Romans 8:14-39                                            Ordinary Time, Baptism

 I love baptisms – adults, children, infants – anyone. I know some Christians disagree with me, but I believe strongly that Baptism is for all ages because it is, first and foremost, a statement about God, and only secondarily about us. Baptism speaks of God’s love for Dayla and then invites Dayla to begin a journey of loving God. Sure, it is important for us to mark our moments of faith development. Confirmation of Baptism is one of those opportunities. It is crucial that we respond to God, rather than reject God, because all of us will face the judgment as well as the mercy of God, as in the end need to be cleansed/purged of all is not right, true, holy. Yet, we Presbyterians believe that faith is a gift, not an accomplishment, so this Sacrament which celebrates our inclusion in the family of faith must be seen as a gift, not a reward. A gift to be received with gratitude and with a age-appropriate promise to respond faithfully.

 Baptism reminds us that long before we were born, long before we had an inkling of faith, God said, “I love you. You are mine.” I believe that is true for every person who has ever lived and died. I believe it is true for Dayla and for this young girl on the screen. I believe it is true for the suffering man from Indian, devastated by the recent bombing there, and true for the homeless person from Mexico, who has no where to lay his head. I believe it is true for those who call themselves Christian and those who
don’t. I think it is far better to know the truth that sets you free, but I don’t think that the truth of the Gospel depends on your knowing it. That’s why I am eager to celebrate Baptism, because when we celebrate it, we are confirming what has always been true – that in life and death, we, all humanity, belong to God. And by giving ourselves over in baptism, we are claiming the truth, and promising that we will live accordingly.

 Not only do I love baptisms, but I love Romans 8, so this is a good day. I hope you will love Romans 8 with me, or if you don’t love it, debate it with me in the class after worship. Romans is, of course, the most densely theological book in the whole Bible, and in chapter 8, Paul gets to what many believe is the heart of the Gospel – that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Because of Paul’s nearly continuous train of thought, we are reading a long passage, but I have broken it into sections with headings that I hope will be helpful. Please refer now to your scripture insert page and hear with me the Word of the Lord from Romans 8:14-39. We will reflect on each section, which I have outlined on the page. On the screen is the outline only.

We are the adopted children of God

 ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God  are children of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!"
¹⁶ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

 It is the Spirit who tells us we are the children of God, adopted, chosen, joint heirs with Christ. Joint heirs with the one who lived a perfect life! But here the caveat: we do have to suffer with him. We still die, and the process is not usually fun for the one dying or the ones left behind. We still hurt one another, and hurt with one another. Suffering is part of life. That brings us to the next section:

We suffer and wait

 I consider that ¹⁸ the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰ for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ 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.

 The suffering is nothing compared with the glory that’s coming, AND that is present even now, if we could only see God more clearly. This tells us that whatever is happening in your life or in the world that seems fruitless still has hope of being transformed by the God who sets all creation free. Paul insinuates that God even puts us in futile situations in order to set us free. That’s a notion we might want to discuss in the worship reflection class.

We wait and hope

 ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; ²³ and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?  ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

 I have observed in my life as a parent that waiting can be very good for children. Children who receive everything just when they demand it are unpleasant human beings. Think of the joy of anticipation – waiting for Christmas was often better than the day itself. That’s the nature of hope – waiting for something we cannot see. And when we see clearly the glory of God, I am confident that it will be more awesome, frighteningly wonderful that we ever imagined.

We pray and the Spirit helps us

 ²⁶ 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. ²⁷ And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

 In personal suffering, in the futility of the world, I often do not know what to pray or how to pray. In my worst moments of despair and yours, there are no words, but the Spirit steps in and prays for us and God, who is One with the Spirit, and who is One with us in Jesus Christ, knows our heart.

We trust in God’s goodness

 ²⁸ We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he 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. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

 This section makes a big claim – all things. This is not something to announce tritely when you visit your friend, whose child died. In the middle of horrible circumstances, we cannot see what God is accomplishing, and we don’t even want to believe it because our grief is profound. A couple of weeks ago, I sat in a courtroom watching two families in misery. One had lost their twenty year old daughter in a DUI accident. The other was losing their twenty year old son to 10 years of prison time. If God is not large enough, powerful enough, loving enough to turn our desperate circumstances into something good, then God is not worthy of our worship.

We count on God’s victory

 ³¹ What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
 ³² He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?
 ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
 ³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
 ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

 If God is for you, then you have no one and nothing to fear. It’s a rhetorical “if” If God is for you. Of course, God is for you, just like God is for every other human being who has ever walked the face of the earth. God is for you. God is for me. God is for them. Earlier in Romans, chapter 3, Paul makes it clear that “There is no distinction: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are now justified by his grace as a gift.” Later in chapter 11, he says, “God imprisoned all in disobedience so that God may be merciful to all.” So that puts every one on the same page – in terms of justification – it depends on grace, a gift, not on anything we’ve done. Even our faith is a gift.

 Most ministers have been in the awkward position of conducting a memorial service for someone whose life was a total disaster. At those moments, one cannot stand up to announce what everyone else knows to be false – that really good ole Terry was not such a bad person. Any memorial service that turns someone into a perfect human being is laughable. No, the only thing you can say is that no matter how good or bad a person is, (and all are both good and bad) God loves them anyway, and God will be both merciful and just. The good news at a time like that is in our next and final verses.

We are convinced that God loves us

 ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ 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.

 So to circle back.....We are the adopted children of God. We suffer and wait, knowing that in God’s economy those struggles can be good. We wait and hope for things we cannot clearly see. In the midst of the struggle of suffering, waiting, and hoping, we pray, and when we can’t pray, the Spirit of God in us prays for us. We trust in God’s goodness, that no matter what happens, God plans to make it good in the end. We count on God’s victory. We believe we will overcome difficulties because we have a sovereign God. We are convinced that this powerful God loves us with an unstoppable love – and not only us, but the entire creation. It’s great to know that you are a child of God!

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!