Back to Sermon Index Our Present Suffering and God's plan! Romans 8: 18-39 July 20, 2008 Groan! Boy, as you get older, you sure groan a lot more! Getting up, sitting down, lifting things...GROAN! In his wonderful and complex letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul speaks about the condition of the world and of us... He says that the Creation itself groans as if in child birth. But the groaning is not in a good way, but rather that the world and all upon it are slowly winding down. Science teaches about Entropy, the unwinding or decay of the universe. But they had nothing on Paul, or rather the Holy Spirit who inspired him! He took a harsh look at the world around him and at the suffering that was in it, and he saw the world groaning, caught as he says in "the bondage of decay". Can you see the world groaning, can you hear it? suffering under the weight of our neglect — Nay, our abuse, where we have fished the oceans in ways that decimate the ecosystem and the fisheries to the verge of a world wide collapse! Where we pollute the air until the whole world is warming at an alarming rate, the world groans and gasps for air. The world is caught in the bondage of decay, and it crumbles and shakes and groans. The inhabitants of the earth, who, under the weight of selfishness, ignorance, greed and the old fashioned concept of sin...continue to accelerate the rate of decay and add to the world and its inhabitants suffering. Human beings continue to cause suffering and the world groans. And it is not just the world. We too are part of the creation, and we too groan under the bondage of decay. If you don't think this is true, think about your conversations as you grow older...who is suffering from what ailment, who had what surgery, who is taking what medication. Just count the number of prescriptions in the average home and you can see the bondage of decay at work. The sweet smell of youth is replaced with the pungent aroma of Ben Gay and Tigerbalm! As we age, or bodies betray us and we just can't do the things we used to do, or at least not easily. We begin to age, and although medical science has made amazing strides and the average life expectancy is growing and growing...the fastest growing segment of the population by percentage are those who are 100 or more. But still, we feel it. We groan and creek and crack! Boy, what an uplifting sermon Pastor preached today! Makes me want to go home and lie on the couch! Where is that heating pad anyway! But wait, there is good news. Paul wants us to know that he knows the weight of the world's suffering first hand. Both in his body, and his in spirit. He has suffered much persecution and abuse for his faith...beaten to the point of death on three occasions. Ship wrecked, starved, cold, imprisoned and worse. And he suffered from a physical disability that robbed him of his vitality and caused him much pain and difficulty. He knew firsthand about the bondage of decay. He said that The present sufferings are not worth comparing with what is to come! Paul says that, having suffered more than most for his faith. He knows what suffering is, first hand. But he and we live in HOPE. Our Hope is in the Lord, and he does not disappoint. This is a hope of redemption, that we and the creation itself will be redeemed and changed...becoming like Christ. This is a new thought for some, that Christ comes to redeem humanity and the creation itself. Hear the Apostle: "in hope that creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the Children of God." The creation itself is living in hope of liberation from the bondage of decay. Wow, cosmic redemption. The book of Revelation speaks repeatedly of a new heaven and a new earth. The day will come when the world's long battle with decay will end and so will ours. The sufferings of this present age are not worth comparing to that which will yet be revealed. This in itself is good news! But it does not end there. Paul goes on. We have the guarantee of this Hope, the Holy Spirit of God who is with us and in us. The Spirit is the presence of the living Christ, and it he is the down payment on God's promised redemption. That is coming, but here now is the Spirit to help us until them. And what a help! First, Paul speaks of the Spirit helping us know both know and do the will of God...and helping us when we pray. When we pray, God's Spirit prays with us, helping us...leading us, sometimes reinforcing and sometimes calling, but always moving and working in us as we pray. But more than that. There are times when we don't know how to pray, and there are times when we can't seem to pray. We are too tired, too numb, too overwhelmed, too angry at the world and at our bondage to decay. In these times the Spirit searches our heart and the heart of God and the Spirit prays for us...when we can't find the words or don't know what to say, God's Spirit prays in our spirits in groaning too deep for human understanding. God not only listens to our prayers, God prays for us in those moments when we can't or won't or don't know how to pray. This, for me, has been a source of constant joy and wonder and gratitude. Second, the Spirit is always at work. God is at work in all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. God is always with us, regardless of how far we have moved from the center of his will. And God, through the Spirit who is at work in us and the in the world, is working for Good...in all things. Even the terrible things. Even the sinful things. In ALL things, good, bad, ugly and ordinary. I may not see it now or know how or where, but I can trust that God is working in me and in my circumstances. I can trust that good will come out of bad somewhere and sometime. It does not make bad good nor is it that God causes Bad to bring good...No. God is incapable of anything evil...and all good gifts come from God. But bad things happen. The rain falls on the just and the unjust and everybody has stuff happen. Remember, we and all creation are caught up in the bondage of decay... But in it all God is with us...praying through us and for us, and working for Good in all circumstances. But it does not end there. Paul wants to reassure his readers, that's us, that there is HOPE. And that in the mean time, nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing...no anything you do, not anything you say, not anything you don't do or say. God is stuck on you! The Spirit is with us and is not letting Go. We can live with confidence... Hear the Apostle again:         "What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?         33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us.         35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? 36 (Even the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep."*) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.         38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. 39 Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. The world and all who are on it groan, caught in the bondage of decay. But we live in hope. Hallelujah, there is a hope of redemption, made sure for us in Christ. Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else? Hallelujah---Fear Not Hallelujah----He is with us, Always! Hallelujah---Amen Back to Sermon Index