Peace and Joy
Romans 5:1-11
Introduction
I like it when things make sense. I enjoy it when things are logical and reasonable. This is the challenge of being a parent. Amanda and I look at some of the bad things our kids do and instead of getting mad, we look at each other and ask: “why?!” It is not as if they thought through what they desired and concluded they were willing to pay the price of punishment. It is not as if they wanted to see how well they could avoid our observation. They do something bad, without any real benefit to them and hardly any effort to avoid detection. Why? Somethings just do not make sense, at least not at first glance. The same is true of the Christian faith. If it was up to me to invent Christianity, it would not look like it does. It would be much more logical, at least according to my logic. It would fit with how we think and act on a daily basis. But Christianity is not that way. This is not just my opinion. The Apostle Paul discovered this as he preached the Gospel. Both Jews and Gentiles looked at it as foolishness. It just did not make sense, at least from human reasoning. We are going to have to come to terms with the fact that Christianity is just weird. But at the same time, we better understand how it is weird and prepare ourselves to submit to its weirdness.
Peace With God
Paul has already made it very clear that the human race is separated from God. Whether we are Jews or Gentiles, sin has entered into the human race and has disrupted our relationship with God. We do not need the Bible to prove this, the sinfulness of humanity is the easiest doctrine to prove. The real question is about what the results are. Many people think humanity is sort of bad and our goal is to become sort of good. Other people think we are not religious enough and what we need is to become more religious. The Bible gives us a much more serious answer. According to the Bible, humanity is in open rebellion against God. Humanity has declared war on God by rejecting his call to holiness and righteousness. God revealed his Law with all his expectations. God has sent prophet after prophet to warn us and the world has not gotten any better. We have done more than just mildly disappoint God, we have rebelled against him. These are some serious charges. Now, let us use our thoughts to come up with a solution to this dire situation. One option would be for God to wipe us out. God is infinitely holy, our sin is a crime against that holiness and therefore an infinite crime. It would make sense for God to pour out his wrath on us and give us everything we deserve. We know God has it in him to do it as this is pretty much what he did in the days of Noah. That is an option that seems reasonable, although less than desirable. Another option, more appealing to us, is that God could just wave his hand and forget about it. God could close his eyes and plug his ears, a pretty big challenge for an omniscient God, to our sins. He could treat us like a grandparent treats their grandchild when they take an extra cookie from the jar. The problem is that does not fit who God is, it would actually contradict his nature. God is a God of justice and righteousness and sin is not something he can just ignore. So what can be done? God is love and he does not want to destroy us. God is holy and he can’t ignore our sin. If only there was another option. Well, there is another way, but it is pretty crazy. What if God decided to save us instead of destroy us? What if God decided to pay the price himself instead of just pretending nothing happened? What if God appeared as a human being, not just any human being but appeared as a baby? What if that baby grew up and preached the kingdom of God? What if that man went to the cross and died, not as the result of an unjust charge but as a voluntary way of taking care of our sin? What if the only reason this plan worked was because the person was both man and God and therefore was in a unique position to bridge the gap between humanity and divinity? I told you it was crazy. And yet, this is exactly what took place. In the person of Jesus, God’s love and holiness came together and formed a cross. If that was not strange enough, God decided to do this before humanity showed any clue of deserving this great gift. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NIV) That would be like me having the most amazing gift for my children and right when they were misbehaving the most, handing it over. That is crazy. From our perspective. But that is what happens when God’s love and holiness come together.
Joy in Suffering
That is weird that God chooses to save us by allowing his Son to die on the cross. That is just strange. But the strangeness does not end there. Once we are reconciled to God, we begin a journey of spiritual growth. Now if God asked me, which he didn’t, about how we are to grow spiritually, I would have some ideas. I like the idea of growing spiritually by enjoying inspirational worship, by sitting in a nice comfy chair and studying the Bible, by listening to a well-worded but not overly long prayer. That sounds like a great way to grow spiritually. God does indeed use those things, however, he has some other methods as well. God uses suffering to allow us to grow spiritually. Does that even make sense? What is wrong with using comfort to make us grow? Paul says that we are not just to endure suffering but that we rejoice in it. Rejoice in it? I will tell you that when my van breaks down, I do not rejoice. When my children get sick, I do not rejoice. When I suffer, I do not rejoice. However, what is worth rejoicing over is not the suffering itself. It is what suffering produces. Suffering produces perseverance, which produces character, which produces hope. These are the things that we rejoice over. I recently had a friend ask what I thought about running. I was very honest. I hate running. I hate the thought of running. I hate the activity of running. But I run because I like what happens after. I like how with each run I am able to run longer and faster. I like how I lose weight. I like how my body feels and how my mind feels. None of that could happen without the running. Look at the results and not just the means. I see this with Logan and Abby. I hate that Logan and Abby have autism. It really bothers me. They should have a normal life. They should be able to communicate like everyone else. Abby should be able to live with us. In all honesty, I do not rejoice at this situation. However, I do see how this situation makes me a better person. My character has grown far beyond what I would have been without the kids. I am forced to rely on God, much more because of the autism. There are a tremendous amount of things that take place because of what we experience. I rejoice in that spiritual growth, even though I still have trouble rejoicing over autism. Why does God use suffering to bring about spiritual growth? That is just weird. Why do such a strange thing? Keep in mind this: How did God deal with the problem our spiritual separation? With the suffering of his Son. How does God deal with the problem of our spiritual immaturity? Through our suffering. This all seems crazy to us because we value comfort as the highest quality. The truth is that for anything really good to take place, anything that will really make a difference, there is going to be some suffering.
Conclusion
Christianity is weird. Really, really weird. None of the things that we think make sense are at the core of the Christian faith. God has a totally different perspective on how things work compared to our finite view. There was a problem that humanity was separated from God. There are many religious ideas on how to solve this but what God does is become human and die for our sins. There was a problem in that we are spiritually immature and desperately need growth. Instead of comforting us, God allows us to suffer so that we will grow and expects us to rejoice. That is weird. But it is true and it works. The only way for us to be saved is through the death of Jesus. The only way for us to grow is through suffering and the things that emerge from that suffering. It might be weird, but it is the only way that actually works.
