A Real Antidote for Fear

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The past three weeks we have looked at Paul’s explanation of God’s eternal plan to rescue his fallen creation and creatures from the consequences of our slavery to sin and the alienation it has caused, both between God and humans and among humans ourselves. We have seen that God did this, in part, by giving the Law to Israel—the people God called to be an integral part of his rescue plan but who were as deeply flawed as the rest of humanity—to expose sin for what it is and then ultimately deal with the terrible consequences of sin by becoming human so that he could condemn sin in the flesh once and for all and give us a real hope and chance to live in a new and restored relationship with him. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!

We have also seen that God gives us his Spirit to live in us to transform us into the image of Jesus so that we can be truly human and the creatures God created us to be so that we will be prepared to assume our rightful place in God’s promised New Creation as his faithful stewards and rulers, just as God intended for us in the first place before the Fall. But as Paul reminded us in last week’s lesson, New Creation is not here yet in its fullness and we still live in God’s fallen world. We are still confronted with evil and brokenness of all kinds that can make us afraid and fall into hopelessness and despair. Consequently, Paul reminded us to keep our eyes on the prize of New Creation, especially in the midst of our suffering, because doing so will help provide us with real hope so that we can persevere in our trials and overcome them. Today I want to wrap up this series of sermons on Romans 8 by looking at Paul’s concluding exhortations and reminders to us as we try to live faithfully in God’s good but fallen world. In doing so, we will find a real antidote to the fear we all feel from time to time, even as recipients of God’s great gifts of grace and the Spirit.

In today’s lesson, Paul offers us much-need encouragement for our prayer lives. Paul was no head-in-the-clouds dreamer. He knew what Christians are up against. He knew that we all need strengthening because there are some nasty enemies out there who hate us and want to destroy us, and who are quite capable of doing so if we don’t have God’s help. After all, Paul had faced unrelenting persecution. He had feared for his very life. He had been stoned and left for dead. He had experienced beatings and floggings that apparently left him disfigured and hideous to look at (cf. Galatians 4.13-14). Paul knew firsthand that we need a robust prayer life so that we can count on God’s help and protection when things go desperately wrong for us.

And we can relate to this, even though none of us here have suffered as mightily as Paul did for Jesus’ sake. We can relate because each one of us are afflicted with our own sufferings as Christians and this can make us very afraid and lead us to despair so that we are tempted to throw up our hands and quit. As I pointed out last week, you cannot love God and others without suffering in this fallen world. For example, we pray for loved ones who are sick but they don’t seem to get better. We work hard to bring the love of Christ to bear on the poor and the hungry but nothing seems to improve. We face the scorn and abuse of enemies and pray for them, asking God to forgive them and turn their hearts, but nothing seems to happen. Instead, we must continue to bear their ongoing abuse with charity and grace, even when we might prefer to lash back at them. We look at the world around us and don’t see much improvement in the human condition. Just this past week we read about the horrifying events in Norway and wonder how God can allow unspeakable evil like this to continue. All this can have a debilitating effect on us and on our prayers. What do we pray for? Why should we pray? Does praying do any good at all?

When we get to this point in our lives, as each of us inevitably will, Paul has encouraging words for us today. He reminds us to tap into a strength and power that is not our own—the power of the Spirit living in us. Yes indeed, Paul says, continue to pray because prayer is your lifeline to God. Even when you don’t know what to say, you’ve got the Spirit in you praying on your behalf through wordless groans. God hears those groaning prayers and answers them according to his good will and purposes. This, of course, presumes God’s good will and purposes for us are far superior to our own perceived wants and needs.

Consequently, Paul goes on to remind us that because we are God’s, God works through all the things and events of our life for our good—even our sufferings and the evil that confronts us, even in spite of our fallen nature and brokenness, even in the mistakes we make in our lives. God is at work in our lives because God loves us and wants to help us continue to live like Jesus so that we will be ready to live in God’s promised New Creation. This is what Paul means when he speaks of our glorification and this is why God gives us his Spirit to live in us.

