God's Chain Reaction
Sermon
Sermons on the Second Readings
Series III, Cycle C
In 1980, NBC introduced a new television game show called Chain Reaction. Since then, the show has appeared in different forms, but the main idea has always been for different teams to fill in a chain of words. For example, the first word in a four-word chain might be "light," the last word "spring," with the team needing to guess the two words in-between. In this case, "light" comes from a light "bulb," and out of the bulb grows a "daffodil," which comes up in the "spring." It's a chain reaction of words, where one word leads to another, and "light" turns into "spring."
In Romans 5, there is also a chain reaction of words that begins in verse 3 with "suffering" and ends in verse 4 with "hope." How might suffering turn into hope? Is that kind of divine chain reaction really possible? Or is this just another word game?
For Christians living in Rome, there seemed to be some evidence of their suffering. Romans 8:35 mentions "hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword." Romans 12:12 directs its readers to "be patient in suffering," and Romans 12:14 adds the encouragement "bless those who persecute you." In the midst of hardship, distress, persecution, and peril -- in the midst of that kind of suffering -- how could they possibly have hope?
Today, we might well ask the same kind of question -- perhaps not from the same kind of persecution for our faith, but from whatever troubles and afflictions that we might face in the world and in our own lives. When violence erupts again in any part of the world with all of the suffering it causes, how can we have hope? With the ongoing suffering of poverty, disease, and war in so many places around the world, how can we have hope? As we face our own personal challenges -- raising our children in an increasingly complicated world, facing our own aging and health issues, and confronting our own mortality, how can we have hope? With the Romans long ago, we might also ask: Can suffering really lead to hope?
It does in God's chain reaction -- for the first Christians who received this letter and for us today, suffering is the first element of a chain that leads to the second element of endurance. Other English translations use the word "perseverance" -- like the persistent widow that kept going back to the judge for justice again and again and again. Or the Energizer Bunny that goes on and on and on. Endurance means we keep putting one foot in front of the other, we keep taking it one day at a time, we keep holding on even if it means we're holding on only by our fingernails.
When there is suffering and perseverance, the third element in the chain is character. The Greek word for "character" here is dokimas that literally means someone or something that has been put to the test and been approved. If you take driver training and pass your road test to receive your license, you are dokimas -- you have been put to the test and been approved. Or if your toothpaste has received the stamp of approval from the American Dental Association, it is dokimas. It's been tested and approved. So, too, character is tested and proved by suffering and perseverance.
In turn, character leads to the fourth element of the chain: hope. Hope is forward looking. It takes us beyond suffering, beyond perseverance, beyond character, into the future. Hope takes us beyond ourselves and whatever concerns we might have to place our trust and confidence in God.
This is God's divine chain reaction -- suffering, perseverance, character, hope. It appears in other parts of the Bible as well.
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
-- James 1:2-4
In God's chain reaction, the testing of your faith develops endurance, which makes you mature and complete -- in other words, that gives you character.
In a similar way, 1 Peter 1:6-7 says:
In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith -- being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire -- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
-- 1 Peter 1:6-7
Suffering is faith tested by fire, which results in praise, glory, and honor.
It's not that we rejoice for suffering in the letters of James or 1 Peter or here in our text from Romans 5. We don't rejoice for suffering in any kind of sadistic or masochistic way. But we can rejoice in the midst of suffering because there is a divine chain reaction -- suffering that leads to perseverance and character and hope. We can rejoice because suffering is not the end, but it can lead us to something much better.
There is a second chain reaction in our text for today, beginning in verse 1 with "justified by faith" and ending in verse 2 with "our hope of sharing the glory of God." Again, we might ask -- is this chain reaction merely a matter of words, or is it really possible in our own lives today? How do we get from being justified by faith to boasting in the hope of the glory of God?
The first step in this divine chain reaction is that being justified by faith leads to peace with God (v. 2). This is a simple statement of fact: When we are justified through faith, we have peace with God. At times we may not feel very peaceful. On the global scene, we may feel helpless and overwhelmed by world events that are so much larger than ourselves and beyond our control. Closer to home in our own community and personal lives, we may also face situations of conflict or distress. There may be so much happening in our lives we may feel anything but peaceful. But our feelings don't change the reality. Because of Jesus' death on the cross, our sins have been paid for and forgiven. If we have faith in Jesus, we have peace with God whether or not we feel that way.
Peace with God means we stand and live in God's grace (v. 2). This is a third element in the chain. It's not a one-time thing that lasts for a moment or a day or a year or two. Peace with God is ongoing, so we can stand in God's grace our whole lifelong, and even beyond this life, we can have hope of sharing the glory of God. Again, God's chain reaction is made complete by hope.
