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The 10th Sunday after Pentecost
(A) Grace, mercy, and peace be with you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! Both today's second reading and our gospel are about the coming of God's kingdom. As Jesus especially shows in the first two parables of today's gospel about the mustard seed and the yeast, the kingdom of heaven is surely growing among us each and every day. And, some day, that little mustard seed will have grown so much that it will be a large bush able to support birds in its branches. And, some day, the little bit of yeast will have permeated all that flour (almost one and a half bushels worth!) through and through. The kingdom of heaven, Jesus shows, is surely coming and is growing in and among us; and nothing - absolutely nothing - can stop it from moving toward its fulfillment! But having said this, we must admit that all too often the kingdom of heaven is hidden from us. We don't see many evidences of its growing either in our lives or in the world around us. In fact, we are often much more aware of the EVIL which seems to be everywhere. We are aware of the failures and shortcomings in our own lives - each of us in our own ways have made a mess of a lot of things. We are also very aware of evil that lies everywhere around us - from murders, rapes, and drug abuse in our communities, to the terrorist bombings that have happened again in London and in Egypt this past week and are also going on in Iraq everyday. In the midst of all these things - individually, in the community, and world-wide - WHERE IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN?!! Where is it - and why can't we see it?! How can we begin to see and experience the kingdom of heaven as a living reality in our midst and in our lives? How can we really know that the kingdom really IS here and growing toward its fulfillment? This is a very difficult subject to preach about, but perhaps some answers can be gotten from today's second reading from the apostle Paul's letter to the Romans - and this reading will be the basis for the rest of my sermon this morning. Paul begins by saying; "The Spirit helps us in our weakness….” The major reason why we often have difficulty in perceiving the reality and growth of God's kingdom is that we are "weak". We are weak in our faith, and we are also weak as far as being in bondage to the power of sin. Our “weakness” makes us blind and insensitive to the reality of God's power and love in our lives and in our world. But the Spirit helps us in our weakness by interceding for us…by helping us to believe in God’s love for us even when cannot see much evidence of it. The Spirit helps us to believe what Paul writes in today’s reading, that "all things work together for good for those who love God". The Spirit helps us to understand that ALL THINGS – even our hard and bad experiences – somehow in the loving hands of God are being used to shape and fit us for the kingdom of heaven! This is where many people fall away. They cannot believe this. ALL THINGS work together for good for those who love God? "NO WAY!", many people say. What good can there be when a loved one falls ill and dies? What good can result from atrocities such as the terrorist bombings that we have been hearing about? What good can there be when a divorce may be necessary because a marriage has failed and died? What good can there possibly be in any of these things?! As weak and flawed human beings we ask "Where is God when these bad things happen?" "Has God failed? Does God not care?" There is so much that we can not know or answer – but as Christians we by the aid of the Holy Spirit can come to believe and understand that God is with us even during the hard and terrible experiences of life - and that God can use even these experiences for his good purposes of fitting us for the kingdom of heaven. I know that in my own life, my own failures and tragedies and disappointments have all somehow been used for God for his good purposes. Sometimes through them I learn more about myself and how I need to grow. Sometimes through them I learn what it really means to experience God’s forgiveness and grace. And yes, sometimes through the worst experiences – I have been forced to change my outlook on life and make some changes that I would not have done otherwise. And I believe that many of you can also see that the same has often been true for you in your own lives! Somehow, all things indeed always work together for good for those who love God! When we understand and believe this, what a difference that can make for how we view life! Getting back to today’s second reading from Romans, what does it mean to be SHAPED and MADE FIT for the kingdom of heaven? It means nothing less than becoming more and more like Jesus himself. To be as loving and forgiving as he is, to become more and more without sin as he is, and eventually (at the Last Day) to become glorified and immortal as he is! As Paul writes; "For those whom (God) foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.” (That is, a family of people like him!) “And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified." "Predestined" means that it was God's plan from the beginning. It was God's plan from the beginning that we should be conformed to the image of his Son – that we should more and more in all aspects of our lives become like Jesus. That is why God has CALLED us to be Christians and has given us His Holy Spirit. That is why God has JUSTIFIED us for Jesus' sake and has forgiven us all our sins and failures in life. And that is also why, at the end, God will GLORIFY us by raising us from the dead and giving us and all believers in Jesus Christ eternal life! That is God's plan! It has been "predestined" by Him for us from the beginning of time! That is why Paul, and so can we all, believe that NOTHING can ever separate us from God's love. Even the worst experiences that this world may throw at us (or that we may perhaps bring upon ourselves), God can and will somehow use for good – helping to shape and fit us and others for the kingdom of heaven – helping us to grow and to become more and more like Jesus Christ! Even when we can not see it – even when we may feel overwhelmed by all of the troubles of life in this world, God through the gift of His Spirit helps us to believe and trust that his kingdom is coming to us and is growing within us – just as surely as the mustard seed will be growing into a great bush or as surely as yeast will be spreading through an entire batch of flour. God's kingdom is surely coming, and we by His grace - by his PREDESTINED PLAN – are going to be a part of it and are going to inherit all of its blessings!! If that is so - and I personally believe it to be so with every fiber of my being - then what Paul writes as the conclusion of today's second reading is most certainly true for us in our lives. As he says; "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” "No, in all these things (even when we are being killed and it seems that we are being slaughtered like sheep), we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, no things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." This passage is often read at funeral services - and very appropriately so - because it reminds us that we can endure all things - even death itself - because we know that God is with us and is fitting and shaping us for eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. We have been predestined for this! Through Jesus Christ, our victory is sure! May you always know that no matter what life - or death - may throw at you, God loves you! May you know that God is always with you and is always working for your ultimate good. May you know that bit-by-bit through all the experiences of life (even the bad ones), God is shaping you and molding you to become more and more like Jesus. And may you know that at the end, God will also GLORIFY you (and me!) just like he did for Jesus - and we shall live and reign with him in heaven forever and ever and ever! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen! -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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