Today’s suggested reading from the eighth chapter of Romans invites us to catch sight of Paul’s vision of reality.
And what he saw was not always beautiful and pleasant.
Rather, the passage wrestles with a difficult dilemma that Paul confronted, and that people of faith have had to confront through the centuries. That is, how do we reconcile faith’s vision of the glory and power of God with the stark reality of the suffering and decay of the world?
In the passages immediately preceding today’s text, Paul had offered his thoughts on the contrast between life in the Spirit and life in the flesh. For him, what he considered “the flesh??? was a merely physical existence, warped from God’s intended purposes and broken beyond repair because of the corrosive and destructive reality of sin. Those who lived merely “in the flesh??? as Paul put it, had very little hope of rising above that state of decay and brokenness into the fullness of life, of grace, of peace and of abundance that was God’s intention for human life.
But for those who had placed their faith in Christ, by contrast, a new hope had been born. Those who were in Christ had been blessed and infused with a new Spirit, which brought life even out of destruction and death, for it was the same Spirit that was alive in and at work in the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it was the presence of this life-giving, death-destroying Spirit that would not only sustain their spiritual lives, but would also infuse their physical bodies.
Paul states this in the words, in chapter 8, that immediately precede today’s reading. In verse 11, we read, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.???
The presence of the Spirit, in a person’s life, was therefore not just a “spiritual??? matter –rather, the presence of the Spirit gave life to all of the different parts of a person’s being – spiritual, physical, mental, emotional. For Paul, therefore, it was not that “the flesh??? and “the Spirit???, or a person’s physical and spiritual lives were two separate compartments of their life – instead, the life-giving presence of the Spirit would cause transformation to take place in every part of a person.
And, as today’s passage opens, Paul uses that conviction to explore the nature of our identity and our relationship with God. Those who were no longer bound to give in to the weaknesses and limitations of a merely physical existence – or as Paul put it, those who were no longer “debtors to the flesh??? – were opened into a new reality, a new identity, as the adopted children of God. As Paul wrote, “for all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.???
It all sounds so good, so promising, so hopeful, so appealing.
But.
But Paul’s words also reflected his awareness that life in the Spirit did not exempt the children of God from the reality of suffering in this world.
And how we wish that it did.
How we wish that “coming to Jesus??? or “life in the Spirit??? somehow came with a free pass from all of the difficulties, the stresses, the struggles, the challenges, the pain, the sorrow and the sadness of life. And in light of the fact that both Jesus and Paul seemed to suggest that we could call on God as “Abba??? or “Father??? and whose love for us was as real and as significant as that of a powerful and tender loving parent – how we wish that all of our fervent cries to God, all of our prayers for healing, all of our heart’s longings and desires, all of our hopes and dreams, all of our wishes that strength and peace and wholeness and health would be answered.
Isn’t that the way that things are supposed to happen? Isn’t that how prayer is supposed to work?
It would be nice to think that life in the Spirit, and that faith, would always and inevitably lead us out of suffering…but we all know that that is not reality.
And Paul knew that as well. He acknowledged the continuing reality of suffering and difficulty, even for those who had been born of the Spirit and in whom the presence of Christ was dwelling.
But he reframed that reality of suffering as a prelude to something far greater, far more glorious. In so doing, his words neither deny nor negate the challenging and sometimes crushing reality of suffering, in this world, but he invited his readers to look beyond the suffering. He invited his readers not to allow their minds and their visions to become overly fixated and focused on the struggles that were presently confronting them.
“I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.??? And what Paul invited his readers to do was to find, in the midst of their sufferings and their difficulties, a renewed opportunity for hope. “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.???
Suffering, struggle, groaning – none of us get exempted from those challenging realities of life. But the transforming question that Paul sets before us – and, in fact, the transforming question that the Gospel places before us – is this. Is it possible to keep a vision of the glory that is beyond suffering? Is it possible to keep a vision that is infused and informed by the confidence that brokenness and suffering and death will not have the final claim?