For both of these chain reactions, the end result is hope. In verses 1 and 2, it's justification by faith that leads to peace with God and standing in grace and results in hope. In verses 3 and 4, it's suffering that produces endurance that produces character that leads to hope.
Today we use the word "hope" very loosely in a number of different ways. I hope it's sunny this afternoon. I hope my mother will be well enough to go home from the hospital this week. Some of you may be hoping to pass math this year or hoping to get your driver's license; hoping for a new job or hoping to retire. Some of these hopes may come true. Others may lead to disappointment. As we well know, not all of our hopes in this life are satisfied. But the hope described in our text today always comes true!
It is the hope of eternal life. Romans 5:2 describes it as the "hope of sharing the glory of God." That's another way of saying the hope of eternal life. As Titus 3:7 puts it, "so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." This life with its suffering is not the end. When we place our faith in Jesus, we have peace with God in this life and in the next, where there will be no more pain and suffering, no more sorrow, no more grief, but endless joy and praise in the presence of God. That's part of our hope of sharing the glory of God in eternal life.
It is the hope of God's love. Romans 5:5: "God's love has been poured into our hearts." God is not a stingy God using an eyedropper to measure out love drop by drop. Instead, God's love has been so generously poured out that it reaches into our very being.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 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.
-- Romans 8:38-39
It is the hope of God's presence. Verse 5 of our text continues, "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." This is another statement of fact. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit is given to us. We may not always feel that God is with us, especially during times of suffering and trial. We may feel alone and abandoned. But at those times we can hope in the Holy Spirit who is always with us, no matter how we may feel. As Jesus himself says in Matthew 28:28, "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Since Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension, he is no longer physically present on earth, he is no longer physically with us. But he sent the Holy Spirit to be with us to the very end of the age, no matter what sufferings and trials we may go through.
This kind of hope will never disappoint us! The hope of eternal life, the hope in God's love, the hope in the Holy Spirit's presence -- through faith in Jesus, this hope is ours today. When we place our faith in Jesus, there is a divine chain reaction that leads to peace and grace and hope. Even when we suffer there can be a divine chain reaction that leads to endurance, character, and hope, a hope that will never disappoint us.
Let us pray: Our gracious and loving God, we pray for your divine chain reaction in our lives. Pour your love into our hearts. Give us a hope that will never be disappointed because we hope in you -- in your promise of eternal life, in your love that never fails, in your presence that is always with us. Amen.
In Romans 5, there is also a chain reaction of words that begins in verse 3 with "suffering" and ends in verse 4 with "hope." How might suffering turn into hope? Is that kind of divine chain reaction really possible? Or is this just another word game?
For Christians living in Rome, there seemed to be some evidence of their suffering. Romans 8:35 mentions "hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword." Romans 12:12 directs its readers to "be patient in suffering," and Romans 12:14 adds the encouragement "bless those who persecute you." In the midst of hardship, distress, persecution, and peril -- in the midst of that kind of suffering -- how could they possibly have hope?
Today, we might well ask the same kind of question -- perhaps not from the same kind of persecution for our faith, but from whatever troubles and afflictions that we might face in the world and in our own lives. When violence erupts again in any part of the world with all of the suffering it causes, how can we have hope? With the ongoing suffering of poverty, disease, and war in so many places around the world, how can we have hope? As we face our own personal challenges -- raising our children in an increasingly complicated world, facing our own aging and health issues, and confronting our own mortality, how can we have hope? With the Romans long ago, we might also ask: Can suffering really lead to hope?
It does in God's chain reaction -- for the first Christians who received this letter and for us today, suffering is the first element of a chain that leads to the second element of endurance. Other English translations use the word "perseverance" -- like the persistent widow that kept going back to the judge for justice again and again and again. Or the Energizer Bunny that goes on and on and on. Endurance means we keep putting one foot in front of the other, we keep taking it one day at a time, we keep holding on even if it means we're holding on only by our fingernails.
When there is suffering and perseverance, the third element in the chain is character. The Greek word for "character" here is dokimas that literally means someone or something that has been put to the test and been approved. If you take driver training and pass your road test to receive your license, you are dokimas -- you have been put to the test and been approved. Or if your toothpaste has received the stamp of approval from the American Dental Association, it is dokimas. It's been tested and approved. So, too, character is tested and proved by suffering and perseverance.
