“Trinity Sunday”
Original sermon given June 12, 2022, written and delivered by Pastor Jeff Leininger at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church
Watch the sermon live here
“Trinity Sunday”
Romans 5:1-5
Romans 5:1-5
“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 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. And not only that, but we also boast in our 8sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 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.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It is one of the biggest “therefores” in the Bible—this one that we have here, in Romans chapter five. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith…” The Apostle has just finished explaining the full impact and power of the gospel: that when we were powerless, blind, dead and enemies of God, he saved us. Solely by His mercy and grace, he saved us. He saved us by our account being credited by Christ’s righteousness, through trusting in him. Messiah Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
It is a message you have probably heard hundreds of times, and if not, you need to hear it today: we have free access to God through the person and work of Jesus—who he is and what he has done. That’s the gospel. But in this chapter, the Apostle gives us the “so what” of the gospel. He doesn’t let the gospel sit somewhere on the shelf, collecting dust (like that strategic planning committee work you did five years ago. Remember that one?) No, St. Paul delivers the gospel in the context of real life, and real problems, and real persecution; and makes the bold claim that in all circumstances for all people, the gospel of Jesus Messiah makes a difference.
But even more, he makes a greater claim. Therefore, because of this, on account of what Messiah has done for us, we rejoice, St. Paul says. Or another way of translating it would be, we exalt, or even boast, as today’s translation has it.
But note Christian friends what is it that the “therefore” of the gospel causes us to boast in? This world exults in personal achievement: I have these types of talents; I make such and such amount; I have such and such degree from such and such University. But how radically different is this statement from Romans: ‘we also rejoice, exult, boast in our sufferings.’ Did you catch that? Because of the power of the gospel, we are able to rejoice even in our sufferings.
A man lies in a hospital bed after suffering from a stroke. He is at that stage in life when even the everyday things become difficult. Eating, turning over in bed, going to the bathroom, even sleeping have become Herculean chores for him. Is he to rejoice, to boast even in his sufferings?
A young woman grieves over the loss of her baby. The child was unexpected and unplanned, but when it came she did the right thing in treasuring her son as a gift. And then the gift was suddenly taken away from her. Can she boast, exult in her trials?
A man in Indonesia reads the scriptures and is overcome by the gospel. His Buddhist family warns him that if he becomes a Christian, he will be disowned and disinherited. They will never speak to him again. But he is baptized into the name of the Holy Trinity, and is given that peace of God which the world, and even his family cannot give. Can he rejoice, exult, even boast in his persecution?
These are true stories, real people. And in these people’s lives, and even in yours today, the gospel must make a difference. In the Christian life, we are able to exult in trials of all kinds not because we celebrate suffering itself, or because we feel sorry for ourselves. We boast in our sufferings because the gospel enables us to see God’s gracious hand still at work. His power is made perfect in weakness. Our weakness. And the less there is of us working and achieving and exulting in our accomplishments, the more there is of Him. Suffering has a tendency to strip away any of our pretentions, and by the Holy Spirit, cause us to cling solely to Christ.
In today’s Epistle from Romans 5, St. Paul sets up a sort-of sacred syllogism; the flow-chart of faith, we might say. Suffering leads to perseverance, perseverance to Character, and character to a hope which cannot disappoint.
The Apostle says that for those who have been given the peace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance is that brave patience which remains under the load of affliction, without faltering or complaint, and carries on no matter what the load may yet come to be. As one parishioner told me years ago, “it’s the keep-on keepin’ on” of faith.
Perseverance produces character. This word was used originally for things that were put under the test, and not found lacking. It was used, for example, with regard to coins, which were tested as to the genuineness of their full weight and value. Those coins that passed the test were said to have true character. The scriptures, of course, apply this to people. Perseverance leads to character, because steadfast endurance amid suffering shows what one is really made of. Another way of saying it: character is what you do when things get difficult…or what you do when no one’s watching: your true worth is proven.
Character leads to hope. St. Paul does not speak of any fleeting, earthly hope. But of that hope of the glory of God, for all who believe; that eternal hope of one day being in the very presence of God, in that place beyond all tears and trials, suffering or sin. This hope does not disappoint us because we are given an assurance of this hope through the love showered into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Martin Luther called this kind of hope, “the great courage that remains firm in all affliction.”. It can never put us to shame, because its anchored in eternity. And one day, one glorious day, our hope will become reality.
Dear Friends, this is why we rejoice, exult, even ‘boast’ in our sufferings: because they take us outside of ourselves, and focus us on the Lord’s work. His work of granting us perseverance amid suffering, of establishing our character by this perseverance, and of placing our focus on the hope of the world to come through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Come soon Lord Jesus. Amen