Such questions do not simply invite us to place our hope in some heavenly realm beyond the grave – even though they do, in fact, invite such a vision. Rather, such questions also shape the ways that we live out our days in this world. Yes, there will be suffering. Yes, there will be challenges. Yes, there will be situations and circumstances that cause us to groan, deeply. But the invitation of faith, and the presence of the Christ’s Spirit within us, invites us to live with hope, even in the face of difficulty – and to allow the Spirit’s life-giving, compassionate, peaceful and hopeful presence to infuse our words, our thoughts and our actions, until the suffering gives way to a new and renewed life. It is only hope that can inspire us to look beyond the reality of suffering.
A number of years ago, I ran the Ottawa Marathon. Anyone who has run a marathon will know that there comes a point when your entire body is feeling weary and worn out, and your mind and your body start having a conversation with each other.
“Why are you doing this to me???? asks your body.
And for a while, the mind’s response is, “one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other.??? Until finally, even the mind starts saying, “why are we doing this????
Anyways, I was about ¾ of the way through the marathon – probably just past the 20 mile mark – and I was feeling exhausted. One speaks of “running??? a marathon, but for many of us, “running??? is probably overstating the case, at least by the ¾ mark. We might have started strong, with powerful and forceful strides, but by that point in the race, the power and force of our footfalls has been overtaken by a slackened shuffle, interspersed with a bit of walking from time to time.
But it was at that point in the race that I heard a voice from the sidelines. No, it was not God or the Spirit or some cheering friend or family member. Rather, it was a woman who was calling a word of encouragement to someone else in the race. One of her friends was somewhere around me, and she simply yelled. “Just push through it.???
“Just push through it.???
Not some fancy advertising slogan like “just do it.??? (“Just do it??? is the type of slick marketing that gets you to sign up for a marathon in the first place, with the strange idea that it is going to be a fun experience). But later in the race, when the euphoria and adrenaline of “just do it??? have worn off and your mind and body are asking you “why are we doing this???? the fancy marketing slogan is not quite as powerful a motivator.
But that stranger’s words were exactly what I needed to hear, in that moment, in that race, on that day.
“Just push through it.???
Such a statement is, in fact, an encouragement, but it is also a statement of hope. Because it assumes that there is something to push towards. It acknowledges that the exhaustion and weariness and struggle are real, that they are powerful, and that they are not comfortable; but it also was a reminder that the exhaustion and weariness and struggle were not going to last forever.
So what you’re going through right now. Yeah, it’s hard. Yeah, you’re tired. Yeah, you wonder if you have the strength to go on. But just push through it.
And to hear those words, in that moment, on that day, renewed my strength in a strange way. I pushed through the weariness, I kept going, the finish line eventually came shuffling along, and the run was finished – and it felt good. In fact, it ended up being the fastest marathon I had ever run.
I sometimes wonder if Paul would have summed up his reflections, in today’s passage, in a similar way. Yes, the suffering is real. Yes, you’re tired and worn out. Yes, the journey is hard. But just push through it. Just push through the suffering, because the suffering of this present time is not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed. God is still with you, so groan if you have to – but let your groans be declarations of hope, rooted in the confidence and the conviction that there is something far greater, something far better, something infinitely good and wonderful, something that is worth pushing towards.
The words that I heard, that day; and the words of Paul, are words that we all need to hear, from time to time.
Even for people of faith, even for those who have found life in the Spirit, life is not always easy, or care-free. It can be difficult and draining – and can sometimes give us reasons to groan with despair rather than persevere in hope.
But we need not give up. We need not give in. For there is a Spirit at work within us, there is a life that has been born within us, that reminds us who and whose we are. And it is that Spirit that renews hope within us, it is that Spirit that inspires vision within us, it is that Spirit that provides strength in our times of weakness and endurance in our times of weariness, so that we – like Jesus himself – will find the power to push through it – to a new and wondrous and abundant life.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
