Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Romans 5:1-11
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  February 25, 2024

There are a multitude of incredible rescue stories that have captivated the world over the last number of years. Who can forget the 18 days it took dozens of divers and rescue personnel to finally free the 12 young soccer players and their coach from the cave in Thailand? Or how about the 33 Chilean miners who survived more than two months underground after the shaft in their copper mine collapsed. Maybe you even remember “Baby Jessica,” who, at 18 months old, fell down and abandoned water well in Texas and was rescued after two and half days. And I know we’ve already mentioned the Miracle on the Hudson and fearless flying of Captain Sully.

As great as these rescues were, there’s an even greater rescue story to tell, one that doesn’t just bring peace of mind, but peace with God. You Have Peace with God, because you’ve been rescued from an even greater plight. Listen to how Paul describes your rescue: “For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly…Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.”

If it was your child that needed rescuing, you would implore the authorities to spare no expense to rescue them. Do we feel the same, however, about the 8-time OWI offender who drove his truck into the river? Should a rescue team risk their lives to save him? In a way, it kind of doesn’t seem worth it, does it? Why should “good people” risk their lives to save the bad? Would you rush inside a burning building to save the person inside if that person gave you the creeps? Most wouldn’t. Paul says: “It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him.” Right away, can you see what separates this rescue from every other one? Look at who God is saving! It’s not his familia; it’s not his crew. God set out to save the ungodly!

So who is that? Paul describes all of us when he says, “Christ died for the ungodly.” We were part of the ungodly. Think of how Jesus’ closest friends treated him during his passion: all of them ran away, two completely abandoned him, one by denying he knew him, another by handing him over to his enemies. The religious leaders, who should have known better, were the ones doing all in their power to humiliate and kill him. And even though we weren’t standing there physically, you and I have done the same to Jesus. We’ve run away from opportunities to stand up and confess our faith. We’ve abandoned Jesus time and again when we choose to follow the path of sin. Even those of us who know better are just as guilty, if not more so. If you put yourself in Jesus’ shoes and think about how you would have reacted, I don’t think dying for the ungodly, including myself, would have even crossed my mind. Yet that’s exactly what Jesus did. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

Put all of this together and what we have is an unbelievable rescue story. There’s not one person here or driving down East Wash right now, or doing time in a prison somewhere else whose sins have not been forgiven by the blood of Jesus. That’s how God showed us his love. And through the gift of faith, which God has given to us, we are not only forgiven, but Paul says, “Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life. And not only is this so, but we also go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation.” 

I imagine that the first thing those soccer players or those miners did when they were rescued was to take a bath or shower. How satisfying it must have felt to be clean. Yet, that sense of relief and satisfaction, that sense of peace is nothing compared to what we have in Christ. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Imagine you’ve come face to face with one of your life-long enemies. Maybe it was the kid in school who always picked on you or just always got on your nerves. How would you feel right now? Has time healed all wounds? Would it take a long time just to begin to feel comfortable around them? Trust them? That might never happen. And while you might be cordial, you’d hardly be friends. There would be very little peace. 

That describes our natural relationship with God. Paul says in verse 10 that we were God’s enemies. Not just a childhood spat that we could never quite get over; bitter enemies! The sinful mind is hostile to God! Bitter, bitter enemies! How can we imagine it would go, standing face to face with God, whom we opposed with every ounce of our being? We’d imagine that God would give us the cold shoulder, maybe be cordial, but certainly not friendly. We don’t imagine any kind of peace. Yet, that’s not how God reacts to us. Jesus didn’t save us only to turn around and demand that we now prove that we are worthy of his love. No, Jesus reconciled us! He made us at peace with God. He took life-long enemies and made them into a family! No matter what happened in the past, no matter what foolish mistake you will make in the future, God’s love for you will never stop. Jesus’ forgiveness for you will always be there! “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” We are standing in grace, completely surrounded by the undeserved kindness and love of God. And that grace brings peace.

It’s that peace of God that allows us to reconsider religion as today we rethink suffering under the cross. That peace of God allows us to endure whatever the world can dish out. We can even “rejoice in our sufferings,” because they drive us back to God’s promises and increase our hope. Look at the blaze of blessings in store for us that our sufferings spark: “Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope. And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.” When we suffer for the sake of Christ, the blessings that assure our flesh that God is good–wealth, health, good name, friends, and many others–are often taken away from us. So what’s left to hold on to? Only the cross of our Savior and his promise of grace. And in this way “patient endurance” produces “tested character…” When God allows suffering to come into our lives, he treats us as his sons–heirs of all his promises. If he didn’t love us, he wouldn’t care if we, like little children, played on the devil’s expressway. He wouldn’t care if we were spared from every hardship. He would shield us from suffering, give us a pocket full of cash, and tell us, “Here kid, get lost. Go downtown and stuff your face full of French Fries.” But that’s not loving! No, a loving God allows his children to suffer affliction so that they may cling to what saves, to what really matters, to his promise of grace even more tightly.. And “tested character” produces “hope.” 

Now we’ve come full circle in that ring of fire sparked by suffering. By God’s design, hardship serves our eternal salvation by making our hope in Christ and in eternal life stronger than it was at first. And when the suffering is over, we can thank God for knowing better the limits at which our faith could be tested. And we are refined like pure gold.

As we continue to rethink religion and today as we rethink suffering under the cross, may we never stop thinking about Jesus. He didn’t simply risk his life for us, he gave it. Why wouldn’t we want to follow this leader wherever he takes us, even if it means suffering? For with Jesus leading, we will always have joy, hope, and peace. The joy of forgiveness, the hope of eternal life, and peace with God. You have peace with God. What more do you need? Amen