December 6, 2020 Hope Romans 8:18-30

            If you are like me as soon as you see a sign on a door that says, “Employees Only,” or “Do Not Enter,” the first thing you want to do is find out what’s inside.  When I’m at a store I want to know what goes on behind the scenes; see the storeroom behind the façade of the sales floor. 

Strong Hospital used to issue clergy ID badges similar to that of their employees.  They don’t anymore but I wish they still did.  It was a great way to be able to go in after visiting hours and not have to go through the whole ID process.  I’m told that the clergy ID’s were only for that purpose and for parking privileges.  However, mine was like a universal key to the whole hospital.  It unlocked any and every door I ever tried it on.  The front doors – they opened.  The intensive care units, they opened.  Surgical areas, they opened.  I never tried it too widely though.  I thought it was a way to give pastors access without having to bother staff.  But apparently mine was a mistake.  Still though, it made me all the more curious about those locked doors that said: “Operating Room” or “Radioactive” or “Biohazard”.

Anyway, theologian Karl Donfried, Professor of Religion and Biblical Literature at Smith College in Massachusetts suggests that a Christian living in hope has obtained in this life is “access” – not complete entrance – but access to God’s grace.  And then rejoices in the hope of sharing the full glory of God in the ultimate future.  I see it as access into what non-believers think are locked doors.  You get access but perhaps not yet full use of the rooms.  Sometimes we describe hope as being “already but not yet” life in God’s kingdom.  It is living in the limits of the here and now but knowing that by God’s grace fullness of life is surely coming.  Therefore that future has a major effect on the reality we live now.

In the passage from Romans 8 we read, “For in hope we were saved.  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.”  (Romans 8:24-25)

I think when many people say they hope for something they are really filled with doubts.  They find their desired outcome for the future to be doubtful but they are hoping for otherwise.  When I was in college and I found myself hoping to get a good grade on an exam paper I just turned in it meant that I felt I had not done a good job but I hoped for a good grade anyway.

That may be a common way to understand hope, but I do not think that is how St. Paul uses it in his letters.  In our children’s sermon we talked about a child looking to a parent for the fulfillment of basic needs: clothing, food, shelter, stability, physical and emotional safety.  The child hopes for these things and (presuming the parents are good) lives in reasonable certainty that they will be received from the parents on an ongoing basis.  I said then that I think that is how Paul understands hope.  It is the reasonable certainty that God is – and will continue to – provide for our basic needs.

Keep that in mind and hear vs. 26-27 again, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.  And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

I think in the context of hope being the confident expectation of future care we can understand those verses fully.  That is not about being weak.  It is not about knowing how to pray properly.  It is in the context of a child being safe in a parent’s providence.

Also verse 28, which is so often misinterpreted, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God…”  People read that and with completely good intentions think it means that if you have faith everything will always turn out to be okay.  If things aren’t okay then just keep trusting and praying and working; and if you do so with patience things will eventually come out good.

That attitude is very commendable.  I’d recommend it highly.  However, that thinking is actually too limited. 

To be honest, Romans 8:28 is a problematic verse.  Ancient manuscripts differ in significant ways and no one is perfectly sure what Paul actually meant.  There are some hard core commentaries in the church library that dive into the difficulties, but one thing is for certain.  These verses are not about overcoming personal hardships.

When Paul says, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God…” he is not talking about the small stuff of any one person’s life.  Remember the previous verses and realize the cosmic scale Paul is using.  Remember he said, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope,” there’s our word for today, “that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (8:21-22)

He goes on with a powerful image, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now…”  As a man who has never, and can never, have a child I can only understand that verse distantly.  However I suspect that verse has incredible meaning to any woman who has ever birthed a child.

“All things work together…”  Yes, all things, ALL THINGS – the cosmic reality – is in labor to birth God’s intended fulfillment.  It is intense.  It is universal.  It is God’s work.  It is not ours.  We live in the sure and certain hope of God’s promised fulfillment.  And in a small way, we are invited into that work.

All things work together for good, yes.  But don’t think small.  Instead realize big – cosmic scale!  The whole universe is in travail for whose benefit?  God’s?  No.  Paul does not say that.  He says ours.

While we are part and parcel of the universe humanity plays a deeply important role in the heart of God.  God loves the entire creation but there is something unique and special to God’s love and delight in humanity.

That is the truth and the hope that we live in.

I never want to minimize individual suffering.  Lives can be broken.  Physical pain can be severe.  Sometimes that pain is from a body being abused, and sometimes it because a body just doesn’t grow right or there’s an accident or a disease or cancer or what have you.  There is emotional distress, broken relationships, people being used and exploited and psychiatric damage.  Yes, individual suffering can be real.  God sees it.  God knows it.  God cares about it.  And I wish God would solve it more often than God does.  Yet in the midst of it, I think it is helpful to realize that it is part of the pangs of the whole creation.  It is good to remember that God is up to something big – much bigger than ourselves.

I’ve said this before, and I know it can be guilt inducing, but I don’t mean it that way.

I encourage you to live day to day making decisions based on the hope of what God is up to.  Ask yourself before you buy something, “Will this help me or equip me to be more effective in bringing about God’s kingdom?  Will this help me be who God has created and called me to be?”  I know almost no one does this, but when you buy a house ask, “How will this equip me to be a child of God?  How can I accomplish God’s purposes through this purchase?”

I know that would throw the world of real estate on its head!  The same goes for buying a car.  Ask yourself, “Will this car equip me to be a better Christian and help me carry out God’s work?”  If you ever want to see a puzzled expression on a car salesperson’s face go into the dealership and don’t ask what car is the most dependable, or gets the best gas mileage, or is the most luxurious, or has the best safety record, or any of that kind of stuff.  Ask what car has the features that will best help a Christian live out their faith most effectively.  Since our topic today is hope, maybe we would be asking for a “hopemobile” instead of the “popemobile”.

Silly as this all is, I think it does show how far our culture is from actually living in the real hope that Paul encourages his readers to have.

God is indeed doing big things.  We can count on it.  Like a child knowing good nourishment will be provided by a parent so we also know is providing for us.  Live in that hope and let that hope inspire everything you do.