1 Kings 3:5-12 July 27, 2014 Romans 8:26-39 All Things For Good First Trinity Lutheran Church

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1 Christian author Doris Betts tells a story about driving down the highway in North Carolina and seeing a highway patrolman beside the road. Apparently a chicken truck had run off the road and broken apart. Chickens were running loose. The driver was trying to recapture the chickens. People were trying to steal the chickens. There was chicken blood everywhere. It was a scene of mixed horror and humor, and the patrolman was trying to bring order out of the chaos. That s us, says Betts. In the middle of life s chaos with its horror and its humor, we try to bring order, meaning, and stability. 1 A run-through of the headlines says we re not doing such a good job of bringing order, meaning and stability. The missiles and clashes between Israelis and Palestinians escalated even more this week. More information is being learned about the Malaysian jet downed in the Ukraine last week even as Air Algerie crashed in Mali with no survivors and Taiwan had a plane crash into a building. Closer to home, some of us got out into the neighborhood this week with our brothers and sisters from 6 th and I Synagogue, Calvary Baptist and neighborhood residents and interacted in a different way with residents and business in the Penn Quarter/Chinatown area. We learned another low-income housing property is In danger of being sold and the residents aren t sure they can stay and if they have to go, they don t know where they will go. 1 Mist, Stan. Center for Excellence in Preaching, via 1

2 We also learned that a private company, not WMATA, runs the Circulator Bus and the employees earn half what the Metro train and bus employees earn. People are happy to have a job, but with few benefits or real stability or opportunities to move up in the organization. Even closer to home, cancer continues to lurk and make itself known, families struggle and many are weary. I would have to say that we are long on chaos and short on humor right about now. That s why I m thankful for these words from Romans. St. Paul s words soothe weary souls and aching hearts with words that illustrate the arc of God s plan, provision and protection in the midst of chaos, despair and hopelessness. God s arc is full of promise and steadfastness, power and truth. One commentary I read said, Nearly every sentence in this section is a new way of stating the promise that God has not abandoned us, and is in fact working across the past, present and future on our behalf. 2 I don t know about you but I need to be reminded of God s power and plan from time to time. Particularly when I see chronic conflict, ceaseless violence, and deep-seeded hatred and fear between countries, I need to be reminded of this. When dozens of numbers of God s people are killed and rhetoric inflames. 2 Hinkle Shore, Mary. Via July 24,

3 In a time such as this when nation rises up against nation, when innocents fall from the sky, when doctors have no more answers or options, when exhaustion takes over, sometimes there are no words. In these helpless moments, we are most alone, despairing and afraid. If you have ever found yourself at a loss for words to use in prayer, you may be grateful to hear Paul reassure us we ve got some help with prayer the Spirit intercedes for us, he says. What Paul is saying is that the Spirit intercedes for us when we do not even know what to want. From the Middle East, to the US borders and desperate Latino populations To remote partners or spouses, depressed or hyper family members. The situations that weigh on our hearts are complex. And have complex solutions and the wisdom of Solomon seems nowhere to be found. We try, but we are limited in our words, our vision and our understanding. But God knows the mind of the Spirit through our hearts when our words fail us. Though our words fail us in prayer, and though we think maybe we have failed at having faith in the midst of suffering, even then we do not exist outside of God. The Spirit intercedes to enact God s will, to make sure that God s work continues, to make sure the arc of God s plan remains unbroken, that God s promises are fulfilled. 3

4 The work of God is to bring all things together for good. Paul is not saying here that everything that happens is good. Paul is not saying that 4 children killed on a beach is good. Paul is not saying that houses destroyed by bombs are good. Paul is not saying that blown up or lost jets are good things. Paul is not saying that cancer, addiction, loneliness, grief or pain are good. We are not being asked to deny the reality of bad things, the existence of evil in our lives and the world. Paul s promise is that in all things, even the bad, God can work in and through them to bring good, to bring light and life to the world. And, Paul isn t just talking about the present his present day or our present day. The God who calmed the winds of chaos, set apart the seas and land, set the stars in the night sky and the sun in the day, who made the plants and animals and finally humans and pronounced it very good is the same God who promised Abraham and Sarah a child and descendants as numerous as the stars. God s people are not abandoned throughout history As God continually comes to the aid of creation and creatures. God heard the cries of the prophets and people. God saw people commit to live their lives according to divine will And God saw us turn and fail. God was angry like a betrayed lover, Yet, in all things, God worked for good. In all things, God worked to get closer to God s people, That we might repent and turn to God. Finally, God came into the world as Jesus. Walked the holy ground of the Middle East, Was betrayed, suffered, died, and was buried on sacred land. 4

5 But, still God did not abandon, Still God did not allow separation. In Jesus, God conquered death and gives new life. Paul promises that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing. Nothing can separate us from God. Nothing can remove us from God s existence. Not despair, not loneliness, not failure, not silence, not pain or hurt. Not rockets, or airplane crashes or borders or gangs. Not divorce or drugs or mistakes or anger or death. This is the heart of Paul s message in these chapters of Romans. This is the heart of the gospel and what we cling to when words fail us, when it seems as if humanity has headed down a path of no return. In these verses, Paul reminds us that God is unalterably for us, with us, working good in and through us. 3 Thanks be to God. Amen. 3 Mist, Stan. Center for Excellence in Preaching, via 5

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