Grow Through What You Go Through Romans Pastor Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Transcription

1 Grow Through What You Go Through Romans Pastor Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church As we continue to focus on a different book of the Bible each month, in March we turn to The Letter of Paul to the Romans which is the longest, the weightiest, and the most influential of all his letters. Written at the height of his career (between A.D ), it conveys the full richness of his experience of Christ. Paul writes to the Roman church, which had already been established by others, to announce his intention to carry the gospel to Spain (Romans 15:28) and to explain his understanding of the gospel - probably in the hope that the church in Rome would help him get to Spain. Romans describes the world s need of redemption ( ), God s saving act in Christ ( ) and the new life it has made available ( ). After chapters 9-11 address the role of the Jewish nation in God s plan, the letter closes with ethical teaching Christians are to follow and some closing personal remarks (chapters 12-16). I hope you will try to read through Romans once a week in March. It s one of the most important books in the New Testament and reading through it multiple times in a month will help you experience and understand it in a deeper way. One of my favorite books that I ve read in the last few years is The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown. I highly recommend this terrific story of the University of Washington s heavyweight crew team that sought to qualify for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and to win the Gold Medal. It s truly amazing the stories that have been told about some of the remarkable individuals who were members of the 1936 US Olympic Team including the young men who comprised the Boys in the Boat, sprinter Jessie Owens, and runner Louis Zamperini whose story was told by Laura Hillenbrand in Unbroken. There are so many illustrations and stories that make The Boys in the Boat worth reading. Joe Rantz is the central figure in the book and he endures through remarkable hardships and his resilience is truly inspiring. George Yeoman Pocock, an Englishman who builds the boats for the Washington Crew and also an insightful

2 2 observer of rowing and life says (page 53), So is life: the very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them. This is similar to the thought expressed by Paul in Romans 5. 5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Paul writes about suffering from the depths of extensive personal experience having endured among other things afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger. He survived countless floggings, often near death, five times received 39 lashes, three times he was beaten with rods, he received a stoning, three times shipwrecked, constantly in danger, enduring many sleepless nights, hungry, and thirsty, often without food, cold, and naked, and under daily pressure because of his anxiety for all the churches (see 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 & 11:23-30). Having suffered through more trials, troubles, and tests than most of us will ever experience, Paul is able to write with conviction about suffering.

3 3 Paul describes in Romans 5:3-5 the relationship of suffering, endurance, character, and hope with God s love and the Holy Spirit that s been given to us. The thought occurred to me as I meditated on these verses that at the heart of it is the encouragement to grow through what you go through. The more I thought about it the more convinced I became that this is a key theme of the entire Bible. Grow through what you go through. We all go through stuff in life that is hard, painful, and difficult; it may even involve suffering, many of those things that happen are beyond our control the loss of a loved one, a natural disaster, a physical diagnosis we don t get to choose what we ll face. When these things happen to us the choice we have is how we ll respond. Paul is urging us not to lose, waste, or squander the opportunity presented by suffering and hardship. That may sound odd. Let s be clear no one wants to suffer, I wouldn t presume to even say what it s like to suffer because compared to Paul and millions of other people I haven t suffered a day in my life. That doesn t mean I haven t lost people very dear to me, it doesn t mean I haven t had to cope with physical setbacks, but I haven t suffered as I think of suffering. However, I ve faced challenges and adversity, we all have and we all will, and when we do Paul s word to us is don t waste the opportunity presented by suffering, grow through what you go through and let it be a time in which you grow in endurance, character and hope. Let it be a time when you actually grow in your sense of God s love for you rather than seeing suffering or hardship as a punishment from God, seek to see how God s love has been poured into your heart through the Holy Spirit to help you through difficult seasons in life. In his excellent book which I highly recommend, The Voice of Jesus: Discernment, Prayer and the Witness of the Spirit, Gordon T. Smith writes (p. 84): Suffering - hurt, difficulty and setbacks establishes the context in which we either open our hearts and know the love of God or turn away in hardness, anger and self-pity. How we handle difficulty makes all the difference in the world and is the determining factor in how we respond to the ministry of the Spirit. The time when it is most critical to discern and know the love of God is the time of suffering. In fact, Paul says we should boast in our sufferings, we should embrace suffering accept it, walk into it and choose that through suffering we will grow in grace and hope. We know that every time we experience pain, suffering and disappointment, we are at a Y in the road. While

