Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in
which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of
God.
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because
we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope.
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has
been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been
given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still
powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a
good person someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much
more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were
reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been
reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People
of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation
of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Message Blessed
Are Those Who Suffer
The
ways of Christianity are often opposite of the ways of the world. We learn in
school when we are young, and from our friends, and from our work colleagues,
and from tv shows and movies and television commercials, that people who are
blessed live the good life. The better grades we get in school, and the more we
study, then the better college we will be accepted at. The harder we work, the
more money we are supposed to have. The more we exercise, and participate in
sports, the longer we are supposed to live. The world tells us we just have to follow
a certain formula, and we will become rich, and successful, and popular, and
blessed.
But, this is not what the Bible
says. And this is not what Jesus said. The ways of Christianity are not the same
as the ways of the world.
This morning, we read a portion of St.
Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. The Roman’s lived in a city that was the
most powerful city in the world at that time. They could observe the wealthy
ruling class who lived in palaces, and the tragically poor people who were
scraping by. They lived in a place with
terrible inequality. And, the Christians in Rome chose to align themselves with
a new religious community, a new sect that was not favored by the government or
popular or appreciated by outsiders. They chose to be Christians because they
were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah and our God was “the” only God, but
this convocation didn’t help them to become safe or rich or favored.
Paul’s letter to the Romans contained
assurances about our faith and worked to help the Christians in Rome understand
Paul’s perspective on several theological topics. There were competing ideas in
the baby Christian church about how to practice our faith. The Roman church was a mixture of formerly Jewish
Christians and formerly gentile Christians, which caused some cultural clashes
within the community. They were all worried about the potential pitfalls of
following Jesus – there were afraid of religious persecution, and rightly so. Since
they were close to the seat of power in Rome, they knew how irrational the Roman
government could be. Eventually Paul himself was killed during the reign of the
Emperor Nero because he blamed Christians for the great fire at Rome. So, the Christians
were increasingly under threat by the unsympathetic rulers.
Paul’s words were to remind his
fellow Christians that we are justified, saved, by our faith in Jesus Christ. Despite
our salvation, we will still suffer. Our belief doesn’t protect us from suffering.
But, then Paul said that suffering produces perseverance, which in turn
produces character, and character produces hope. And the Holy Spirit encourages
our hopefulness. As Christians, we are
called to be assured that because Jesus taught us and died on our behalf, we
are in turn entitled to a wonderful relationship with God.
Like the early Roman Christians, we
have trouble understanding suffering and coping with it. We do our best to
prevent hardships for ourselves and for the people we love. And, we struggle to
accept that bad things happen to good people, that bad things happen to us when
we least expect them to happen. This is difficult and scary.
But, in the midst of the challenges
we endure, we have a hope-filled relationship with God. No matter how miserable
we feel, God is with us. Jesus assures us God will never leave us or forsake us.
As it says in the first letter of John: “We know and rely on the love God has
for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
So, being a Christian and practicing
Christianity doesn’t ward off suffering. Unexpected things still happen to us. Unkind
words are still said to us. Unfortunate events still befall us. But, when they
do, we can confidently remember that God is with us. God loves us and will
never leave us alone. And, through the sacrificial love of Jesus, we will always
be God’s beloved children. So, when things fall apart, we can count on God’s Holy
Spirit to guide us and nurture us.
When people live without a relationship
with God, they can easily fall into despair. They have no hope. They have no
reassurance of better things to come. We all know people like this – one of two
tragic events happen and they are done for. It is like they are in a pit they
can’t see the way out of. Our faith in God provides us the reassurance that God
is with us despite our sufferings. And, we have hope we can hang on too –
things will get better. We can take comfort in the presence of God’s Holy Spirit
to be with us, to lift us up, to carry us through the hard times.
It sounds ironic to say “blessed are
those who suffer.” But, as people who are Christians, we are assured that when
we suffer, we can still have hope. And, through confidence in Christ’s death
and resurrection, we can not only have hope but can work to support and love
each other in response to the love we have received from God.
Let us never forget the hope that
comes from our faith and from our relationship with God. Amen.
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