Things Can Be Rough All Over

When I was a boy, one day I was complaining about something that must have really struck a nerve with my Mom. My complaint was likely having something to do with my having to do some chore, and my sisters didn’t have to do the same thing, regardless that they were likely too small or too young to do what ever it was I was being asked to do. Or I might have been complaining that there was nothing to do, I was bored, or I had to clean my room before I would be allowed to do whatever it was I wanted to do. My Mom, being both a patient and caring lady, could also dish it right back back in my face when I needed it. She finally got tired of hearing my whining, looked me in the eyes, and said, “Well, things are rough all over.” I stood somewhat dumbfounded, realizing that I was going to have to learn something I didn’t much want to accept. Life was not always going to present me with nice things, fun things, easy living, and people who would always agree with my point of view. I didn’t much like that lesson. But guess what? It wasn’t going to be the last lesson I was going to learn that didn’t meet with my approval.

In life, we have all learned some of these rough lessons the hard way. Some of us may have had to learn that despite our aspirations of playing in Major League Baseball, our athletic abilities may not have been up to that skill level. Or maybe some of us had to learn that we didn’t pick up on mathematical concepts as easily as others. Or maybe our health became a source of discomfort, or concern, or even fear. Maybe we have had to learn how to lose gracefully, or maybe others have had to learn to stand up for themselves knowing there may be some unpleasant consequences by doing so. Others have had to learn how to navigate life, sometimes just to survive, or maybe to find opportunities that keep alluding them for one reason or another. And when we just keep getting batted down, it begins to change the way we see people, or the way we see our chances to succeed on our own merit. Things can be rough all over. Our spirit can take a hit, and our hope can begin to wane. But, as we have learned many times in life, if we can just get through and come out on the other side of some problems, we may find ourselves somewhat stronger, if not physically, perhaps mentally, or emotionally stronger for having endured and made it through.

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, addressed some of these things. From Romans 5:1-8, Paul writes to the church in Rome about being justified by faith, having a right relationship with God, the free gift of God’s grace through Jesus Christ, and he talks about the opportunities we can find in dealing with our troubles. He writes:

The New Revised Standard Version Results of Justification

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.

I had mentioned to someone the other day that these were the verses I was going to use for this sermon, and he commented that theologically these few verses were chock full of things that could serve for several sermons. And he was right. But, I’m only going to concentrate today’s message on the part that addresses the opportunities we gain in our sufferings. But, briefly, Paul’s mention of justification by faith comes from the idea that in the church in Rome, there was a mix of Jewish and Gentile Christians, with the Jews pushing insisting the Gentiles must first enter into Jewish traditions and practices before they could become Christians. They would need to be circumcised, and they would have to abide by the kosher eating rules of Judaism, among other things. But, Paul told them essentially that it was not necessary for the Gentiles to first become Jews, because they were equal in God’s eyes. In Galatians 3:28, Paul had written that, “28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The Christians in Rome, as elsewhere, had entered into the right relationship with God through their faith, because the death and resurrection of Jesus had made it so. All Christians were equal. This equality in standing in the free grace of God is one of the main themes in this letter to the Romans. And in this fact, Paul said they could boast in the hope of sharing God’s glory. While the closest translation of the Greek is our word “boast”, I like the translation that refers to “rejoicing” in this hope of God’s glory. I think it tends to better describe what Paul was saying. They had been justified, or reconciled with God, and had received the free gift of God’s grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. It was, as it is today, a cause for rejoicing.

Then Paul goes on to say, in the recognition that these Christians were likely going to suffer for their new faith, or in some other ways, that they could also boast, or rejoice, in their trials and tribulations. But, while he did include in his meaning that the individuals themselves saw hard times because their faith, they as a church suffered troubles as the Body of Christ. And Paul said that in these troubles, they could rejoice. Like we have grown from our hard lessons in life, the church and its people would develop endurance or perseverance through their suffering. And this endurance would build character. This character is described in terms that likened it to having gone through an ordeal, a description that would bring to mind the tempering of steel.

When my son, Jake was in high school, he played for one of the toughest football coaches in Springdale High School’s history, Jarrell Williams. As a Sophomore and Junior, Jake didn’t develop physically as quickly as some of his teammates. He could blame that on me because I was a late bloomer myself. Coach Williams had the boys go through a rite of passage once a year in practice called the blood pit, where a couple boys line up against each other, and one tries to run the ball past the other, and the other has to try to tackle the runner. They did this within a circle of players and coaches who would root and jeer and pump each other up to get the adrenaline flowing. It was a pretty brutal exercise. In Jake’s Junior year, when it was his turn to be the tackler, he got laid out flat. He was embarrassed, and felt humiliated. He didn’t play much that year., and he almost didn’t play his Senior year. But, he did play. He was determined to finish out what he started. And he physically developed quite a bit over the summer before the two a day practices started for his Senior season. When it came time for the blood pit his Senior season, he lined up against one of the toughest running backs on the team. I was there to watch. And I was really dreading it if he had a similar experience as the year before. I knew that he was anxious about having to do this again this year in front of everyone after his performance the year before. But, he stepped into the circle ready to take it on. The ball was hiked, Jake put a sweeping move on the blocker, and he hit the runner solidly, nailing him to the ground on his back. His teammates let out a yell and slapped him on the back, the coaches bragged on his performance, and I saw my son grow another inch taller that day. I saw him come through that ordeal a much more confident and strengthened young man. I don’t think they are allowed to do that. Proud, OK, yeah I was proud. Not necessarily because he had performed well, but because he had endured for an entire year, faced his fear head on, and developed the confidence and hope he needed to have a good Senior season.

Paul said that through our trials, or experiences, troubles or sufferings, we develop endurance and character. And from that proven character, we grow in our confidence to come through, and it gives us hope . Robert Mounce writes, “It is the experience of coming through a time of testing that produces hope. Our confidence in God’s ability and willingness to bring us through difficult times leads to an ever brighter hope for that which lies beyond.” When we have this kind of hope, we are not let down because God fills our hearts with his love through the Holy Spirit. Mounce says, “Hope is rewarded with a fresh awareness of the incomprehensible love of God.”

In our current circumstances, particularly with the pandemic and the civil unrest of the past couple of weeks, we are seeing more trials to endure than we have seen in decades, and I dare say in some of our lifetimes. And you will hear some say that these current troubles that our country and our world are facing are because God is bringing us to these difficulties as a test, or as a punishment for our sins, or even some specific acts or issues. That kind of rhetoric seems to come up anytime there is a major disaster, natural or manmade. We heard that when there was a tsunami in Indonesia that killed thousands. We heard that after the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were attacked. We heard that after devastating Hurricane Katrina that wiped out large areas of New Orleans., and after Hurricane Harvey that hit the Houston area so hard. It seems that some just can’t wait to blame a particular group or people for doing things they think we shouldn’t do as if they have it all figured out from God’s point of view. And frankly it is not up to us to know those things.

But, what we have been given in the suffering we are seeing and experiencing is the opportunity to develop our endurance in the fight against the injustices we are seeing today, and the strength of character to do something about them. We can stand up to what we know is wrong. We can continue to fight against the spread of the virus that is still very active, and affecting more and more people, and the problems it presents, by showing love for another in the way we continue to practice healthy distancing and sanitation. We can speak up for those who are being unjustly treated in our nation by letting our voices be heard to our decision makers. In these ways, we can build hope of necessary and healthy change that will in the end make life better for those who have suffered from the effects of the virus or at the hands of an unjust system that locks them out of the same opportunities afforded to others. And in that hope, God will not let us down, because we have been promised that through the Holy Spirit, God will flood our hearts with his love.