Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Romans 8:28
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  August 13, 2023

God’s Word before us today is one of the most comforting passages in all of the Scriptures. It’s one of the most quoted; one of the best remembered. Even the youngest of our children have heard this verse and it’s part of the earliest memory work. It’s a simple statement that even the youngest child can understand and believe. But for those of us who are much more learned and experienced, it’s not so easy to believe, is it? Of course, we whole-heartedly agree when everything goes well. But what about when things go wrong? In October of last year, WELS pastor Aaron Strong was on his way to church when he was T-boned by a car that was driving 70 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone and ran a red light. He died as a result of the accident. It sent shockwaves through the entire Synod. At a time when pastoral vacancies are at a record high, do you think that the members of the WELS are having an easy time believing what God says here? What about his congregation, his wife and two children? So what about all the bad days? What about the times when everything around us screams, “NO, he doesn’t!” How can this be a good thing? A pastor cut down in his prime who leaves behind a wife, two children, and a hole in the congregation, how is that good?

Those aren’t easy questions to answer. In fact, they may be impossible to answer right now. They are kind of similar to what others have faced in life. Perhaps none more noteworthy than Job. We heard Job’s words in our first lesson this morning. They aren’t very encouraging, are they? How did Job get to this point? The Bible tells us that Job was a devout man. “Blameless and upright; a man who feared God and turned away from evil,” is the way the Scriptures describe him. God’s will was what Job strived to do and God richly blessed Job. He was physically and spiritually blessed. He had wealth. He had thousands of animals. He had multitudes of servants. He had a wife and 10 children. And, he knew that all of his blessings came from the LORD. And then one day, out of nowhere, his life was turned upside down. In a single day, everything was gone. Everything. Messenger after messenger came, each with a worse report than the first. Vandals, robbers, and fire had destroyed his flocks and herds and killed his servants. All his wealth was gone. And then the worst news of all! A violent storm had flattened the home where his children had gathered to celebrate. All were inside at the time; all dead.

How did Job react? He tore his clothes in grief; he shaved his head in mourning. And he fell down and worshiped God saying, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be blessed.” Remarkable! And the Bible adds, “In all this, Job did not sin or blame God.” But that was not the end! No, soon after Job’s skin broke out with painful boils. They covered every inch of his body. They itched and burned and ached. There was no comfortable way to sit or sleep; nothing he did brought him any relief. Then his wife, understandably frustrated by all of this sorrow and hardship broke down and said, “Curse God and die!” But even then, Job wouldn’t break, but rebuke her by saying, “If we accept the good that comes from God, shouldn’t we also accept the bad?” 

And then his “friends” come to talk to him. Certainly they’ll speak of God’s love for him and comfort him in his suffering, right? No! Instead, they ask Job what he did wrong, because he must have done something. Clearly, he’s being punished for some horrible sin, they say. And then, it’s only then do we come to Job’s words from our first lesson. Listen carefully to what he says. It’s both a rebuke to his friends and a prayer to the LORD. Here’s a summary of his words in Job chapter 7. “My life is like a war! I have nothing to call my own. I see only frustration and pain. I can’t sleep. I can’t find relief. Death is the only escape I can see and it seems to be coming. Let it be soon, LORD, because happiness has left me.” Wow! Some have said that other than Jesus, no one has suffered as Job did. So, I think we’d be hard pressed to say that we know what Job was going through. Yet, at the same time we all know what it’s like to suffer. We’ve all had bad days. We’ve all been sick. We’ve all been betrayed by friends. But to get to this extreme? You have to wonder if someone can say what Job said and still be a believer? And yet, as bad as it was, as close to total despair it seems that Job had come, we see evidence of faith. We see evidence of the Gospel at work. Can you see it? Job prays. In the midst of all his suffering, he prays. Job believed God when he said, “Call on me in the day of distress. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” Job believed what we learn from little on: “All things work together for the good of those who love God…” Job believed that no matter what he suffered, he could turn to the LORD in prayer and know that God was listening

