Tuesday, May 12. Romans 6:15-23.

The popular song “Turn Down for What” is one of those songs that gets into your head and you find yourself singing that one phrase over and over. And then, if you’re an old guy like me, you have no idea what you’re saying. It is also a song that has sparked many funny spin-off sayings, like my son’s t-shirt that says, “Turn Down for Brunch.”

Being the word geek that I am, and always being careful to make sure I know the meaning of words before I use them publicly, I looked up the phrase “Turn Down for What.” The Urban Dictionary says:

rhetorical question used by teenagers. “turn up” is the act of getting drunk and high and being reckless so “turn down” would mean sobering up. turn down for what is really saying i am f@*!# up and will continue to be all night no matter what. the only appropriate answer to this question would be “nothing”

Hmmm…

This definition seems to fit right in with our reading today. Some people are so enslaved in a destructive lifestyle that they feel that the only appropriate answer would be, “turn down for nothing.”

The apostle Paul reminds us of an important, and amazing, truth. God, through Jesus, has set us free from Sin and Death. We are no longer slaves to the sin that destroys us. Paul opens the passage today by asking, “Should we sin because we are not under law, but under Grace?” In other words, should we turn down for nothing, because God has lifted all the do’s and don’ts from us?

Paul’s response: “Of course not!” We haven’t been set free so that we can continue destroying ourselves and others. We have been set free to love. We have been set free so that we can know the freedom that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit and seeing the world through God’s eyes. We have been set free for life.

So, as those who are now “slaves to righteousness” and have been set free from Sin and Death, may we sing, “Turn Down for Love.”