A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Tyler, the “rose city” in East Texas.  As we turned off Interstate 20 and headed south on Highway 69 toward downtown Tyler, I noticed a roadside sign proclaiming that the section of highway we were traveling was the “First Adopt-a-Highway in the Nation.”  I mentioned it to Sandra, who was driving and therefore missing seeing the sign, but I didn’t think anything more about it until just a couple of days ago, when I began to prepare the sermon for this morning.

          So, one evening this week, as I sat at the computer working through a completely project on geographical information systems (GIS) software, I suddenly recalled that trip to Tyler – and the roadside sign about the Adopt-a-Highway program.  When I found the Internet website www.dontmesswithtexas.org/, I discovered that, one day back in 1984, James R. “Bobby” Evans, an engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation, was driving through Tyler when he observed debris blowing out of the bed of the pickup truck he was following.  Alarmed by the incident, and concerned that the cost of collecting litter was going up and up every budget year, Evans began appealing to local groups in Tyler to “adopt” a section of highway.  But, like so many prophets, his initial call went unanswered.

Nonetheless, it wasn’t long before Billy Black, a Public Information Officer for the Tyler District of TxDOT, began to develop the Adopt-a-Highway program.  Black was responsible for creating the key concepts of the program -- participating organizations would “adopt” a two-mile section of highway for a minimum of two years, would agree to clean it at least four times a year, would receive training and equipment to do the clean-up, and – in exchange for their commitment – the TxDOT would erect a highway sign marking the organization’s place in the program.

          Now in its twentieth year, the Adopt-a-Highway program has spread from its origin with the Tyler Civitan Club and a single stretch of Highway 69 in east Texas to being a grassroots movement involving nearly 90,000 groups in 49 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. 

          The program also has inspired other similar efforts beyond the highways.  For instance, right here in Oak Cliff, going south on Zang Blvd from Jefferson toward Clarendon, you will observe several little signs that announce that the median strips in the middle of Zang Blvd are sponsored by the Bank of Texas, the Chamber of Commerce, and so on. 

          Many communities have a much wider range of “Adopt-a . . .” programs.  For example, Greensboro, NC offers five different Adopt-a . . . programs: Adopt-a-Median, Adopt-a-Park, Adopt-a-Stop, Adopt-a-Stream, and Adopt-a-Street. 

          Many of us are familiar with “adoption” programs like the Christian Children’s Fund, through which you can “sponsor” a child” through regular financial contributions.  As Julie can tell you from her personal experience with the CCF, there is something very powerful being getting a photograph and letters from “your” child. 

I suspect that far fewer of us are familiar with the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program among the Navajo (Diné) people of the American southwest.  According to their Internet website (www.anelder.org), this program allows contributors to . . . support Elders who live in the cultural and spiritual traditions of the Diné People. Most live in remote portions of the reservation.  Many live in traditional hogans, and some raise sheep as a means of maintaining themselves.  The Program provides food, simple medicines, clothing, fabric and yarns to help these Elders live on the land in their traditional lifestyle. . . . I wonder if the Presbyterian Chuch could use this program as a model for its own “Adopt-an-Elder” program?

          All of these programs – and hundreds of others available here in the United States and around the globe – demonstrate a “spirit of adoption” that challenges the widespread belief that selfishness rules in contemporary society.  Participating in such “adoption” programs requires a commitment of time, talent, and treasure.  I suspect that many of us in this sanctuary have been involved in some kind of “adoption” program during our lives, simply as a way to manifest the spirit of stewardship for the earth and its people that we feel as Christians.

          On the other hand, I am not aware that any “adopt-a-highway” program or “adopt-an-elder” program existed two thousand years ago when Paul was writing his letter to the church at Rome. 

Nevertheless, Paul’s message clearly argues a set of themes within which “a spirit of adoption” became a significant issue for first-century Christians.  His argument began at the start of chapter 5, with these words:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Rom 5:1-5)

 

This is the eternal circle in which Paul’s theology flows.  And this morning’s lesson continues Paul’s proclamation that Christians are assured that our suffering is not in vain, but leads to glory with Jesus Christ. 

          Paul proclaims that we are debtors not to the flesh – that is to say, to ordinary existence – but to the Spirit of God.  It is God who claims us as the children of God.  This claim is not intended to enslave us or bring us to a standstill, frozen in fear.  Far from it, as Paul would say. It is intended to inspire us to bear witness to our adoption as the children of God.  Paul goes on, in his usual way, to compound this extraordinary claim for Christian belief.  He says that if, indeed, we are the children of God, then we also are the heirs of God, and thus joint heirs with Christ.  But, how is this to be seen?  Paul answers that “who and whose we are” will be manifested through the suffering that we do with Jesus, so that we also may be glorified with him.

          This is a typical Pauline argument.  He lays out an initial premise, then piles consequence upon consequence upon consequence on that initial premise, until he has taken his readers full circle – in this case, from suffering to glory. 

In my reading of this morning’s text, the key phrase – the phrase that jumped up and shouted, “Preach me!” was the little phrase: “you have received a spirit of adoption.”

          In the original Greek text, the word “spirit” is a common thread through these verses, occurring a total of six times, spread among verses 13, 14, 15, and 16.  The word about adoption, however, occurs just once in this passage.  Indeed, it is a very rare word in the New Testament – occurring only five times in all –here in Romans 8:15 and 8:23, in Romans 9:14, in Galatians 4:5, and in Ephesians 1:5.  All of these passages move the original meaning of “adoption” (literally, being accepted as a son) onto a higher metaphorical level.  In all of these occurrences, the adoption takes place between God and ordinary human beings – and God is the one doing the adoption.  God is the “sponsor.”  Metaphorically speaking, we can say that God developed the original Christian Children’s Fund.  God became the sponsor for all of the “little ones” from the beginning of creation, through the several covenants presented in the scriptures, and continuing throughout history until the present day. 

