Grace 1: Grace Leads to Hope: Exodus 19: 2-8; Romans 5: 1-8
In law school, we had a website where we could go and navigate job searches. It was a site connected to the law school in a roundabout way where employers could post potential jobs, and we students could upload our cover letters, resumes, and references along with any other documents needed. The site was called “Symplicity” spelled “S-Y-M.” I had high hopes that the job search site would live up to its name…simplicity. But it was anything but simple.
For example…oh, you’re uploading a document? Time to crash. Oh, you’re looking at a super interesting job, I see, so now I’m going to freeze, and when you refresh, you won’t be able to find that job again. And my favorite: password denied, password denied, password denied. After two months, I never used the site again, and instead settled down into being a humble preacher here. And I certainly did not smart off to career services about how much I hated Symplicity.
The good news for us is that, unlike my job search fiasco, Paul keeps the book of Romans pretty simple for us. It’s one of Paul’s last known works long after time, trial, and struggle had refined his understanding of Christ’s work here on earth. It is one long lesson on the power of grace in the world, and how Christ teaches us to live that grace. Some of the writing is difficult. And some parts taken out of context seem problematic. But remember this is a letter, and it is all meant to be read as one, long thought. Today we see that grace brings hope through the pathway of three C’s: Commitment, Covenant, and Confidence.
We begin with commitment. There’s a tough statement in the middle of our reading, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” Most of us would rather avoid problems I imagine. I’ve never heard someone gleefully embrace suffering. And yet so much of our faith is based on how to navigate through trials with endurance—it is well with my soul; through many dangers, toils, and snares; when through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie; though sometimes he leads through waters deep—all hymn lyrics that speak to this endurance.
To have hope, we must start with commitment through all the trials of life. We rejoice because the only power a trial has over us is to develop us and our character. Will it hurt? Yes. Will we feel emotionally exhausted? Yes. Will we feel like in every way we are about to be broken? Yes, unfortunately. So how do we find commitment in times of trial? The last bit tells us—that confident hope of salvation.
When the trials come be they physical illness, emotional pain, human inflicted, or just our own mistakes, we can be committed because our hope in God’s salvation has sustained and carried two millennia worth of saints through the worst parts of their lives. It is twofold—God is with us every moment, and God wins, period. Suffering on this planet may seem to surround us each day on a personal and global level, but in the end, God has the final word on the hope found in eternity. Remember those lyrics…”it is well with my soul,” and “this grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” Commitment.
We have commitment because we meet God’s grace in our second C, covenant. That is most clearly seen in our Exodus scripture. There we see God making a covenant with the people. If they follow God’s law and commandments, keep this covenant, they will be God’s people. And the people all said, “We will.” We, too, have a covenant with God. We hear it each week, “This is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.” In Christ’s life we find our example. In Christ’s suffering, we find great love. And in Christ’s death and life we find hope and covenant.
Covenant is a powerful word in faith. It is an agreement that is holy and steadfast. God’s covenant with us is that in faith we find hope. Though Romans may be a somewhat long letter with heavy theology, the basis is the same—this covenant—with committed faith, we find hope. A friend of mine is facing this Father’s Day without her dad. Though he’s been dead for a couple of years, she writes that it never gets particularly easier on the holidays.
Her dad used to have a saying for her when she was down in life. He’d look at her, shake his head side-to-side, and say, “Sweetie, you’ve just got to have a tiny bit of faith to get a whole lot of hope.” So, when she feels most alone, sad, and down, she remembers this truth that from a tiny bit of faith, maybe just even a mustard seed’s worth, comes a whole lot of hope. It comes from God’s covenant with us. In faith and commitment, God promises to be with us until the end of our time, and through eternity. Commitment leads to covenant.
Finally, because of our commitment and God’s covenant, we can have confidence. Romans tells us, “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” We can endure hard times because of our confidence in God’s Word and God’s promises.
Romans 5 contains this phrase that is almost non-sensical to us, “We can rejoice…when we run into problems and trials.” Now, I don’t know about you, but when I struggle and find myself in the midst of a problem or trial, I don’t exactly “rejoice.” Most of us respond either by complaining bitterly, losing all hope of peace and sanity, or ignore it like no real struggle exists. But we can hear or good news in the words of this scripture, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time.”
As uncomfortable as the realization is, at some point in life, we will all find ourselves vulnerable. Perhaps we won’t be utterly helpless, but we will feel wounded and vulnerable. Christ is the savior of the broken, the God of the hurting, the one in whom we have our strongest confidence and hope. The grace we talk about in faith is based in our confident hope that God is with us.
I love how the words of our closing hymn say it, “His oath, his covenant, his blood, support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.” Christ is our solid rock, our strength, and our hope. As the scripture says, in times we struggle, feel helpless, or are vulnerable, Christ is with us every moment, with love, with grace, and most of all with hope. We can have confidence because God keeps the promises made to us.
When it comes to life, we want a bit of simplicity in things. As I started my job search fresh out of law school, I hoped that the search site, Symplicity, would be the answer to that prayer. The truth is that it should have been renamed “Stupidly Complex.” But when it comes to faith, Paul tells us in Romans that the understanding is simple. It is three Cs. We make a commitment to follow Christ in faith. We stand solid on God’s covenant to give us grace and love. And we have confidence that no matter what, God is with us. May it be simple. And may we be confident in God’s grace and hope.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1725506334544845