Morning Message Text: Romans 5: 1-11
Peace and Hope
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Morning Message:
The thing about preaching for a very long time is the challenge of not being repetitive and the amazing blessing that you experience when God seems to give you new and fresh ideas and words for the same texts that you have preached before. This week is one of those occasions where I feel like I have preached every lectionary text at least once, but as God always does, he showed me something new. Our focus this Lenten season is on God’s amazing grace and the wonderful hymn, Amazing Grace. The word for today that changes the text for me is: SUFFICIENT. What does it mean for something to be sufficient? This is not complicated, but it is a challenge for us in our walk of faith. When something is sufficient it is: adequate for the purpose; it is enough; it is suitable. Here is the challenge that we face in today’s world, in this society where nothing seems to be enough. How much this word sufficient means to you, depends on the circumstances of your life. When you are poor and don’t have much to depend on in life, you are thankful to have what is sufficient, what is adequate, enough. When you are struggling to have the bare essentials of life like food, water, and shelter you pray to have enough and to have what is sufficient to get by, that would be a real blessing. Have you ever been poor? I mean really poor at least to the point that you were unsure of exactly how you would get by? I have felt that kind of poor in my life, and while I would never suggest being there and especially not staying there, there is a blessing in the experience of depending on God for what is sufficient for life.
The other side of sufficiency comes when we are full and have been blessed with more than we need. Once we have experienced the good life of plenty, receiving only what is sufficient is not pleasing to us. I find it amazing that what we once considered a blessing when we had nothing, now seems like a curse. For example: When I was a young boy, I would come home some days very hungry after playing outside all day. I might have had a piece of toast before I started my day and because I was so busy it kept my mind off of being hungry, but I would get home, and I could usually find a can of baked beans in the cupboard. I would open them, put them in a pot, squeeze a bunch of ketchup on them, and heat them up. I enjoyed my beans with a piece of bread if I could find one. I loved my meal, and I was completely satisfied. If someone were to put that in front of me today for supper I would be looking for the meat and potatoes to go with it. We get used to the blessings, the excess that we enjoy, and we are no longer thankful for what is sufficient.
This is human nature. In Exodus chapter 17 we find the Israelite community doing what they did best: complaining. Earlier they had complained about hunger, and God gave them manna from heaven to sustain them. And then, not being hungry and having full stomachs wasn’t enough for them, they complained that they wanted, not needed, but wanted meat. So, God sent quail for them to feast on. They ate so much, and God allowed it to make them sick. Now just one chapter later they are complaining that they don’t have enough water. They are ready to stone Moses over the issue even after God met their needs every time in the past. So God instructs Moses to strike a rock and out comes water. In Psalm 95 we hear that God was not pleased with their ungratefulness. In verses 8 through 10 God tells the next generation not to test him as their ancestors did at Meribah when they demanded water. He says that he was angry with them for forty years. Is it only them or do we do the exact same things, always looking for more, no longer happy with what is sufficient?
Christians can have joy in tribulation because we know God is transforming us. We can face the difficulties of life knowing that God is moving us—moving us from suffering to perseverance, from perseverance to character, and from character to hope. We will not be transformed by the abundances of life, but instead by learning to be happy with the sufficiency of God’s grace and his blessings. Listen to God’s Word! In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ‘Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.’” God’s grace is sufficient for us. As long as we have the promise of his grace, nothing else should matter. 2 Corinthians 4:17: “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” And Romans 8:18: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” This is what the season of Lent is all about. We have the opportunity to release all of the excess in our lives and focus on only what really matters. Nothing else will matter in eternity, and we know that God’s grace is sufficient to ensure that. Take this verse with you and recite it during the coming week. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We may face many challenges in this life. Hunger, thirst, sickness, grief, but one thing is always certain, the gift of God’s grace is sufficient.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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