In turn, character leads to the fourth element of the chain: hope. Hope is forward looking. It takes us beyond suffering, beyond perseverance, beyond character, into the future. Hope takes us beyond ourselves and whatever concerns we might have to place our trust and confidence in God.
This is God's divine chain reaction -- suffering, perseverance, character, hope. It appears in other parts of the Bible as well.
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
-- James 1:2-4
In God's chain reaction, the testing of your faith develops endurance, which makes you mature and complete -- in other words, that gives you character.
In a similar way, 1 Peter 1:6-7 says:
In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith -- being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire -- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
-- 1 Peter 1:6-7
Suffering is faith tested by fire, which results in praise, glory, and honor.
It's not that we rejoice for suffering in the letters of James or 1 Peter or here in our text from Romans 5. We don't rejoice for suffering in any kind of sadistic or masochistic way. But we can rejoice in the midst of suffering because there is a divine chain reaction -- suffering that leads to perseverance and character and hope. We can rejoice because suffering is not the end, but it can lead us to something much better.
There is a second chain reaction in our text for today, beginning in verse 1 with "justified by faith" and ending in verse 2 with "our hope of sharing the glory of God." Again, we might ask -- is this chain reaction merely a matter of words, or is it really possible in our own lives today? How do we get from being justified by faith to boasting in the hope of the glory of God?
The first step in this divine chain reaction is that being justified by faith leads to peace with God (v. 2). This is a simple statement of fact: When we are justified through faith, we have peace with God. At times we may not feel very peaceful. On the global scene, we may feel helpless and overwhelmed by world events that are so much larger than ourselves and beyond our control. Closer to home in our own community and personal lives, we may also face situations of conflict or distress. There may be so much happening in our lives we may feel anything but peaceful. But our feelings don't change the reality. Because of Jesus' death on the cross, our sins have been paid for and forgiven. If we have faith in Jesus, we have peace with God whether or not we feel that way.
Peace with God means we stand and live in God's grace (v. 2). This is a third element in the chain. It's not a one-time thing that lasts for a moment or a day or a year or two. Peace with God is ongoing, so we can stand in God's grace our whole lifelong, and even beyond this life, we can have hope of sharing the glory of God. Again, God's chain reaction is made complete by hope.
For both of these chain reactions, the end result is hope. In verses 1 and 2, it's justification by faith that leads to peace with God and standing in grace and results in hope. In verses 3 and 4, it's suffering that produces endurance that produces character that leads to hope.
Today we use the word "hope" very loosely in a number of different ways. I hope it's sunny this afternoon. I hope my mother will be well enough to go home from the hospital this week. Some of you may be hoping to pass math this year or hoping to get your driver's license; hoping for a new job or hoping to retire. Some of these hopes may come true. Others may lead to disappointment. As we well know, not all of our hopes in this life are satisfied. But the hope described in our text today always comes true!
It is the hope of eternal life. Romans 5:2 describes it as the "hope of sharing the glory of God." That's another way of saying the hope of eternal life. As Titus 3:7 puts it, "so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." This life with its suffering is not the end. When we place our faith in Jesus, we have peace with God in this life and in the next, where there will be no more pain and suffering, no more sorrow, no more grief, but endless joy and praise in the presence of God. That's part of our hope of sharing the glory of God in eternal life.
It is the hope of God's love. Romans 5:5: "God's love has been poured into our hearts." God is not a stingy God using an eyedropper to measure out love drop by drop. Instead, God's love has been so generously poured out that it reaches into our very being.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 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.
-- Romans 8:38-39
It is the hope of God's presence. Verse 5 of our text continues, "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." This is another statement of fact. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit is given to us. We may not always feel that God is with us, especially during times of suffering and trial. We may feel alone and abandoned. But at those times we can hope in the Holy Spirit who is always with us, no matter how we may feel. As Jesus himself says in Matthew 28:28, "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Since Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension, he is no longer physically present on earth, he is no longer physically with us. But he sent the Holy Spirit to be with us to the very end of the age, no matter what sufferings and trials we may go through.
This kind of hope will never disappoint us! The hope of eternal life, the hope in God's love, the hope in the Holy Spirit's presence -- through faith in Jesus, this hope is ours today. When we place our faith in Jesus, there is a divine chain reaction that leads to peace and grace and hope. Even when we suffer there can be a divine chain reaction that leads to endurance, character, and hope, a hope that will never disappoint us.
Let us pray: Our gracious and loving God, we pray for your divine chain reaction in our lives. Pour your love into our hearts. Give us a hope that will never be disappointed because we hope in you -- in your promise of eternal life, in your love that never fails, in your presence that is always with us. Amen.