But there’s still just one problem: Job still sits there, a festering beggar. His friends still accuse him. He’s still suffering. He’s gone to God in prayer, he’s asked him to help, and it seems like God isn’t listening. God promises to work all things for the good of those who love him. So why is Job still suffering so? Perhaps Job doesn’t love God enough? Have you ever asked that question yourself? It’s a question that Satan loves to whisper in our ears because that very thought could haunt any Christian. Who of us could ever say that we love God enough? The problem is that the question focuses attention on all the wrong places. When questioning our relationship with God, the mirror is not the first place we should be looking. Nor should we look in our own hearts. That’s exactly where Satan wants us to look, because he knows what we’ll find there. We’ll find sin. We’ll find impure motives. We’ll find failure after failure and example after example of not loving God at all, never mind enough! No, the first place to be looking when wondering about our relationship with God is to God. What does he say to us today? “All things work together for the good of those who love God…and who are those people?…who have been called according to his purpose.” Why do all things work together for good? Notice Paul doesn’t say because we love him. It’s according to his purpose. What in the world is God’s purpose?

“All things work together for the good…” What is the good? It’s not our temporal good. It’s not our physical good. No, it’s our spiritual good. It’s our eternal good. Why did God allow Satan to test Job so severely, to drive him to the brink of despair? It was for Job’s spiritual good and the good of all who love God and see Job’s example. What was Job’s response to troubles? His troubles dropped him to his knees, not in utter despair, but in prayer. Job realizes he can’t handle all this on his own. And so he abandons himself to the LORD. He places himself in God’s hands and says, “Remember, O God.” Remember what you’ve promised for me because my life is but a breath. And it’s at that point of utter weakness that Job found strength in the LORD. His life was a wreck. His possessions–gone. His family–gone. His health–gone. Yet, Job could cry out later, “I know that my Redeemer lives.”

“All things work together for the good…” God’s ultimate purpose is that we spend our eternity with him in heaven. God’s purpose here for us on earth is that we serve him with our lives of thanksgiving, that we share the good news of his Gospel so that more people might join us in heaven. And God uses all things to accomplish that good purpose. Yes, even suffering. Yes, even tragedy. Yes, even sorrow and pain. How can those things work for our ultimate good? Don’t they remind us that this isn’t the last stop on our journey? The thorns and thistles in this life help us to remember not to get too attached to planet earth. What did Jesus say? “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven,” Why would I want to stay in a place that is full of pain and suffering when I have something so much better waiting for me? And just think about it…when are you closest to God? When times are good? When life is easy? Or is it when times are tough, when life has knocked you on your knees? If life has knocked you on your knees, what better time to pray! If suffering and pain have knocked you flat on your back, what better time to look up to heaven! It shouldn’t surprise us that God would allow hardship to enter our lives for the purpose of drawing us closer to himself, for the purpose of driving us more and more into his Word.

But that doesn’t make the suffering easy. And there may be times when you feel like you could never be happy again. If you find yourself thinking this way, remember Job. And like Job, abandon yourself to the hands of the LORD. For those hands bear marks of his love for you. It was God’s purpose that you be his child. That’s why he called you through the Gospel. That’s why he loved you when you were unlovable. That’s why he empowered you to love him in return. It was God’s purpose that he work all things for your good. It wasn’t a choice you made, but a choice he made. And it really is in all things. There are no gaps. God doesn’t stop working in your life when you forget to pray or when you undergo some hardship. God works all things according to his purpose, for your good. And it’s only there, in God’s love, in God’s grace, in God’s mercy that we can find true comfort. It’s only in Christ who personifies all those things that we can be at peace in all circumstances. It’s only Christ who allowed Job to look past the suffering and still cling to God’s promises. It’s only Christ who has brought comfort to Pastor Strong’s family and congregation. It’s only CHrist who will comfort us when we suffer and struggle.

If you’ve ever looked at the underside of a woven rug, it looks like a jumbled mess. There are strings and strands and knots everywhere. But when you look at the topside, all you see is the beautiful weaving that was done. Oftentimes, that is what our lives are like. We can’t see how all the things in our lives work for good because we are looking at the underside of the rug God is weaving. And it may not be until we are safely in heaven that we can see the beauty of the topside. It’s not God’s purpose that we see the topside now. It’s not God’s ultimate purpose that everything be beautiful and lovely here. No, God’s ultimate purpose is that we be with him eternally in heaven. And he’s working all things for that goal. Yes, all things. Amen.