FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT – MARCH 31 & APRIL 1, 2001
St. Mark’s
Evangelical Lutheran Church – Watertown, WI
WE ARE MORE THAN
WINNERS! Romans 8:35-39
How can a
loving God let that happen? Many of us
where stunned and shocked when we heard the news that a seven year old member
of our congregation, Caitlyn Mohr, was killed in a skating accident on Sunday
afternoon. For anyone who has lost a
child, they know what her parents, Al and Kris, are going through. What gets a person though such a tragedy and
loss in life? Well, first we all need to
remember as King David once wrote, “I trust in you, O Lord. I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands.” (Psalm 31:14-15a) None of us are going to live forever in this
world. We are merely visitors. We are traveling through. How long is our visit? We don’t know. Most of us just assume that we will live for
70, 80 or more years. We don’t think of
dying at the age of seven. But we don’t
know how many years the Lord has for us here.
However, as people who trust and rely on Jesus Christ as our Lord and
Savior, we do know where we are going.
We do know what awaits us when our short time on this planet comes to an
end. That is the message of the
Christian church. That is the good news
that we have the joy of proclaiming every week from this building. WE ARE MORE THAT WINNERS! As we study Paul’s triumphant message to us
today, God does not want us to forget that I) We Encounter Sufferings. Living in this world is not easy. So what gets us through the sufferings, the
deaths, the losses, the hurts and pains?
Paul sets this truth clearly before each of us so that we never forget
II) God’s Love Surrounds Us.
Earlier in this portion of Paul’s letter he begins with these words, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Paul reminds us that God is for us. Even though the Holy Spirit has brought you and me to believe that wonderful and comforting truth, that does not exempt us from experiencing sufferings and pressures in life. In fact, just the opposite is true. We should expect that we will experience such things in our lives. As Paul and Barnabas told the believers in the early church, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22b) Our Savior himself tells us, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (John 15:18) and “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
Paul goes through quite of list of the sufferings and trials that you and I experience in this life. Paul first mentions stress from outward circumstances, things that you and I have no control over. Most of us like to think that we are in control, that we are in charge of what is happening around us. The accident that happened to Caitlyn Mohr reminds us how little control we really have. Or go to your doctor for a check-up and tests and find out that you have cancer or some other illness and you realize how little control you really have. So we experience what Paul calls troubles. And then there are the pressures of life. Today with the slowdown in the economy, we are all finding out that none of our jobs are secure. It used to be that people would work for one company most of their lives. That is no longer the case and in fact, most companies today who are laying people off are getting rid of those who have been there for a long period of time. Why? Because they cost the company more because of vacation time and larger salaries.
Paul now speaks of persecutions and what often goes with that hunger, lack of clothing, danger and sword, the possibility of losing your life as you have to flee from where you are living because of the persecutions that you are experiencing. There are many Christians in this world who have been persecuted because of their faith in Jesus Christ and have had to run for their lives. We think of the people in Serbia and the countries that once made up Yugoslavia, the Christians who live in the communistic countries of China and North Korea. As Christians in the United States we are facing more criticisms and ostracism for our beliefs and we can probably expect that to continue to increase.
We all experience these sufferings. But Paul asks the question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (v. 35a) He then lists all these problems and troubles. He then quotes from Psalm 44 that we heard read as our first lesson today. In that Psalm the writers, the sons of Korah, lament that God’s people have been persecuted even though they had not forsaken the Lord. They say that because of the Lord God they are facing death every day and they are considered like sheep ready to be slaughtered. Yet at the end of their psalm, they appeal to the unfailing love of God.
I am sure that there are many times in our lives where we feel and think that God has forsaken and forgotten us. We think that God doesn’t really care about me. King David felt that way and expressed it in Psalm 13. He writes, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?” (Psalm 13: 1-2) Then David gets angry with God and shouts, “Look on me and answer, O Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death.” (Psalm 13:3) Yet when David finishes stating his feelings and thoughts, he adds what he knows to be true when he says, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” (Psalm 13:5). This is the same confidence and hope that Paul expresses. He reminds us that even in the face of all these sufferings, we are more that winners. Why?
God’s love surrounds us. As Paul writes, “But in all these things we are more that conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Vv. 37-39) You and I win! During the month of March I usually get caught by March madness and watch high school and college basketball games. As you see the teams that win celebrate and rejoice all over a game, it strikes me how important winning is in people’s lives. You listen to the players and coaches recount the turning points in the game and what was done to win. Well, you and I have the privilege of sharing in a greater victory than some gold basketball on a piece of wood. We have eternal life. This is a victory that none of us have done anything to claim that we had a part in winning. But God who loves us with an unconditional and sacrificial love gives the victory to us.
God’s love for us is not dependent on what our name happens to be or the church we happen to belong to or what we have or haven’t done in our lives. God says to each of us, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3) Talk is cheap. How do I know that God really does love me? Look to that cross above our altar. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus Christ gave up his life for you and me and all the people of this earth. Did we deserve it? No! Did we earn it? Absolutely not! God did that because he loves us. We can all empathize with the Mohrs who lost their daughter and the sorrow and grief that they are going through. Just think what God felt when he sacrificed and damned his only son, Jesus, for us? That is love. That is the love of God that surrounds you and me throughout our lives.
That love means that you and I are forgiven and we possess eternal life. We are going to be with the Lord forever in his kingdom. What adds even more comfort and victory to that statement is that nothing in this entire world can separate us from this love God has for us. As we heard in our Gospel reading for today, Jesus said about us, his sheep, “I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) Neither death nor life can separate us from this love that God has for us. When we lose loved ones to death, God does not stop loving us. His love holds us in our sorrow and gives us hope and peace that our loved ones who died trusting in Jesus are now in heaven and we will see them again. Even the angels and the devils cannot rob us of the love that God has for us. In fact, no power, nothing in the heavens above or in the depths belong or in all the creation will be able to separate us from that great love that God has for us.
Children of God, we are more than winners. Yes, we encounter suffering, pain and sorrow in this life, but it cannot separate us from the love that God has for us nor rob us of our home in heaven. For God chose us to be his people. God called us to faith through the power of his almighty word. Through that word God keeps us in the faith and at the end of our life he will call us into eternal glory. Praise the Lord!
Amen.