Old ways...

​We are now in our 5th week of Corona Quarantine….
So.. let’s start with what may be a very sad question: What do you miss most about your old way of living? What do you miss from before quarantine?
 
Many of you may say you miss spending time with your friends? Sports? Going to the movies? Going shopping? Or maybe even you miss school? There are a lot of things that we are missing and it is ok to be sad about it! You may even have to go through all the stages of grief about what you are missing right now. 
 
The stages of grief are:
1.Shock (I just don’t know what to say)
2.Denial (This really can’t be happening. We will be back in school and back with       friends soon.)
3.Anger (I am so frustrated and angry! I hate corona, I hate this house, I am sick of this)
4.Bargaining (God please cure corona and I promise to never skip school again)         5.Depression (I don’t want to even bother getting dressed or get my work done)    6.Acceptance (I guess I will find a new schedule. I will do my work and find ways to make the best of this situation.)  

As we work our way through the stages of grief, we move towards acceptance. We move toward figuring out a new way of life. We may also get the chance to think about what we DON’T miss from our old ways of life. I don’t miss being busy all the time. I don’t miss sitting in traffic. 

The days after Easter, the disciples also had to go through the stages of grief. They had to grieve the loss of their friend, the loss of their teacher, and the loss of their way of life. They had to figure out how to get to acceptance and figure how to live their lives today. 
 
Reading our scripture today will help us to figure out how we move from the old to the new way of life.
 
Read Romans 6:1-14
This scripture starts by talking about sin. “Sin” is a hot-topic word.. mostly because it can mean different things to different people. Sin of course is breaking any of the 10 commandments.. or maybe the rules of the Torah.. Some people believe that it is anything that separates you from God. 

The Greek word literally means “to miss the mark (and to not share in the prize), to err, be mistaken, to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong, to violate God’s law.”

Is there a difference between doing bad things versus living in a way that doesn’t honor our God-given identity as God’s sons and daughters? Why or why not? 
What does Paul mean when he talks about “our old self?
How do we cast off our old self and live into the new life that God gives us through the resurrection?
What kind of “new life” should we be living because of the resurrection?
What does it mean that “the life [Christ] lives, he lives to God?”
How do we live our life to God?
 
This week as we journey through the stages of grief, just like the disciples. We get the chance to answer these questions every day. How are you going to live your life for God? How do you honor the gift of life that God has given you?
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This quarantine can give us the time to think about these questions in a new way. We are getting the chance to cast off our old selves and live into a new life, a resurrected life with Christ.