NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM GOD’S LOVE
Text: Romans 8:18-28, 34-37
"I heard about a frustrated mother whose two sons where driving her crazy. She had tried everything to keep them in line, when one day she had an over-the-fence discussion with a neighbor. "I took my son to our priest," reported her friend, "and he got him straightened out for good."
Because she had exhausted all of her options and didn’t have a better idea, she followed her neighbor’s advice and took her two sons to the local parish priest. The younger boy was left in the waiting room and the older boy was ushered into the solemn presence of the robe-clad clergyman.
Without so much as introducing himself, the priest stared into the eyes of the frightened boy and began his interrogation with this question: "Where is God?"
The boy was speechless. The priest spoke again, "Where is God?" The young lad looked away, searching the room as if the answer might be found in the religious items that filled the office. He still did not answer. A little louder and with more emphasis, the priest asked for a third time, "Where is God?"
This time, the boy leaped to his feet and ran out of the office. When he came to the waiting room, he grabbed his brother by the hand and pulled him out the door. "Let’s get out of here," he said, "They’ve lost God and they’re trying to pin it on us." (David Jeremiah. The Wisdom Of God. Milford: Mott Media, no date, p.17).
This story is somewhat humorous. But, it is also profound in that it hints at separation from God in the midst of trouble or in a crisis. Romans 8 to deals heavily with the issue of suffering, hope and God’s presence and intercession. There are times when we feel all alone because of a crisis or suffering.
SUFFERING
All of us have questioned the purpose of suffering. First of all, we question why good people suffer undeservingly. Then, we question if suffering is actually serving some purpose. Or, like Job’s friends we think that perhaps suffering comes as a result of punishment. The branch of theology that deals with the question of "Why do good people suffer?" is called theodicy. Theodicy is theological approach that seeks to clear God from criticism, blame or guilt in allowing bad things to happen to good people. In other words, theodicy ... seeks to absolve God as the bad guy in allowing evil to exist in the context of what we consider to be divine justice. God "... causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45 NIV). What that scripture has to say is very simple in one way and complex in another. What it means is that God’s love is extended to the righteous and the unrighteous. But, someone will say "Okay, fine, but you still have not answered why good people suffer." The point is this, that nothing can separate us from God’s love. True, God allows good people to suffer, but so do evil people. Suffering happens because we live in a fallen world.
How we respond to the problems of evil and suffering says something about where we are and where we think that God is as well. "Suffering makes some strong, but others callous, bitter insensitive, and defeated" (Donald E. Messer. Contemporary Images Of Christian Ministry. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 89). "What happens to us brings out what is in us" (Wilson O. Weldon. Not Afraid. Nashville: The Upper Room, 1984, p. 67). Life does not always turn out like we planned. In the road of life, we will encounter detours that send us on some other direction than the one we had intended. The detours can be the result of selfishness as well as circumstances that were beyond our control. Christians should not yield to the temptation to think of detours as the end or the oncoming dead-end of the road. How well or poor we handle life’s detours depends upon the attitude that we take with us while we travel the detour. What we learn from life’s detours depends heavily upon our attitude. (Robert H. Spain. How To Stay Alive As Long As You Live. Nashville: Dimensions for living, 1992, pp. 30-37). Only when we strive to see how the detour can be an opportunity for learning and growth can we have optimism. A negative attitude will cause us to see life’s detours as stumblingblocks from which we might not recover.
"An unlettered maid was great in the kitchen and an immaculate housekeeper, but her main strength was that she never ruffled by anything. She was always calm and in control. When asked about her secret, she quoted a verse in the Bible: "It came to pass." When told that this was not the complete verse she replied, "It is for me. It means that whatever comes, comes to pass. It doesn’t come to stay". (Robert H. Spain. How To Stay Alive As Long As You Live. Nashville: Dimensions for living, 1992, p. 32).
