Sermon 16th June 2019 – Trinity Sunday
Text: Romans 5:1-5 – Persevering in suffering
Last Monday we celebrated the Queen’s Birthday and
along with it came the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Among them, as usual, was a list of sporting and
entertainment celebrities.
Along with the naming of the award recipients came
the usual criticisms of why ordinary Australians who give of their lives are
not rewarded.
They actually are – it’s just that we don’t know
who they are so they don’t make it into the media reports.
And you’ll probably find that most people who
dedicate their lives to helping others don’t really want the accolades or
recognition.
Just helping others is their own reward and
character building.
And that’s where true character building comes
from when we give of ourselves without acknowledgment or reward for what we are
doing.
Sadly we live in a world where we can’t handle
suffering and lack of recognition too well.
Think of many junior sports where scores are not
kept so you don’t have a losing side.
Some sports don’t give out awards for fear of
hurting those who don’t receive one.
We think we are doing favours by not exposing
people to loss or suffering but we are in fact preventing growth of character.
It is often through suffering and adversity where
we see people develop extraordinary strength.
One of the recipients of the Queen’s Birthday
honours was a well-known battler of suffering in Rosie Batty.
Rosie Batty was appointed an Officer of the Order
of Australia for her distinguished service to the community as a campaigner and
advocate for the prevention of family violence.
This came about as she suffered the loss of her
son through family violence.
She used her suffering to become a spokesperson
against family violence and to help others through her suffering.
So there is no doubt that her suffering has
produced perseverance in her to fight against family violence – that her
perseverance has produced character in her that has achieved great respect from
the community and that has produced hope for herself and others.
Another person that exemplifies this character
building and hope through perseverance in suffering is Neale Daniher who is
suffering the debilitating condition of Motor Neurone Disease who has
campaigned to raise money for support rather than letting his suffering defeat
him.
And that’s what Paul is also highlighting in the
life of the Christian as suffering becomes part of God’s revelation rather than
his displeasure or abandonment.
As we celebrate Trinity Sunday today – the Trinity
is all about God revealing himself.
God has revealed himself to the world through
Jesus Christ – the Son of God the Father who have sent their Holy Spirit to
remain with us here.
Through Jesus’ suffering and death God has also
revealed himself to us as our Father in Heaven as Jesus’ suffering and death
has restored our broken relationship with God.
In the beginning when God created Adam and Eve he
had a relationship with them by which he would walk amongst his creation and
meet with them.
But when sin entered the world so did suffering
and a broken relationship with God.
Jesus came as the new Adam to destroy the old Adam
in us and restore our relationship with God.
In fact it is a far better relationship with God
than the beginning as we become children of God and receive eternal life as an
inheritance from God our Father in Heaven.
So as Jesus is about to depart from this life he
tells Mary to tell the disciples that he is ascending to his Father and our
Father.
As we wait for our own ascension into Heaven, Paul
connects the suffering we go through in this life with the glory that awaits us
in heaven just as Jesus’ suffering led to his glory.
God does not create the suffering but neither does
God remove the suffering.
Instead God uses the suffering in our lives to
bring us closer to himself.
It’s a strange understanding but if you’ve ever
had someone you’ve loved go through suffering you know that mysteriously it
draws you closer to them – it even intensifies your love for them.
Paul discovered that through his own suffering
that God reveals a special deep love when we go through times of suffering.
And it was through this discovery where Paul
discovered God’s grace when he said:
I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of
Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from
me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul discovered a very special revelation by God
whose weakness is greater than human power – whose foolishness is greater than
human wisdom – whose love is shown through suffering.
Trinity Sunday is all about how God has revealed
himself to the world.
He revealed himself as Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
But he has also revealed himself in the mystery of
suffering.
Suffering is not nice – but sadly it is part of
our existence while on this earth.
But Paul assures us that it is only for this life
and that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that
will be revealed in us.
Suffering is not a sign of God’s displeasure but a
sign of our broken relationship in this life through sin.
Suffering is not a punishment from God but a
consequence of Good and Evil existing in this lifetime.
Suffering points us away from the world for
answers and to God who promises us a future without suffering.
And as the suffering points us to God it helps us
to persevere – to continue to live despite our suffering and enable us to
witness our faith.
And as we persevere we grow in our faith and
produce a character in us that examples to others that suffering is not the end
of the world and neither does it mean we cannot enjoy a quality of life.
And it’s by that perseverance and character that
enables us to keep putting our hope in God – who is not punishing us or
abandoning us but loving us in a deeper more intimate way.
As you journey through this life there will be
times of suffering- personal, emotional, spiritual.
But we know that this life is only a journey and
that we have our Lord Jesus who has also suffered and empathises with our
suffering so we can persevere – so our Christian character can witness to
others going through times of suffering and thereby give them hope also by
assuring them of God’s love.
And we too, through our sufferings are able to
persevere by our assurance of our home in heaven knowing that our present
sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that is awaiting us.
A glory that Paul saw when we was given just a
glimpse of what is waiting which no human words could describe.
So may the Holy Spirit keep you strong in your
faith to persevere in hope until we reach our heavenly glory and may you always
be prepared to give an answer to all who ask you about the hope you have.
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