4 4 suffering can certainly lead to endurance, character, and hope, it can just as easily lead us down another road. Our response to suffering can lead to anger, then bitterness and finally cynicism, hardness and self-pity. Pain cannot be avoided. We live in a broken world, and the pain we experience will, in many respects, either make us or break us. If we re going to grow through what we go through it will be with the awareness that God loves us even and especially when we find life the most difficult. The paradox is that suffering and hardship, rather than causing us to doubt God s love for us, can also be the context in which we come to know the love of God most deeply. Grow through what you go through is a theme we see throughout the Bible. Abraham and Sarah were called by God to set out for a new home before they even knew where they were going. They had to trust God s promises for years and were tested in many ways. They had to grow through what they went through and they did. The Israelites wandering in the wilderness didn t do such a great job. There was a lot of complaining, whining, and grumbling about how things were better in Egypt. People failed to trust Moses, failed to obey God, and a lot them died without growing in endurance, character, and hope. Those that did like Joshua and Caleb were part of the new future that God had in store. In the 23 rd Psalm we re told, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. When we re in the deep valley of grief, hopefully we can come to a place of understanding that the only way out of challenging valleys is through. We have to keep moving and growing in endurance, character, and hope and we don t do this on our own or in our own strength. We re able to grow through what we go through because we know with conviction that the Lord is with us and God s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She didn t know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and the last she placed ground coffee beans.

5 5 She let them sit and boil without saying a word. After a while she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled some coffee into a mug. She asked her daughter, What do you see? Carrots, eggs, and coffee, she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter asked, What s the point? Her mother explained that each of the objects had faced the same adversity boiling water but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after being through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water. Which are you? she asked the daughter. When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? Think about that for a moment: ask yourself, Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes when the heat is on? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a break up, a financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you re like the coffee bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the trials are their greatest what do we do? How do we handle adversity, hardship, or suffering? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? I want to close by returning to George Yeoman Pocock s quote I shared at the beginning: So is life: the very problems you must overcome also support you and

6 6 make you stronger in overcoming them. Every time we experience pain, suffering and disappointment, we are at a Y in the road. Let s not choose the path that leads to anger, bitterness, cynicism, hardness of heart and self-pity. Let s follow Paul and so many people of faith and choose the path of endurance, character, and hope. Grow through what you go through and you will find God s love, Jesus presence, and the empowerment and the fruit of the Spirit all growing in your heart and spirit as well. Prayer: Holy God, we know Jesus, himself was tested by what he suffered, and he learned obedience through what he suffered (Hebrews 2:18, 5:8). We also will be tested by what we suffer and we can learn to obey you even in difficult times. It isn t easy, no one wants to go through suffering, but rather than being surprised by suffering that leads us to doubt you, prepare us for suffering, as much as we don t want to experience it, knowing suffering is a part of life and part of living out our faith and growing in endurance, character, and hope. Blessing: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). Questions for Discussion & Reflection 1. Have you ever found yourself doubting or questioning God s existence, power, or love? What was going on in your life when that happened? 2. What forms of suffering do you struggle with the most those caused by nature (tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes) or those caused by people? Why is that kind of suffering worse in your eyes? 3. Jesus, Paul, and many of the great figures in the Bible and in Christian history endured suffering. What do we learn from their lives that can help us? 4. How would you describe the relationship between suffering, endurance, character, hope, God s love and the Spirit that has been given to us?

7 7 5. According to Romans 5, why is it important for us to learn to open our hearts to the ministry of the Spirit? 6. Romans 5:8 is one of the most important verses to understand in the New Testament, But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Why is it so transforming to realize that God loves us with a love that is sure, strong, and dependable even and especially when we don t deserve or merit it? How does being loved this way by God impact how you love others?