What then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-39, NIV
One time, as I preached on the 23rd Psalm, I took a survey of St. Paul’s congregation.
I said, “Raise your hand if you had an easy week.”
Now, “Raise your hand if you had a hard week.”
Now, “Raise your hand if you have absolutely no troubles or worries at all.”
“While you’ve got that hand up, reach over with your other hand, and see if you’ve still got a pulse.”
(Now one young man, a guest that week, actually did raise his hand for the “absolutely no troubles or worries at all” question. He either wasn’t listening closely, or was a having a very good week.)
As we gather here, with Lily the Comfort Dog and her handler, Linda Cinquegrana on this September 30, 2018, I’m sure some of us have had a quiet week.
Yet I know we also face times of heartache, heartbreak, anxiety, fears and tears.
If I asked that Psalm 23 question today, some of you might ask, “Can I raise two hands if I had an especially hard week, Pastor?”
We come to church to lay our cares, prayers, fears and anxieties, as well as our joys, hopes and thanksgivings before the altar of God.
We remember God’s promise, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor me.” Psalm 50:15.
And as we call, knock, kneel, and ask for help, God gives us His Word of reassurance:
Nothing can separate us from His love.
The one who gave His Son to die for us is not going to let us go.
The very Son of God, who died and rose for us, is interceding for us before God, His Father and ours in heaven.
How about that?
I love to pray with people.
I love taking the cares of our hearts, and sharing them out loud with the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier of the universe.
When we pray, we call God, “Father.”
We’ve been called, baptized, rescued, and redeemed.
In Jesus’ name we can speak to God about anything and everything.
But think about this, dear brothers and sisters of our living Savior–Jesus himself also intercedes for us before God, His Father and ours.
The One who shed His blood for us, and who suffered the rejection of men, the cross, hell, and the grave, and who overcame all that through His glorious resurrection comes to God on our behalf in prayer.
What an honor!
What a gift!
Jesus prays for us when we’ve sinned.
Jesus prays for us when we’re broken.
Jesus prays for us when we’re not sure how we will make it through the day.
“Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
The previous verses in Romans 8 tell us God’s Holy Spirit, who dwells in our hearts by faith, intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
You and I and all the people of God have the most amazing prayer partners in the whole world.
Troubles will come.
The devil will do his best to destroy us.
He can do that by trying to hurt us.
The devil may also try to lead us into despair, shame or vice.
But God has called us His own people since before He created the world.
God will help us in our time of great need.
As our dear sister, now in heaven, Vivian Dashcund liked to remind us, “underneath are his everlasting arms.”
The Good Shepherd assures us He laid down His life for His sheep.
He knows us by name.
No one can snatch us from His hand, or His Father’s hand.
Faith in Jesus’ promises gives us strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow, as hymn writer Thomas Chisholm wrote in “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”
We have a God who in Jesus will never let us go.
Our District President, Rev. Dr. Tony Steinbronn loves to tell a story about Martin Luther.
Martin Luther was talking to a farmer who had gone through some really rough times.
I imagine this farmer’s crops and cows had all died.
Luther said, “God must really love you, to allow you to experience all these trials.
He’s really working to strengthen your faith during tribulation.”
The farmer turned and said to Luther, “Right now, I wish God would love me a little less.”
I guess that farmer, like many of us, felt like his plate was pretty full.
The weight on his heart and mind was heavy.
On the night when He was betrayed, Jesus had the presence of mind to give His disciples the gift that truly keeps on giving, His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.
Jesus’ disciples, gathered around Jesus’ table, heard the words we also hear this morning: “Take, eat, this is my body, given for you. This is my blood, given and shed for you for the remission of sins.”
If anyone can testify to us that God rescues even through the hardest trials, it’s Jesus.
Jesus suffered the cross.
Jesus tasted hell and death.
Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus did all that to redeem us and give us the sure hope of heaven to come.
He promises also to lead us through our troubles here on earth.
The very last words Jesus spoke to His disciples before turning in prayer to his father in Gethsemane were these:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.
Jesus gives us His assurance, as we go, sharing His Word and making disciples as we baptize and teach, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
We thank God, our Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for everlasting, faithful, forgiving, redeeming, gracious love.
We thank God that He promises to be with us every step of the journey.
To close today, I have a song to sing with you.
It comes from a CD of Sunday School songs passed on to me by Christine Johnson.
Our Sunday School families each have a copy of this CD as well.
The song is called, Nothing Can Keep Us From the Love of God. 9