Sermon
delivered at All Saint’s Parish Church, Whiteparish, Wiltshire at their BCP
Evensong on Sunday 11 March 2018
Romans 5:1–11 – You Won’t Be Disappointed!
May
I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
“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 rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only
so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering
produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope
does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by
the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
When he was only 7 years old, his family was forced out
of their home. He actually had to go to work to help support his family. At age
9, his mother died. At age 22, he lost his job as a store clerk. He wanted to
go to law school but his education wasn’t good enough. At age 23, he went into
debt to become a partner in a small store. Three years later, his business
partner died, leaving him with a debt that took years to repay. At age 28, he
asked his girlfriend of four years to marry him. She said no. He eventually did
get married. At age 41, his four year old son died. Only one of their four
children lived to adulthood. At age 45, he ran for the senate and lost. At age
47, he ran for vice-president and lost. At age 51, he became the 16th President
of the United States of America. His name was Abraham Lincoln.
Many consider him to be one of the greatest presidents
the United States, indeed the world, has ever known. Life has its ups and
downs, its challenges and opportunities. At times it can be exciting and it can
also be disappointing. Jobs and promotions that never come through. House sales
and purchases that fall through. Big matches lost by our favourite football
teams. Holidays ruined by bad weather or illness. Even when things are going
well, we often hesitate to get our hopes up feeling that even the other shoe is
eventually going to fall off. Are there any sure things in life? Anything that
won’t disappoint?
In our text for this evening, Paul tells us there is, not
only for this life, but also for the life to come. He says when it comes to the
many promises God makes to you in His Word, You Won’t Be Disappointed! His suffering gives us life and our suffering
gives us hope. We know that our sins can make us deserve suffering Ungodly, powerless, sinners, enemies of God.
These are just some of the words Paul uses in our text to describe our sinful
condition by nature. “Lost and condemned
creatures” are the words Martin Luther uses in his explanation to the
Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed. At the beginning of our Liturgy this
evening we declared that we are “miserable
offenders” and that “there is no
health in us”. We might try to convince ourselves otherwise, that we’re
really not that bad, maybe not in our
own eyes or indeed in the eyes of others, but spiritually speaking, we
certainly are in the eyes of God.
Paul writes, “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does
not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful
nature cannot please God.” How often doesn’t the hostility of our sinful nature
show itself in our daily lives? Jesus once said, “you are my friends if you do
what I command… if anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.”
One might say, “Halt! Who goes there? Friend or foe?”
Friends speak well of others and take their words and actions in the kindest
possible way. Foes gossip about others and put the worst construction on the
words and actions of others. Friends seek to be kind and compassionate,
forgiving others as they have been forgiven. Foes seek to take advantage of
others in order to serve themselves. Towards the end of Lent, on Maundy
Thursday, we remember that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. After this
Jesus said, “now that I, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have
set you an example that you should do as I have done for you”
Friends seek to love and serve their Lord by the way they
love and serve their neighbour. So once again we need to ask, “Halt! Who goes
there? Friend or Foe?” For the many times we’ve played the part of the foe, we
can rejoice that Jesus calls us friends. Not because of anything in us, but
rather because of everything in Him! Paul tells us, “very rarely will anyone
die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to
die.”
In the movie, “Saving Private Ryan,” it describes how
eight soldiers went behind enemy lines to save a man known as Private Ryan. Why
so much time and effort for one man? Because three of his brothers had already
died in combat. To spare his mother the grief of possibly losing her final son,
eight men were sent on a rescue mission. Would his rescued life be worth the
sacrifice? Would ours? God thought so! So much so that he sent his one and only
Son on a rescue mission to save us! Would we be willing to lay down our life
for someone else? I suppose it might depend on who that someone is. Would you
lay down your life for your spouse? Would you lay down your life for your
child? Would you lay down your life for a friend? Would you lay down your life
for an enemy? Probably not, but that’s exactly what God did for us! Paul says,
“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.”
Jesus willingly endured the pain and suffering, the
punishment for sin and the agony of hell so that we would never have to. Jesus,
the innocent one was declared guilty to declare the guilty innocent. That’s
what it means to be justified! In the eyes of God, it’s “just as if I’d never sinned,” and, “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.”
Paul uses the word reconciled
a couple of times in our text. The Greek word is “katallage” which has the idea
of replacing enmity with friendship. By nature, we were God’s enemies. By
grace, we are God’s friends. God did everything when it came to bringing about
this reconciliation, this peace, this faith in which we now stand. This faith
came through hearing the message and “the
message is heard through the Word of Christ; [the Good News].” Faith that realizes that if God did this when
we were his enemies, imagine what he’s going to do now that we’re his friends!
That’s the point Paul makes when he writes, “if,
when 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!”
That’s the reason why we can rejoice even in our sufferings
because we know the purpose they serve for this life and the next. Paul knew
suffering.” On one occasion, we’re
told that Paul was given a thorn in the flesh. We’re not told exactly what it
was. Three times Paul pleaded for God to take it away. God didn’t take it away,
rather he told him, “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness.”
Are there any thorns in the flesh that you’re dealing
with right now? Physical, mental, emotional? God might not take it away, but he
gives you the same promise he gave Paul. His grace is sufficient for you. It’s
all that you need for this life and the next. God’s grace enabled Paul to,
“delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. “For when I am weak, then I
am strong.”
We don’t find our ultimate strength in ourselves. We find
our ultimate strength in Christ! No matter what life might throw at us, no
matter what suffering we might endure, no matter what hardships we might
endure, no matter what storms we might endure, no matter what might threaten to
shake our body and soul. Jesus died and rose again to give us the gift of
heaven! In our text Paul tells us the purpose of suffering when he writes, “suffering produces endurance, and endurance
produces character and character produces hope and hope doesn’t disappoint us.”
When it comes to the many promises God makes to us in His
Word, we will not be disappointed! His suffering gives us life. Our suffering
gives you hope.
Abraham Lincoln was a great president but far greater is
the King we have in Jesus.
Amen.
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