Paul might put it to us this way. Why do you let fear have its way with you? You are God’s and by his grace and sovereign will alone. He has dealt with evil decisively on the cross of Jesus and raised him from the dead to give you a preview of coming attractions and to confirm for you that he has in fact dealt with evil. When the New Creation comes, you will see this to be true in ways you cannot even begin to imagine. Hold onto that hope because it has the power to sustain you even in the worst of your trials.

And remember that God has not left you alone to deal with the brokenness and evil of his good but fallen creation. You have his Spirit in you to guide, heal, and transform you into the very image of Jesus so that you will be ready to claim your prize when God raises you from the dead. He will help you in your weakness, not least by praying for you when you cannot find the words yourself, so don’t lose hope and don’t be afraid. God is in charge and you need not look any further than your own relationship with God as proof of this. You wouldn’t be a Christian if it weren’t by God’s call and grace to you. And think about it. If God did raise Jesus from the dead, which he did, is there anything too difficult for God? Are your sufferings too difficult for him to handle? Given all that I’ve written to you, do you really think God does not love you?

Paul finishes his encouragement with perhaps the most gracious and encouraging words in the entire NT. He started chapter 8 by telling us there is no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus because Jesus has condemned sin in the flesh by bearing the terrible consequences of sin himself. Paul now ends the chapter with the same reminder. Hear him again. Who will condemn us if God has not? Why should we let our sufferings and trials lead us into despair and hopelessness? God gave himself for us in a terrible and costly act to end our alienation and exile from him and he’s got a glorious future planned for us in his New Creation. Do you think that he is going to allow anything to separate you from his love, other than your own willful and intentional rejection of that love offered to you in Christ? No, not even death itself can separate you from the love of God. God has dealt decisively with death in Jesus’ resurrection. So why would you be afraid? It’s not about you. It’s about God’s mind-blowing love for you and his demonstrated power to deliver on his promises! And if that weren’t enough, don’t forget you have Jesus praying for you right now, along with the Spirit. God is truly for you!

In other words, Paul is reminding us to practice the three Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love. Our faith reminds us that there is now no condemnation for those of us in Christ Jesus and we know this to be true even if we cannot “prove” it. Our hope reminds us of the promised New Creation when we will be raised from the dead to live in God’s new world where there will be no more evil or suffering and where we will finally learn in full what it means to be human. In the New Creation, we will continue to do the very things we have been practicing here and now as we struggle to live faithful lives with the Spirit’s help. In other words, we will know how to love fully even as we have been fully loved. Love of God expressed through humble service to others in ways that are healthy and healing is the key to living in God’s current and New Creation.

So what are we to do with this? How can we use what Paul tells us so that we have a real antidote to the fear that sometimes afflicts us? In the first place, we pray and we do so continuously, both for ourselves and for others. When we wonder if our praying or faithful living makes a difference, we must consciously remind ourselves that the Spirit is at work in us, praying on our behalf, especially in the midst of our suffering, and that God is always working for us, even when circumstances seem to suggest otherwise. Second, we must keep our eyes on the prize of God’s New Creation. One of the best ways we can do that is to focus continually on Jesus’ resurrection and all that it promises because the Resurrection is a preview of coming attractions. Last, we gather with other faithful Christians so that through the Spirit we can encourage each other with God’s word and love on each other. We remind each other that nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s great love for us, especially when we see each other enduring a particularly difficult trial. In a word, we must practice intentionality so that we recall God’s great promises to us and then trust that the Spirit will use our discipline to help sustain and heal us as is best for us. This won’t be easy at first. But as with any habit, good or bad, the more we practice being intentional about recalling God’s love for us in Christ, the Presence of the Spirit in us, and the hope of New Creation, the easier it gets.

There’s more, of course, but this will suffice for the moment. This week, resolve to begin a habit of intentionally recalling God’s great love for you. Better yet do it with a partner so that the Spirit can use you both to sustain and transform you. When you start doing that habitually, you can have real confidence that you will be more than conquerors through Christ who loves you. And when, by the Spirit’s help, this becomes a reality for you, you will soon discover that your fear has gone and no longer separates you from God’s great love for you. This, of course, means that you really do have Good News, now and for all eternity.

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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