Paul argues that, as Christians, we accept as an article of faith that we are the children of God.  Consequently, we – like Christ – are heirs to God’s glory, and ultimately our suffering in this world does not make us ashamed, but imitates the greater suffering of our Lord.

          The emphasis on the role of suffering in these verses leads us to consider an intriguing problem in textual criticism inherent in scholarly treatments of this passage from chapter 8.  If you look closely at the text, you will notice that the division of the sentence between verse 15 and verse 16 is unusual.  In fact, the NRSV and the NIV punctuate these sentences differently!

The NIV translators, following the King James Version, offer:

  15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

The NRSV translators, following the Revised Standard Version, prefer:

 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

The point of scholarly debate involves whether to place the phrase, “When we cry, “Abba! Father!” at the end of verse 15 or to place it with verse 16.  Why should this matter, you ask?  Well, a significant theological point rides on where the “When we cry, Abba! Father!” is located.  

One group of scholars and theologians argues that our being adopted by God comes in the context of our crying “Abba! Father!”  That is, God responds to our human need as expressed by our crying out.  This generates a circular and reciprocal relationship between God and human beings.  This creates the proverbial “chicken-or-egg” problem of the long-term relationship between God and human beings.

          The other group of scholars and theologians argues that our adoption by God came prior to our crying out “Abba! Father!”  We already have been claimed by God even before we are aware that we need a relationship with God. 

On this point, I prefer the approach of the NRSV translators, whose translation affirms that God acts first, then we respond.  Reading the text in this way – God first adopts us as children, and then we proclaim our understanding of this adoption by crying out “Abba! Father!”—strikes me as consistent with the “essential tenets” of the Reformed faith – which we “receive and adopt” when we are ordained as church officers in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

          On this Trinity Sunday, we celebrate our trinitarian understanding of God, manifested as God the creator, God the redeemer, and God the sustainer.  Trinity Sunday also should be a special day for this congregation, for it is a namesake for us, just as surely as the river to the north of us may have inspired earlier members of this congregation to call this place “Trinity.”

          As “Trinitarians,” we proclaim a appreciation of the special relationship among God the creator (“Father”), God the redeemer (Jesus the Christ, God made flesh), and God the sustainer, advocate, counselor (the Holy Spirit).  In this morning’s lesson from Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, we see the work of the Spirit, in concert with the work of Jesus Christ, and God the Creator – the one called “Abba! Father!” in the first century language of the Greek text.

          This trinitarian understanding of the text is important for us, as we try to appreciate the wordplay inherent in Paul’s proclamation about “a spirit of adoption.”  What kind of spirit is this supposed to be?  Is it the Holy Spirit (capitalized, as in the NIV translation of 8:15)? or is it merely a metaphorical sense of “spirit” – intended to convey an emotional commitment or inclination – as conveyed through the NRSV lower-case translation?  Scholars and theologians continue to debate the issue.

          In my reading of this typically Pauline passage, I see the wordplay as intentional and double-edged.  Paul wants to have his spirit both ways, upper case and lower case.  For Paul to speak to the Romans about a “spirit of adoption” in the sense of the Holy Spirit being sent to care for them is very consistent with his understanding of Jesus’ words to the disciples after the resurrection. 

At the same time, Paul also understands that we, as Christians, adopt a spirit of suffering, or sacrificial giving, as we live in community with the rest of the world around us.  As the adopted children of God, we in turn adopt a posture toward the rest of the world that will witness to our special relationship with God.  In effect, as we first have been chosen by God, so we chose to take on responsibilities in the world around us.

          If we take Paul’s proclamation on its merits, then we here at Trinity have a special challenge and a wonderful opportunity.  Just as we have benefited from a “spirit of adoption,” so we also should adopt a spirit of giving to our neighbors and the community beyond these walls.  Some of us already are involved in ministries of “adoption” – in Grace Presbyterian village, at a nearby elementary school, in serving a monthly meal at the AIDS Services of Dallas, in the family support programs at the Oasis Housing Corporation, and so on.

          Still, we could be more systematic, more “decent and in order,” more “Presbyterian” in displaying a “spirit of adoption.”  I want to suggest that Trinity Sunday is a perfect occasion to celebrate a “spirit of adoption” as we recognize our role as sponsors and mentors in the lives of others.  I have in mind not just involvement in an “Adopt-a-Highway” or an “Adopt-a-Median” program, but a congregation-wide commitment to work in the community with those who are suffering on the margins of society.  During the year to come, we also will be blessed in having a special opportunity to work together with the folks in the Iglesia Presbiteriana Emmanuel congregation to make a double difference in our surrounding community.

Let us encourage one another to celebrate Trinity Sunday next year, and each year thereafter, by demonstrating to the community around us just “who and whose we are” as a congregation.  I believe that we can do this best not by looking backward to our history, but by looking forward to what we are becoming as “the children of God.”  Just imagine having a “Community Ministry Fair” next year on Trinity Sunday as a way to show our involvement with the community around us here in Oak Cliff.  It would be a great day and a great way to celebrate who we are here at Trinity Presbyterian Church.  By living out the challenge of Paul’s double-edged proclamation, we will not be frozen in fear, but will live in glory in “a spirit of adoption.”  Amen.