A God of Relationships

I thought that I would try something new with the old blog. Let me know what you think. Blessings.

 

Pastor CJ

Trinity Sunday Romans 5:1-5

My grandma is one of the neatest ladies I have ever met. As I have grown up she has been a pillar of strength for me. She modeled for me what it is to live life as a child of God. She walked with me through some of the most difficult times of my life. I love my grandma more than words could ever express. I would not be who I am today if it were not for my grandma. But when I was a freshmen in high school she would torture me. It was mean. It was cruel. It was motivational.

She would come downstairs to my room early in the morning. It would be 6:30 or 7:00. You know really, really early. And she would come down and say, "CJ it is time to get up for school." And then the torture would come. She would say, "Enthusiasm." Just like that. It was awful. It wasn't what I wanted to hear that early in the morning. And to make things worse she would say "Enthusiasm" with enthusiasm. If you ever want to torture a high school student, I believe that this would be the perfect way to do it.

    If you are grumpy, or in a bad mood, when things are out of sorts and you kind of have the blues, the last thing you ever want to do is to hear someone be happy and cheery. After all, the phrase is "misery loves company," not "misery loves being around someone who is happy." I don't know about you, but sometimes things just seem bad and out of sorts. Sometimes things happen and go on in life that leave you feeling…well it just leaves you in a bad mood. Sometimes those things are really truly actually bad, and you aren't just in a bad mood, you actually find yourself in wrestling match with depression.

    You are waiting for the test results to come back. You keep playing in your mind over and over all the different possibilities. Waiting and not knowing is just awful. You fill out application after application. You send resume after resume. And nothing. Waiting is just awful. You don't want to go to school, but you know you have to. The other kids are so mean. No one seems to understand and you just wait for summer. Waiting is just awful.

    It seems to me that when we find ourselves in these kinds of situations or any situation in life that leaves us feeling down and out, it seems to me that it is in those moments that we most need to hear the words in our text from Romans 5. Of course the problem is, that in those moments, these words can be like grandma's "enthusiasm" torture. They can be words that we don't exactly want to hear.

We boast in our sufferings, 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.

Boasting in sufferings? Endurance producing character? Right. You know the saying, that Patience is a virtue? Well, I say if I wanted patience, I would have been a doctor. Of course the reality is that Paul's words here are not just another form of enthusiastic torture. But they are words that remind us, point us to, show us that there is always hope; especially when we find ourselves in those dark places in life.

What is great about these verses is that they do not tell us to wipe that frown off your face, stand up. Everything will be just fine. Instead they acknowledge our sufferings. When you are suffering it is no fun. But in the midst of that know, that the suffering is not the end. With our God, there is always a next chapter. And in fact, because of the way that God is present in our lives, and because of the relationship that we have with him.

We are able to boast in our sufferings. So while God, may not take away our sufferings when and how we would like him to, he does turn those sufferings around so that we come out better off than we were before. Going through it, being in the midst of it is certainly not pleasant. But the great thing is, that we never face it on our own.

Our God is a god of relationships. You know, in the ancient world the relationships that the people would have with the gods they served were not very pleasant. That was the kind of relationship where the people were worshipers in hopes that their worship and offerings would keep the deity from becoming angry and punishing them. But that is not how our God lives with us.

There is for us love. In fact so much love that we can't even fully comprehend it. Our God loved you and me so much that he sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins, to restore us to God, to forever defeat the powers of sin and death and the devil. Thus we are able to live in a relationship with our God that isn't about fending off his wrath. I better go to church or else… I better give my offering or else… I better volunteer for this that and the other thing or else… No we live life in the kind of relationship with our God that a dear daughter or son has with their dear father.

Our God is a god who lives in relationship. That is what the celebration of the Trinity is about. One God, three persons. The intricacies of it are difficult for us to fully wrap our minds around. That is why it is a mystery. But the implications of it, are awesome. We can talk about relationships. The relationships that the three persons of the Trinity have among themselves Unbegotten (Father), Begotten (Son), Proceeding (Holy Spirit). And the relationships that the persons of the Trinity have with us Creator (Father), Redeemer (Son), Sanctifier (Holy Spirit).

Three persons one God. Living in perfect harmony. One is not better than the other. It is truly a mystery to behold. As we consider this relationship that exists among the three persons, one God, Their life together, is a model for the church. We should live our lives together in such a way where love, respect, and honor is seen in the ways that we treat, love and interact with one another.

Our sinful natures like to tell us that some people are better than others. So we will elevate some in our midst, whether that be someone who is really smart, someone who is in a position of leadership, or even someone who is on a church staff. And yet not one person in the body of Christ is more important or better than any other. Ever single member is a person that Jesus died for. He didn't die for me more than he died for you, although I probably need the forgiveness more. The difference is simply one of gifts and position.

Ministry is a team effort. There are no all stars. As I reflect on everything that I have done at Our Father, it is important to point out that I didn't do anything on my own. There was always someone else, and often some one elses who were there working right alongside of me, and making it happen. I may have been up front, but I could not have done what I did without all of those someone elses working with me.

The distinctions that we like to make among ourselves as human beings, are taken away and removed in Jesus. We have been justified by Jesus. Not some more than others. Therefore we have peace with our God. Each and every one of us have this peace. So we give thanks together. We give thanks to our God for each other and we celebrate the ways that God has worked in our lives. And we look forward to what our God will continue to do in our lives.

That is the awesome thing about our God. There is always a next. There is no end. But there is always a next chapter. A new beginning. So while we may be experiencing suffering, or endurance or character or hope, God uses those things in the next chapter that we find ourselves in. Even death is only the ending of a chapter for our God, because there is always the glorious hope of life eternal.

As we consider who our God is, and what he does for us and in our midst, and how he works for us and in our midst, it is something that can leave us with a sense of awe and gratitude. What an amazing God we serve. What an amazing God loves us and lives life with us. What a cool thing to always be able to have a next. It is almost enough to make me want to have some enthusiasm.

I give thanks for you. I thank God for you. Amen.