( Romans 8:18-25 ) - [ Deutsch ]
Dear congregation, we are approaching the end of the liturgical year with relatively fast steps. In our view is already the Christmas market and then also the lights on the Advent wreath, which lead us to Christmas. ... but let us still linger together here in the Church at this end of the liturgical year.
Among other things, there are the Day of Repentance and Prayer, and Eternity Sunday. They talk about guilt and transience. They paint in our minds what we usually like to put aside, namely that our lives are limited and that one day we will die. All life passes away and so do we. Paul also writes about this. I read from his letter to the Romans in chapter 8:
18 For I am convinced that the sufferings of this time are of no consequence, compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.
19 For the anxious expectation of the creature waits for the children of God to be revealed.
20 For creation is subject to corruption, without its own will, but through Him who subjected it, but to hope.
21 For the creation will also be freed from the bondage of corruption to the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 For we know that up to this moment the whole creation is groaning and in travail.
23 But not only they, but also we, who have the Spirit as our firstfruits, groan within ourselves and long for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
24 For we are saved by hope. But the hope that is seen is not hope; After all, how can you hope for what you see?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it patiently.
All life passes. Paul also sees this transience in creation. He describes it as a moaning and sighing world. So it seems that nothing has changed in all the time that lies between us and Paul. We know that up to this moment the whole of creation is groaning and in travail. Paul writes
And as we humans sigh, we are connected to all of creation. By sighing, we can express our suffering and compassion. Those who sigh long for things to be different. Sighing is also an expression of longing. As Paul says, we too "groan within ourselves and long for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." In this respect, every sigh is also a prayer, a call to God. Paul does not only speak of the groaning of creation and the groaning of men, he says: Finally, the Holy Spirit Himself receives our groaning. In the Holy Spirit, the longing for redemption does not come to nothing. Thus Paul speaks of the glory of God that is to be revealed in us: "I am convinced that the sufferings of this time are of no consequence compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us." Greater than all suffering, brighter than all darkness, full life. Those who still suffer now will experience healing, those who are still afraid will be able to live happily, those who still sigh now will breathe freely.
So much for Paul. Isn't that a cheap consolation for people who are suffering? May I say to a victim: "Never mind. It's not that bad. Rejoice in the glory to come
Wouldn't that be mean, vicious, and heartless? Yes, it would be. But Paul wouldn't talk like that either. Paul does not trivialize suffering. He knows very well that the suffering that befalls me can take away my breath and rob me of all courage to live. He experienced this first-hand when he proclaimed Jesus Christ. But all this suffering did not dissuade Paul from saying: I still have reason to hope. Despite all the suffering that befalls me, despite the dark valleys I have already passed, one thing remains certain: I have longing and I have reason to hope.
And this hope has a name: Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus endured his suffering and endured until death. But God didn't leave him there. There God said to suffering, death, misery, despair: All these things shall be subject to my glory and my power. God raised Jesus from the dead and promised eternal life, glory with God, to him and to all who come after him. This is our reason for hope—the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ—nothing more, nothing less.
And the goal of our hope is God's new world, where there will be no more suffering and tears
Sometimes it's hard to believe in this other world! Because we are very much stuck here and now and can't see anything else. In this inability to imagine that there is another reality outside of our reality, we are like a child before it is born.
Let me tell you a story.
Twins lay in their mother's womb and philosophized. They were warm and cozy, they felt safe, and they were never hungry.
"We have it really good," they often said to each other. But as time went on, they noticed that their bodies were changing.
"What's that?" asked one of the twins.
"I don't know," replied the other. "Maybe it means we can't stay in here much longer. Maybe we're nearing the end – the birth."
Together, they explored their little world as best they could. They discovered that someone else must have been in that place before them, and that frightened them.
"No one has ever come back and told us about life after birth. After that, it's just over."
"Definitely. How could we survive without the umbilical cord that feeds us?"
They often talked about the mother. None of them had seen her. And what if they existed only in their imagination?
Finally, the day of her birth came.
When they first saw the light, they couldn't help but cry. The world outside was so much bigger and more beautiful than they could have imagined.
God's new world will dwarf all that is and all that has been. Living with this confidence fundamentally changes my perspective and gives me a healthy serenity in the face of all the trials and tribulations of life to which I am exposed in my transience: illness, failure, weakness. I bear to allow room for darkness, tears and pain. I sigh with them when creation suffers. I suffer with a human being because I know that death will not have the last word on me, but that God will be at the end of my path to receive me.
This is the hope with which I do not die, with which I can live now. Amen