June 12, 2022
Holy Trinity Sunday
Romans 5:1-5Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Sermon
“A Great Hope”
Pastor Greg Ronning
Martin Luther loved Paul’s Letter to the Romans. He writes, “This letter is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian's while not only to memorize it word for word but also to occupy themselves with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul. It is impossible to read or to meditate on this letter too much or too well. The more one deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.”
And one of his favorite chapters in the book of Romans was chapter five, the source of today’s appointed epistle .From today’s reading, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.”
In this lesson we have some of the great themes of Luther’s theology; the gift of faith made possible by grace; Christ on the cross - revealing God’s unconditional love for the world; producing in us - a great hope!
In this “secular age” in which we live, hope has become a rare commodity. Amid so much bad news, conflict and division, economic difficulties, and societal unrest; people are struggling to find hope in their everyday life. Theologian Walter Taylor connects this loss of hope to our cultural loss of the transcendence of God. Simply put, we no longer expect or look for God to be present in our daily life, we no longer look to God for identity, meaning and purpose.
Instead, we look to the more imminent things, the things that we can see, the things we can grab hold of, the things that our society values and celebrates. And eventually, inevitably, all these things disappoint us. At some point we wake up and discover that all the stuff we have collected has no great meaning, and we wonder what import our careers, our hobbies, our relationships, and even our lives have. Taylor concludes, “What previously satisfied us, gave us a sense of solidity, seems not really to match up, not to deserve what we put into it.” Life without a sense of transcendence, life without a living connection to the presence of God; becomes a life without meaning and purpose, and thus a life without hope.
St. Paul begins the fifth chapter, the chapter that leads to a profound understanding of hope, by pointing to “faith.”
The ironic thing about faith is that God has given all of us the capacity for faith. To have faith is to trust, to have confidence, to rely, or to depend on “something. ”Ultimately, we all end up trusting and depending on “something ”The question is thus not about having faith but, where you place your faith? And I must confess, that even though I want to place all my faith in Christ, even though I am a believer; I struggle in this secular age and often misplace my faith in the things of this world. It’s so easy to put your faith in your money, your worldly identity, your heritage, your weapons, all the things we think make us more secure in this world, the concrete things that you can see and hold. So it is that we must ask, in what do we really trust?
Paul reminds us that “faith” is connected to “peace.” “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, …” Peace is the result of faith, faith placed in the right things, the transcendent things of God. Peace, that state of being in which you feel really good about who you are, the life you are living, - and the way that life - your time, talents, and treasures- intersects with the Kingdom of God making a difference in the world around you. Peace is finding that place where your life’s unique passion impacts the world’s greatest needs. Peace happens when all that comes together in your life. Peace is being in a right relationship with God, with your neighbor, and with creation. St. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. … and the God of peace will be with you. ”If we don’t know and experience such a peace, perhaps our faith is being placed in the wrong things.
Paul continues in today’s reading from the fifth chapter of Romans, reminding us that “faith” and “peace” are connected back to “grace!” “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; …”I’m reminded of the old hymn, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
The foundation of our great hope comes from “grace. ”Grace declares that God loves us because God loves us. Paul proclaims later in chapter five that God died for us while we were yet sinners, reminding us that our identity as the beloved children of God is not based upon our ability to somehow be righteous, to somehow fulfill the lofty expectations of the law, to somehow earn the love of God. No, grace is freely given, a gift of love.
And this is the foundation of our great hope. In the eighth chapter of Romans Paul gets really excited about this love, the amazing grace of God. He writes, “If God is for us, who is against us?” “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. ”Great hope belongs to those who know they are loved by “a great love. ”So it is, that we are a people of faith, overflowing with that peace which surpasses all understanding, standing on the solid rock of grace, and filled with “a great hope.”
And this hope is very real, it’s not just the kind of hope that belongs only to the promises of heaven, but a hope that transcends with the God that is transcendent! Paul continues in today’s reading, “And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. ”A great hope is one that is present even in our sufferings and our struggles.
Lutheran Theologian David Lose writes, “If God’s greatest revelation was made manifest in and through the struggle and suffering of a man hung on a tree, (Christ on the cross) then what suffering of ours can ever truly be God-forsaken. Hence, God promises to be with us amid suffering, and even work through that to build character and endurance and increase our capacity for hope”.
I was always taught that Christ is most profoundly present in the suffering of this world, in that place on the cross where heaven intersects with earth. That’s where the love of God is revealed. So it is, that God’s love for you is most intimately revealed to you in the midst of your pain and struggles. And so it is that we are called to live out the love of God in the midst of our neighbor’s pain and struggles. In our ordinary everyday life, in the many ways it is lived out; in our work, in our hobbies, in our volunteerism, in our relationships; the transcendent love of God – in, with, and through us - gives us meaning and purpose – creating hope. So it is that “a great hope” becomes alive in the midst of what seems like “a great hopelessness.” Hope transcends and transforms!
Lose concludes, “Paul invites us into “a lot of hope” by tying our suffering to Jesus’ own and inviting us thereby to recognize God’s presence not only in the distant heavens but also, and even more, in the daily struggles of our lives, trusting – promising! – that this kind of hope does not disappoint.”
On this Holy Trinity Sunday, may the peace of God, the grace of Christ, and the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, our faith in the living triune God; produce in us “a great hope,” a great hope for our own life, a great hope for our neighbor, and a great hope for all of creation. Amen.