironical endorsement: "Incorrigibly Christian."

You see it’s those things we might consider inane that are really powerful when they have flavor added to them -- courtesy, kindness, goodness, forbearance -- those things Paul labeled "fruit of the Spirit in verse 5. I can't deal with all the fruits of the Spirit -- but want to deal with two as a pattern for you to explore. So -- to walk in newness of life means at least this -- to add flavor to our kindness.

Sam Kameleson, Vice-President of World Vision International, tells of a woman from Melbourne, Australia. She was 70 years old. Now I know that's not old by today's standard.

To be old isn't a matter of years. Again, it was Dwight Koenig who sent me a piece on "how to know when you are growing older."

"Everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work.""You feel like the "morning after" and you haven't been anywhere.""You know all the answers, but nobody asks you the questions.""You look forward to a dull evening." "You turn out the lights for economic rather than romantic reasons.""Your knees buckle but your belt won't." "Your back goes out more than you do." "You sink your teeth in a steak and they stay there."

Well, this woman in Melbourne, Australia, was 70 years old. She experienced a dramatic and transforming relationship with Christ at that age. She went to her pastor and told him about her call to serve God. Now what should she do? He didn't know quite what to say, so he told her to go home and pray about it.

Well, she did what he told her to do. She prayed, and would you believe -- she came up with a plan. She bought a batch of 3 x 5 cards and wrote on them, "Are you homesick? Come to my house for tea at 4." She listed her address on the bottom of the card. Then she posted these little cards all around the University of Melbourne. For the next two weeks, this woman had tea ready at 4 o'clock every afternoon, but nobody came. Then, after a number of weeks, one Indonesian student showed up, homesick, and eager to share if only someone would listen and care. He found what he needed. Then soon other students were coming. When this woman died ten years later, there were at least 80 pallbearers at her funeral -- from places like India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia. They had come into a friendship with God through a loving, listening woman who served them tea every day at four o'clock -- but she served more than tea. And it all began because she decided to be kind -- and she added flavor to her kindness.

III.

Now a second movement: Let goodness take life in you.

Now, goodness is not something we think positively about. In fact, when we think about something being good or something being bad, we usually associate excitement with that which is bad and maybe dull smugness with that which is good.

We've just been talking about kindness, and kindness and goodness are very close together. We often use the words somewhat interchangeably. My friend, Ellsworth Kalas, has shared the fact that a few years ago, he preached about one of his favorite Biblical characters, Barnabus. He called him, "a gardener among human beings" because of the way he nurtured the lives of others and brought out the best in them. The Bible says of him that he was a "good man, full of the Holy Ghost and faith."

Ellsworth thought, in light of all the kind things Barnabus did, that probably the Greek word to describe him would be that one used for kindness, "Chrestotes," because it seemed that he possessed the sort of goodness which was best measured as kindness.

But, when Ellsworth examined the Greek text, he found that his calculation and insight were wrong. The word for Barnabas was not "Chrestotes"-- but "Agathosune", which means "strong goodness, virtue equipped at every point."

We see it, don't we? Barnabus was not simply kind; he had an aggressive sense of righteousness. When Saul of Tarsus was converted, the Christian community was skeptical of him, and when he came to a headquarters meeting, they essentially shut him out. But Barnabus sought (Paul) out, brought him to the Apostles, and told them what God had done for Saul. Now you see, Barnabas could easily have settled for being privately symphathetic with Paul; or he might have visited him, privately, or have written him a supporting letter. And, mind you, these would have been lovely things to do, but Barnabas exercised strong goodness. He hunted Saul out, pleaded his case with the Apostles, and gave him a job to do.

"The same thing happened a few years later with John Mark. When Paul and Barnabas were a missionary team, Mark went along as a junior assistant. But, along the way, Mark grew homesick and left them without even a proper farewell. When Paul and Barnabas were ready to start another missionary journey, Barnabas suggested that they give Mark another chance, and Paul said no. At this point, Barnabas could easily have dropped the matter. He could then have gone to Mark and explained to him kindly that he believed in him, that he had tried to get him another chance, and that he was sorry the whole thing hadn't worked out. Not Barnabas. He possessed the kind of tough goodness that wouldn't give up. He defended Mark, fought for him, and eventually, split with Paul over the issue. Barnabas was a good man. He was wonderfully kind, but his kindness was reinforced with spiritual muscle. Sometimes we need just such strong goodness." (J. Ellsworth Kalas, "The Strong Goodness", Church of the Saviour, August 11, 1985).

So when I call us to let goodness take life, I'm talking about goodness being transformed from that weak word that we normally see it as, into something strong -- not being simply good -- but being good for something.

IV.

Now a third movement: Give compassion a chance.

There is a sense in which this is a coming together of all the fruit of the spirit. Compassion is goodness and kindness lived with passion. It was a primary characteristic of Jesus' life. Over and over again in the Gospels, that word is used -- He had compassion on them. One of the most beautiful uses of that word in reference to Jesus is found in Matthew 9, verse 36. Jesus was teaching and preaching and healing diseases and infirmities, and the Gospel writer says, "When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

He was always reaching out to touch people. He took children in his arms and blessed them. He touched the eyes of a blind man. He touched the body of a leper. He touched the life of Zacheeus. He touched the life of Simon Peter. He touched the life of Mary Magdalene. He was a person of compassion -- he lived goodness and kindness with passion. There were no lines he did not cross, for there was no one for whom he did not die. No one was banished from his love.

Through us today, the Living Christ would reach out to men and women, to youth and children in loneliness and despair and sickness and suffering, in weakness and in sin. To people in the chains of poverty, and in the grip of addiction, and in the prisons of affluence that do not provide the meaning folks are looking for. Still today, the Living Christ would reach out in compassion -- in goodness and kindness lived with passion.

Malcolm Muggeridge is a great English writer who became a Christian later in life than most. He tells the story that he became Christian because of the life, the presence, and the ministry of Mother Teresa. He wrote a book about Mother Teresa entitled Something Beautiful for God. In that book he tells about the time when he first met her and visited with her in Calcutta in the late 1930's. This is what he said, "I walked through the streets of the poverty of that city, poverty beyond belief. I kept walking, experiencing that until I became physically ill. I ran away, I went back to my comfortable hotel room and took a stiff shot of whiskey to expiate the wretchedness of my experience."

Later he said he met Mother Teresa, and discovered that she walked the same streets, she went into the same place he was. He said, "The difference -- I ran away, but Mother Teresa crossed the line. She stayed, and healing took place." It always does, doesn't it? -- When we give compassion a chance.

Go back to my question, "How Christian are we?" We can give a pretty good answer to that, and an honest answer, if we will look at the degree to which in each of our lives we add flavor to our kindness. And we give compassion a chance.

This is what Paul is talking about when he calls us to walk in newness of life.