Sermon based on Romans 8: 26-39. What do you say to people who are going through a difficult time? This past week I heard a person use a portion of our second lesson from Romans and ever since I have been thinking about it. Imagine a woman --- let's call her Mary --- whose husband has just died after a long, painful illness. A friend --- call her Jennifer --- comes to see her and says, "Mary, I know this has been a hard time for you --- but remember --- all this is for the good! "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."
Biblical passages can provide comfort but we can also turn to Biblical passages without much thought. For example in retrospect was Jennifer's words to Mary the right words? Just imagine what Mary might be thinking? Did you see my husband die? Do you know how for the last three months he laid there with tubes coming out of him, helpless? What do you mean, 'all things work together for good?'
And then consider if Jennifer completed her quote from Romans with the rest of Paul's statement to Mary "….for those who love God, who are called according to this purpose…" So Mary if you don't feel like your husband's death is working toward "good" well obviously it is because you do not love God and you are not called to God purpose. So although Jennifer may have been trying to provide words of comfort from the Bible she may have been actually hurting. Yet if not that meaning that opens for us another dilemma, what exactly is Paul intending.
Another way I have heard us use Paul's words is that it is another way for us to say that "things have a way of working out." Say something happens in a person's life and people will pat us on the back and say, "It will turn out all right in the end. Things have a way of working out."
Unfortunately that meaning can also end up doing more damage because it can come from privilege. For example, say this to families living on the garbage dumps in Guatemala, Philippines or in India. "I'm sad you're sick and poor and living under a piece of cardboard and wearing rags. But don't worry! Things have a way of working out!" We then get on a plane and fly home. I don't think Paul intended for us to victimize the victim.
Furthermore, if this is what Paul meant, it doesn't quite fit from where Paul had been in faith. If you remember, Paul had come from growing up in faith where he had been taught that faith was a transaction, "If I do right by God, then God will take care of me." When bad things happen, then it must be somebody's fault and the nearest place to look for blame is probably the one who is suffering.
A third way I have heard us interpret the "good" in verse 28 is to mean that "In everything we are good as long as we remain in Christ!" Suggesting that a life of faith leads us on to different choices. Similar to our opening imaginary conversation, in this case we are taking the verse out of context, because Paul himself teaches that is not what he means. For example, shortly before this Paul has just said, "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." If faithful living was that simplistic "I do good when I am in God" than Paul certainly does not see that in his own life because he still in faith makes poor decisions. In other words, if as a Christian we ride a motorcycle without proper head gear and have an accident; it is not God's way of producing good. We made the mistake it is our fault.
For me this leads to the fourth way I have heard many of us quote from this verse in Romans 8; "all things work to good" suggesting that for that reason, we should never have random bad stuff ever happen.
But that also is not accurate because Paul himself later says that actually bad stuff in faith will happen; "Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" If Paul had meant to tell us we would never have our house burn down or experience a tornado, Paul would certainly have said we then will never experience "hardship or distress." Christians may suffer but it is not directly correlated to God's love. Rather Paul says it is the opposite, faithful living may cause us to experience more than a fair share of "hardship and distress."
The fifth way we may unwittingly abuse this passage is somehow suggest that the evil act of another person or family member not affect us because it is all meant for good. In other words, do you remember the Star Trek television series and the spin offs like, Star Trek: Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. When everyone is under attack … up go the energy shields. Then the bad guy's bad stuff bounces off. That's what many of us want, isn't it: a powerful energy shield surrounding us, so that evil acts cannot upset us.
But once again the very context of this verse shows us that this cannot possibly be Paul's meaning. For example, in verse 36, Paul quotes Psalm 44, saying: "As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered."
Paul understood that God does not protect us with an energy shield. And, of course, history bears this out, in Paul's own life, in the lives of the other apostles, in the lives of Christians through the centuries.
So to summarize we have at times possibly used this verse to suggest to ourselves and others that --- "Things always work out!" --- Or that it means that "we are free from the consequences of actions." Or we have used these words to suggest that "No bad stuff will ever come our way! Or we have used this verse as a talisman, a form of "protection from evil."
If we have used that verse for our purposes in those ways, how might we learn to understand this verse so that we can see what Paul may have actually meant? Well, I think it is important to remember to whom Paul is writing, the Christians in the center of the known world of that time --- Rome. Paul is reassuring the Roman church that as they live out their callings as disciples of Jesus, when material blessings where going to the powerful and not to them, that in the process of faithful living they are being conformed to the image of Jesus not to the image of an emperor. For most of us, "good" equals things like health, happiness, solid relationships, long life, money, food on the table, meaningful work, and a nice place to live. In general, we think the "good" life means a better set of circumstances, not far I believe from what those Roman Christians struggled to understand.
Rather than those things, Paul is suggesting that the "good" is that we are to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. Paul believes the promise based on God's solidarity with us, and anticipates a time when even the worst that the powers of sin and death have to offer will be shown to be a "slight momentary affliction" when compared with the "glory about to be revealed to us."
Paul is being similar to the words of Jesus today in the gospel. Jesus is comparing the promise of the good found in the kingdom to be like a tiny mustard seed --- something that begins insignificant rather than extravagant --- it is fragile rather in mighty. This promised good kingdom Jesus says can also be faint, like yeast leavening a batch of dough --- something difficult to detect unless we look carefully, not obvious or apparent, even though we know it must be there somewhere. This good kingdom Jesus says is also like a fishnet containing the good and the bad together, or a field of wheat with weeds. Despite these and other outward obscurities of appearances, the ultimate reality of this good kingdom is that God's love is unconditional and inseparable and it is growing.
Earlier in this chapter the apostle Paul said, "To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace" (v. 6). This is the choice we face today and every day: to set our mind on the flesh, or on the Spirit. One path leads us to Sin, Death and Chaos, while the other leads us to life and peace. The good is that Jesus Christ has already won the war and given us the victory. What do we say to people who are going through a difficult time? We will certainly continue to have struggles every day, but the final outcome the "good," has already been determined. Amen.