Grace (Final): Holds us in God’s Love—Psa. 119: 129-136; Rom. 8: 31-39
A lot of folks think that the worst thing possible in life is when calamity and catastrophe strike us. We seem to think it’s the big trials that will be our undoing. But a wise old friend told me a different story once. He said we can mentally adjust to something big and scary to prepare ourselves. It’s when we’re inundated with everyday irritations that we become unable to cope. I think there’s a bit of truth to that. For me, the past few months, nothing major has stretched my sanity. It’s the repeated small things: a couple of weeks in a boot, strep throat, mono, being sick on vacation, having an allergic reaction last week and breaking out in hives that won’t go away. Another friend calls it death by a thousand cuts.
I see the same with you. Many of you face a surgery or something life-altering with this strength and resignation, but the daily things—illnesses with no answer, dealing with aging, mental health stability, back pain, grief, cognitive issues, all of these daily irritations that we live with, be they small or pretty substantial, really, really try our spiritual strength more than anything else. Now in those daily, ongoing irritations, we have a temptation, and that is to give in and believe that God no longer loves us because of the trials we endure. Paul confronts this head on and says that it’s simply not true. Three takeaways from today’s scripture: calamity and suffering do not indicate God’s love and favor or lack thereof, nothing separates us from God’s love, and we wait, but not as a people without hope and promise.
First, Paul tells us that calamity, suffering, and trials in this life have no bearing on whether God loves us or not. Verses 35 and 37 contain the reminder: “Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” Make no mistake. Paul endured all of this. His faith journey was, at times, miserable. But for Paul and many other early Christians, the true power of faith was found in struggle and resistance.
When the early disciples fought against oppression, poverty, suffering, persecution, pain, and sickness, they felt the closest to living Christ’s mission. Comfort and religious freedom are very familiar to our modern age and modern church, but they would have been very strange concepts to the early church. That is because the early church looked to this world as a place to fervently share God’s love and faithful welcome, which included doing everything possible to make life better here on earth. And they looked forward in hope to a heavenly home where God’s peace, justice, and grace will reign.
When we are pushed to endure struggle here on earth, we must remember the trials of Jesus. Here was a savior beaten, broken, humiliated, wounded, and murdered. And that same savior, so well-acquainted with suffering, said to us, “I go to prepare a place for you.” Trials on earth do not mean that God has abandoned you. They are simply trials that we must deal with living here. Part of living in a community of faith should challenge us to ask, “How are we working to make those trials easier with the gifts God has given us?” God’s love endures forever even when we must endure through trial here on earth.
Next, Paul tells us that nothing separates us from the love of God. Verse 38 is one of those famous verses in the Bible that many folks know well. It says, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” And verse 39 adds a bit to it, “Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
A friend and fellow pastor likes to use the phrase, “God loves you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” I remember a story I read once about nothing separating us from God’s love. The writer said this:
I tried once to walk away from God. I was so mad at all the things which had gone wrong, and how I felt God should have fixed it. I was done and ready to give up on the whole idea. But then I walked outside and saw my favorite flower blooming. I turned the radio on, and I heard the song, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” I walked to the library and went to my favorite study desk and there was an old Bible turned to Romans 8. The words leapt out to me, “Nothing can separate us from God’s love.” Everywhere I went, God reminded me of this, and all I could do was sit down and weep with joy.
I like how the hymn “Near the Cross” says it to us. You might miss the subtlety. In the first verse the writer prays—Jesus, keep me near the cross. But by the final verse, the writer fully realizes the power, “Near the cross I’ll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever.”
I don’t think there’s an adequate way for me to tell just how powerful those words are—that nothing can separate us from the love of God. For centuries, churches, institutions, and places of power have tried to make caveats, separations, qualifications, footnotes, and explanations that water down the real power of what Paul is saying. Yet he is unambiguous and perfectly clear in what he says. Nothing, and he means nothing, can ever separate us from the love of God, end of sentence.
So, what do we do with this information? Ah, now comes the harder part. We wait. The Bible is filled with that instruction—wait on the Lord. Verse 34 has a bit of wisdom for us on this. We are told that Christ was raised to life and is sitting at a place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Here, I think pleading is best translated or explained as praying. I know it might be a bit of an unusual idea to think of Jesus as praying for us. But consider how many times in the Gospels Jesus himself prayed. It’s a petition, a plea, a call to us as Christians in this prayer.
It’s also a reminder that we wait, but we wait as a people who have hope and promise. We have the hope that God’s love with always hold us in this life. And we wait with promise that Jesus meant it when he said he was going to prepare a place for us. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Waiting is hard for us. Stopped traffic on the highway will undo any sense of sanity the collective drivers had. A line at the Kroger gas station, and some folks will drive two miles up the street to not wait for that discount. People will go without caffeine when the line at Starbucks is too long, and sacrificing caffeine is well beyond my understanding.
But waiting is different when it is infused with hope and promise. You’re not just waiting as your patience and sanity slowly seep away. You’re waiting for something with guidance. Hope guides us and God’s promises sustains us. Both are found in God’s love for us. And as Paul says, nothing can separate us from that love of God. So, hope and promise also stay with us.
I used to wonder how a person would survive the big changes in life. Hard times, trials, and life-changing events will come. But as I get older, I realize we find a resignation for facing such things. It’s all unexpected daily problems that we can’t control, that seem to not let up, and drive us up the wall that make us feel like there’s no grace left in life. But Paul quashes that idea completely in this chapter of Romans. Trials, struggles, and suffering have no say on whether God loves us or not. God absolutely, 100%, without a doubt loves us, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. It’s a bold statement then and now. It’s even bolder to live it.
We live it when we wait for God, filled with hope, and remembering the promise that God’s love endures forever. But the waiting is hard, and sometimes, God feels distant while life feels overwhelming. In those times and in all times, may we remember Paul’s words and know that grace holds us in God’s love. Period.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1462156451185995