Don't cha know?

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1 -4)

My dad is from Minnesota. Austin, MN is the town he grew up in which is home to Hormel, and more importantly, SPAM. The meat that you either love or are starving if you eat it. It is said SPAM stands for "spiced ham," which means that the shavings of hams on the killing floor were once assembled and fell into a bin of salt and some Swede or Norwegian ate it and decided it was worth selling to people who were ice fishing. 

The first bite of SPAM produces and Oof-Da! Effect. My dad's family in Minnesota was famous for that "word," oof-da! It is said on the occasion of an occurrence that surprises, not in a delightful way, such as running into someone and knocking their food out of their hands. "Oof dah!" you hear them say. Or the mention of the Vikings' season, "Oof-dah!" is the reply because it's never good. Even when the great Bud Grant took them to the Super Bowl, it ended in "oof-dah!".

Another phrase that's noteworthy, said in a deep Minnesotan accent, is "don't cha know?" "Don't cha know it's cold outside?" "Don't cha know hockey is on tonight?" 

Our pastor, Pastor Eric, is familiar with this phrase and credits Paul in the above passage with speaking Minnesotan. "'Don't cha know' that those of us baptized into Christ were baptized into his death?"

Romans, the great theological treatise, written by Paul, a Roman citizen, great Jewish mind, and heart bought by Christ, writes with passion in this book, as well great logic and rhetorical skill. Romans are a twisted lot, leaving the world of pagans and pagan rituals, but they confuse the pagan worship and a secular world of sin disguised as practice and their new found faith in Christ. Paul is helping them sort out what it means to be a baptized son of God through Christ in the waters and Word of Holy Baptism.

Luther summarizes Romans 6 for us: “In chapter 6 [Paul] takes up the special work of faith, the conflict of the spirit with the flesh for the complete slaying of the sin and lust that remain after we are justified. He teaches us that we are not by faith so freed from sin that we can be idle, slack, and careless, as though there were no longer any sin in us. Sin is present; but it is no longer reckoned for our condemnation, because of the faith that is struggling against it.... Thus we become like the death and resurrection of Christ, and complete our baptism—which signifies the death of sin and the new life of grace—until we are entirely purified of sin, and even our bodies rise again with Christ and live forever."

Don't cha know that you are a child of God through Christ? Don't cha know that when you were baptized, you were baptized into his death and resurrection? Don't cha know that freedom from sin doesn't mean free to sin? Don't cha know that as a freed child of God, we are new creations and should be free to live a life in Christ, not separate and apart?

Pray with me: God, you gave us faith at no cost to us, but at great cost to you: the suffering, death and resurrection of your Son. This act, combined with our baptism, gives us this faith, kills off the old Adam, Forgive us when we slide back into the old Adam, and help us to focus on the new creation we are in our baptismal faith. In Christ's name, Amen.