Consider a case history that Jesus mentioned. Jesus spoke of the tragedy that was brought about by Pilate. Jesus spoke about the blood of Galileans that was shed. Pilate had wanted to build a new water system in Jerusalem. He misappropriated money from the temple treasury to fund the project. Naturally, there were some Jews who began to protest. Pilate decided to pull a cloak and dagger stunt to get rid of the protesters. Pilate sent some of his soldiers into the crowd dressed like civilians. The were carrying concealed weapons. The plan was to get rid of the protestors and make them scatter in fear. Instead, it became a massacre as the soldiers beyond wielding their weapons. When the incident was over there were several Jews that were mortally wounded. Jesus then proclaimed that these people were not killed because they were evil. (William Barclay. The Dail Study Bible Series: The Gospel Of Luke. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975, pp. 172-173). In response, Jesus answered it this way. "Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell. you, no! But unless you repent, you too, will perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you no! But unless you repent, you too will perish" (Luke 13:3-5 NIV).
HOPE
One of the enemies of hope is anxiety. Anxiety is the fear of the unknown. Any given problem, crisis or suffering can make us feel all alone in our trials. That feeling can leave us feeling like we are hoping against hope. Only faith in God can help us through our trials. Otherwise, our trials and the anxiety that they may produce can eventually get the best of us. One of the reason that prayer is so important is that it keeps us focused on the fact that God is bigger than our biggest of problems. Jesus told His disciples then and tells His disciples today that we should always pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1).
Another enemy of hope is fear. We fear what happened to others may now happen to us. Or, we fear what happened before may happen again. Sometimes fear can become so great that it can eventually immobilize our progression in our journey of faith of we lose sight of hope.
An experiment was once done to prove the point that there is such a thing is learned helplessness. But, from that same experiment we could also say that there is such a thing as learned hopelessness. The experiment was to take a dog and place him in a pen with a metal plate as the floor. An electric shock would be given which would at first Irritate the dog and make him angry. Later, he just gave up and laid down and moaned every time the shocked came through the floor. This illustration is a perfect example of what the devil wants to do to us in our time of trials. The devil’s scheme is this: "weaken the faith, try to make them lose sight of their religion and then seek to tempt and master their will."
One of the byproducts of our trials is groaning. Groaning is not useless (Warren Wiersbe. The Bible Expositor’s Commentary. Volume 1. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989, p. 540). Creation groans expressing pain and discomfort. But, Paul likened this groaning to a woman in childbirth wherein the pain ends once the child is born (Romans 8:22). Jesus Said the same thing in John 16:21 wherein a woman forgets about the pain of childbirth once she experiences the joy of her newborn child. Someone might say "All that is well and good but where is God in all that?" That is where the intercession of the Holy Spirit comes in.
INTERCESSION
When we do not know what to say or how to say it as we feel at a loss for words in prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. The Spirit intercedes for us meaning that the Holy Spirit acts on our behalf. The Spirit acts on our behalf by praying for us and interceding when we feel like we have met the limits of our strength and are at a loss for words. It is when we feel overwhelmed that we will groan. The Holy Spirit responds to our groans in the same way that a dispatcher responds to calls at a 911 center. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us on our behalf and in harmony with the will of God (Romans 8:27 Amplified Bible paraphrased).
The Holy Spirit not only groans in interceding for us/ but God is with us even in the midst of our trials. Therefore, nothing shall separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:37-39). In Matthew 28:20, Jesus said that He would always be with us: "… surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (NIV). In John 16:7, Jesus explained to His disciples that unless He went away He could not send the comforter who is the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ also intercedes for us from the right hand side of God the Father in heaven (Romans 8:34). There can be no question about it, God wants us to succeed. Through God’s love we become more than conquerors because there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Jesus has given and daily gives us the victory over sin, death and the fear of death because He conquered all three of those things on the cross. The motto of the US Coast Guard is "Semper paratus" which means "always prepared" in Latin. When we put our faith in God who has made us more than conquerors through His love, then we will always have what it takes to "always be prepared".
There is the story about a couple who had been married for years. They were the second car from the red light. The wife looked at the young couple that was kissing at the red light in front of them and said to her husband, "How come you do not sit that close and kiss on me like that any more?" Wisely, the husband answered, "I never moved. You did." When we face hard times, God wants us to know that He has not and will not moved.
