Sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6)

Text: Romans 5:1-5 (GNB) 1 Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory! 3 We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, 4 endurance brings God’s approval, and his approval creates hope. 5 This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.

Where is God in my suffering?

 “We boast of our troubles” Paul says.  Other translations say, “We gladly suffer” (CEV), “We glory in our sufferings” (NIV), “We rejoice when we run into problems and trials” (NLT).

Depression, disillusionment, divorce, loneliness, split families, back pain, hip pain, the loss of someone close, the loss of our driver’s license – do we really rejoice in these troubles?  At some time, all of us have a problem with some kind of suffering.  Whether it’s our own personal pain, or the pain of others we can’t resist questioning the purpose and often randomness of suffering.  The bus crash of wedding guests this past week is an example of this where young wedding guests were tragically killed or injured. 

Stephen Fry is an author and actor.  He is also an outspoken atheist.  Recently as I plodded my way around the neighbourhood on my daily walk, my headset delivering a podcast, I heard an interviewer ask Fry, “Suppose it’s all true and you walked up to the pearly gates and saw God, what would you say to him?”

Fry replied, “I’d say, bone cancer in children? What’s that about?

“How dare you?  How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault.  It’s not right, it’s utterly, utterly evil.

“Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain.”

Stephen Fry clearly placed the blame for suffering and pain in our world squarely on the shoulders of God (presuming there is a God).  When confronted with injustice and pain, don’t we ask God the question “why”, “why me”?  God is all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving so it’s reasonable to ask “why”.
Why are so many innocent people suffering in a war, a flood, a cyclone, earthquake, or accident simply because they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  They are simply victims of something outside of their control. 
God answered the prayers of the parents of a sick child down the street, why won’t he answer mine? 
Why have I got this medical condition?  God, surely you can do something about it. 

In fact, Jesus asked the question “why”.  Hanging from the cross in excruciating pain, he calls out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Does the Father call out, “Hold on Son, I’ll rescue you.  Or “I know what’s best – just hang in there”?  What do we hear from heaven – nothing? 

When there is no answer to our question of “why” this is confusing and frustrating.  In the middle of their confusion and pain people have asked me with the expectation that a pastor would know the answer to questions like, “Why has a young mother been taken from her family?” 
“Why did God give us a beautiful child only to be taken away so soon?”
I could say, “God’s wisdom is greater than ours” or “The suffering of your loved one has now come to an end”.  These might be true, but they’re not very helpful when it comes to answering the question of “Why did this happen”?  In fact, in our grief and anger it would be easy to agree with Stephen Fry and his summary of God as unpredictable, and mean-minded, a creator of pain. 

We can ask “why” ‘til the cows come home and we’ll know nothing more and end up frustrated and angry.  So we need to go back and see why Paul is so adamant that we can rejoice in our suffering.

So what is it that enables Paul to say, “We glorify in our sufferings” or “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties (2 Cor 12:10)?  

In Romans 5, Paul surrounds his words about suffering with some powerful and amazing words. 
​Now that we have been put right with God (justified) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory! (Rom 5:1-2).

These couple of verses are packed with words of confidence and comfort.  Here we have the big four – justification, peace grace and hope.   

1.   Through Christ's death and resurrection, we have been made right with God – he has wiped away our sin and guilt and the power of death over us.  Those words roll off our tongue so easily, but this is no small thing.  God of the universe thought so highly of you, of each one of us, small specks in space and time, that he should come to this planet, become one of us, endure the humiliation, suffering, pain, and death that we endure, so that we could once again be united with our heavenly Father.  We died with Christ, Paul says, and we are raised with Christ.   

2.   Because we are one with God through Christ, we have peace with God. No accusation, no terror, no fear of death can terrify us.  We know that our present life and our future are safe in the loving hands of the Father.  We are his.  Whatever happens we can be assured we have God on our side.  Peace is relying on God promise, “I will never forget you.  I have written your name on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16). His closeness calms us.  His presence fills us with peace.  Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give you. … Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

I recall sitting at the bedside of one of the most critical, difficult and hard to please men you could find in a congregation but in the end none of that mattered as he was dying.  His grumpy façade give way to the peace only Christ can give.  In those last moments, with his wife by his side, we shared Paul’s famous words from Romans 8 that end with “Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Rom 8:39).  Then it seemed he was answering someone calling to him, “I’m coming. I’m com…” and he passed peacefully from this life.

3.  By faith we have been brought under the umbrella of God’s grace –God’s love for us assures us that we can never be any place so deep or so scary where God cannot be.  Christ is in us – he is always present in every situation. 
Trusting God’s deep love for us we can say, “If it be your will, God, let there be healing, and recovery, let your grace provide a miracle – but if not, God, then let your grace provide comfort and keep me going until that perfect healing in my heavenly home.  I can see this through, not by my own power, but by the strength that you, God, give me.” 

In our deepest and darkest moments, the love of God holds us close as the psalmist says, “Your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone” (Psalms 33:22).

4.  That leads us to hope. This is the promise that despite the bleak and sorry state we find ourselves in at any given moment, we can look beyond the aching, the grief, the sorrow, and the suffering. 

Hope reminds us that Jesus is the one constant in our life who doesn’t change.  He is always present, always loving, always compassionate. 

Hope lifts our eyes from looking at our how miserable we are to see a vision – a brighter future, a future where we are more persevering and patient and calm in our struggles as we trust and rely completely on the love of the heavenly Father (in other words, we’re not looking for an anxious quick fix or an immediate answer).  

Hope makes the load easier to bear. 

Hope reminds us that there is that glorious future that we have in Christ when all things will be made new, and we shall receive the perfect healing.

Bob and Shirley were farmers but now Shirley was dying with a brain tumour.  All attempts to beat the disease had failed and Shirley’s health was declining, and her waking moments were fewer.  Bob prayed constantly for Shirley.  He constantly prayed for a miracle of healing and wanted nothing less than a miracle.  The delicate moment came when it was time to suggest that it was time to think of his wife’s perfect healing being accomplished not in this life but in heaven and to ask their heavenly Father and Saviour to give them the strength to face the future.

For Bob and Shirley, for us and for Paul, God’s answer in times of inexplicable suffering and tragedy is all we need, “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak”(2 Cor 12:9).  God freely extends his favour and love and help toward us in every time and every situation. 
It means that even though I don’t understand what is happening in my life and things seem so out of control, and I am so down and out, God’s power is ever so strong and will kick in, when I need it the most. 
When I don’t have any strength left, he gives me the strength I need to see this thing through. 
Or as Paul indicates, “When I am the weakest, God’s power is the greatest because of his intense love for me” (2 Cor 12:10b).  “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me” (Phil 4:13).

Going back to where we started this morning.  We will always ask the question “why” – why has this happened?  And often there is no definitive answer to that question.  With the feeble outstretched hands of faith, we look toward who is with us in the centre of our suffering and look to him for his grace, hope, peace, and love that will get us through this tough time.  We may question, we may waver in our faith, we may shout out “why” but God does not give up as Paul said, “For we know how dearly God loves us” (Rom 5:5). 

May the God of compassion, whose Son entered into our suffering, comfort you through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Amen.