EPISTLE
Romans 8:31b–39
31 What then shall we
say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who
did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with
him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against
God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus
is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of
God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being
killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be
slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am
sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor
things to come, nor powers, 39 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.
Grace Mercy and
Peace from God our Father and Savior Jesus Christ AMEN
Our Text for
today is the New Years Eve Epistle Reading from Romans 8.
Are you ready, are you
prepared? Tomorrow is the beginning of
the end of the world, or that’s at least what a number of News Media outlets
wanted us to think. Based off of one mayan
calander recording, there are claims that the world is going to end because of
world flooding, cosmic alignment, and continental disturbances. There have been “experts” attempting to prove the end, and other
experts proving the opposite. Movies
like 2012 and I am Legend attempt to grasp the end of the world hype and tend
to ask the question when are we going to die, and how will we face it? Even the church asks the same question. Bible studies on revelation or the end of the
world attempt to seek the answers of what we are about to face. And ultimately the answer has to be, no
matter what happens, We don’t need to fear.
With the bible study we are
asking with the secular community, “are we seeing the end of the world?” Our question isn’t unique, its been asked for
generations. Even the disciples asked
Jesus the same questions. (Matthew
24:3-8 ESV) gives us an account of their questions and his answer. As he sat on
the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us,
when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the
end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.
For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead
many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not
alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth
pains.” The predictions of Jesus can be
summarized as “Men coming forward claiming Godly knowledge, and there will be
war, famines and natural disasters.”
Sounds an aweful lot like the description of 2011 doesn’t it.
2011 was a busy year. A man came forward claiming to know the exact
date for the end of the world, May 21st. But then it became the beginning of Judgment
so that October 21st was really supposed to be the end of the
world. Then there were the wars. In Iraq
the war came to an official end, again.
There was the revolution in Libya, and rumors of wars in other parts of
the world. There continues to be famines
in Africa and around the world. There
were deadly earthquakes around the world.
Most notably were the ones in Japan, which over 15,000 people died of
and others continue to suffer because of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
disaster. It sounds like the world is
falling apart. It sounds like it is
coming to an end. It sounds like a good
reason to be afraid.
We are afraid of the end, of
death, and what it means for us. We
don’t want to suffer, we don’t want pain, and we don’t want to lose
control. But death and the “end of the
world” is the very embodiment of those things.
Maybe its not your own death that worries you. Watching a child or a loved one suffer can be
worse that actually suffering yourself.
And I will admit, my own death doesn’t worry me nearly as much as the
end of those around me, those I rely on, those I care about. Ask yourselves the questions, How will I
react when the end comes for me, and how will act when it comes for others. Then
realize this, what was at the center of those questions? It was I.
We don’t like what we don’t know. We want to know what we have the good
life, but end of the world possibilities show how selfish we can be, and how we
don’t always want to rely on God first.
In the middle of all these
disastrous events there is something important to remember, no one except the
father knows when the end will be. Men
coming forward claiming Godly knowledge, and wars, famines and natural disasters
aren’t exactly unique to 2011. These
have all happened in the past, and they will likely all happen again in the
future. Bible studies on the end times
are very important, because they give us a glimpse of the end, and it is not a
pretty picture. The end does not come
after a glorious age of peace. But we must remember, the end will come when it
will, not when we think it should. And
ultimately this concern with the end should not be motivated by fear. When asking these questions, listen to Paul. 31 What
then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Paul and the early church were
facing terrible persecution and heartache here on earth, but he could have
confidence about the future. Our focus for the future should always contain an
idea of the end, because the end is not the destruction of the world, but it is
the second coming of the son of God. This
is the same son of God who came, not to rule on earth as a triumphant Lord, but
instead came as a humble baby in a town called Bethlehem. Jesus faced the same temptations, the same
misery as a human being clothed in the flesh, but because he was also fully
God, he was able to reject the temptations of sin, and conquer over sin, death
and the devil.
The Father did not spare his own
Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give
us all things? Paul was sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor
rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 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, because of the actions that the God/MAN
had done for us. Our time here on earth
is unknown to each of us, but our place in heaven is guaranteed by the word
made flesh which we celebrated this last week.
He came to face all the horrors of the world so that we could have life
eternal in his word. He gave us his Word
and Sacraments, so that we can be confident of the Love that he shows us. The confidence comes not from our own selves,
rather it comes in the form the Spirit coming down and comforting us even in
the face of persecution, war, and natural disasters. We are not promised a peaceful life here on
earth, instead we are promised the eternal life of perfection in heaven.
Do we know when the end will
come, of course not. Is it easy to not worry about the future? Not if we expect to wrestle with everything
that comes along on our own. We trust in
God, because he first loved us, and he tells us that we are loved and have a
place with him forever. We don’t need to
fear the end of the world, because for us it is only the beginning. AMEN
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