Romans, 5:1-5

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen

Dear congregation,

Romans 5:1-5

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Through him we also have access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory that God will give.

3 But not only this, but we also glory in afflictions, because we know that affliction brings patience,

4 and patience proves and hope,

5 but hope does not disappoint, for the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given to us.

It is Lent time. It has its fixed place in our church year. We give suffering its time. We perceive it. We can't escape it. We can't get it out of the world.
At first glance, the suffering of Jesus stands in stark contrast to the expectation of a Savior, a Savior, a Redeemer.
It doesn't really fit into the picture: the one who frees us from distress gets into trouble himself.
Yes, with this small passage from the letter to the Romans we are right in the middle of the ideas we have of God.
When people in need accuse God and ask: why do you, God, allow this? There is a deep desire in most people: God can eliminate all misery. After all, we confess: "I believe in God the Father Almighty..."
Paul invites us today to reflect on our idea of God's omnipotence.
The plight of people and the omnipotence of God? That doesn't go together.
Many people have trouble with this. They have no peace.

Paul found peace with God. Paul finds this peace with God through Jesus Christ.
And I would add: Paul finds peace with God through the cross.

This is not an unusual sentence in itself. You have heard this many times: the cross of Jesus reconciles God and the world.
This sentence caused me a lot of trouble for a very long time. And I'll be honest: Whenever such a thought or such a sentence, which is repeated over and over again, gives me trouble: then it's an invitation to think anew.
I then turn the matter around and instead of the sentence causing me trouble, I make trouble with the sentence. Paul is known for making an effort to understand God. After all, Paul was a Pharisee. He was one who dedicated his life and his labor to the proper understanding of God.

The cross of Jesus: This is what many thoughts in the letter to the Romans revolve around. Paul found peace with God through this.
Here in this short paragraph I think I can see what he has learned and what may sound a little different from what is often said about the cross.

I'll try to take you with me:
Many Christians live with the idea that the life of Jesus followed a precise plan. There are passages in the New Testament that suggest this. And I believe that even at the time of the New Testament, among the first Christians, there were people who understood it that way. God, Almighty God, has everything under control: therefore suffering must be foreseen and have a meaning. A meaning that only the Almighty knows.
The cross is then interpreted in such a way that Jesus had to be sacrificed by Almighty God in order for there to be reconciliation between God and man.

I'll be honest. It doesn't make sense to me. If God were omnipotent in this sense, then he could truly have found a less bloody solution.

This approach that the suffering and death of Jesus was planned from the beginning is so convincing because it is hard to bear that God did not prevent this suffering.

Back to Paul and this short passage: Paul says he is at peace with God. And the next thing he says, "we boast in our afflictions."

So Paul himself has found a new approach, peace not only with God, but also with what he needs.
Strictly speaking, peace with God means that he takes a new attitude towards his suffering. Paul no longer accuses God and thus does not reproach him for God not making use of his omnipotence and preventing this need.
Paul is at peace with God and learns to accept that while hardship is not God's will or God's cause, it is through trust in God that good can grow in the midst of suffering.
Thus, suffering is not a necessary prerequisite for good, but the good, which also grows for evil, also overcomes it.

In other words: God did not plan the cross of Jesus long in advance, but when the cross is erected, God continues to work: Jesus continues to trust: Not an almighty God who takes him down from the cross, but a God who is an almighty creator and can create life out of nothing.

That is a subtle and yet big difference.
The omnipotence of God is not His ability to trigger everything conceivable and unthinkable. The omnipotence of God is the power of God that has no end – it is eternal.
New life is eternally created. THIS is God's power.

"We also glory in afflictions, because we know that affliction brings patience, 4 but patience probation, probation and hope, 5 but hope does not disappoint; for the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

This boasting of afflictions is certainly not a glorification of need. It is not a longing to suffer. It does not trivialize the suffering.
No, anyone who can speak such a sentence has experienced a deep inner development, has changed his image of God – has experienced and accepted that suffering has a place in life and needs time.
As wonderful as it is to experience times when life is just wonderfully easy, pleasant and beautiful – it is an illusion that we will spend our lives this way.

By giving the suffering of Jesus its place, we acknowledge this. And there is great power in empathizing with the development: the wish that the cup pass him by: the begging and the pleas to God to make it easier for him, the doubt as to whether God has any strength at all: Have you completely forgotten me!
And then much later, the deep insight: God has not forgotten me at all: God sees me in my need. In adversity, God remembers His original power: the eternal creative power.

I find it impressive and wise: God allows us to think of God what we want. God hears all petitions, all supplications. God also endures the desire that His people want Him to be different from what He is. God is patient. God endures everything. For God is the LOVE that endures forever.

For the various needs in the lives of us humans, this means the invitation and recommendation to do everything that avoids and prevents suffering.
But when we are caught – when we are in need: then a path lies ahead of us: a path through darkness, through death, difficult, arduous, frightening: then one does not feel like boasting – then it is time to entrust oneself to God and to trust God that there is a way out.

No, I do not boast of my distress – but I suspect what redemption Paul experienced in distress and need.
There remains a mystery – not a transfiguration of distress – not even of the cross: no glorification, but the promise: one day our mouth will be able to boast and praise again. Let us stay on the path with our crosses. Because whoever carries his cross can find life. Amen