Romans 8:18-27; The Seventh Sunday in Pentecost; July 19, 2020;

Romans 8:18-27; The Seventh Sunday in Pentecost; July 19, 2020;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:18-27 ESV)

Grace and peace to you from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Listen, can you hear it? I think if you listen very closely you will. It’s all around us. It’s groaning. No, it’s not just the groaning you’ll hear if you think the sermon is too long or I’ve picked a hymn you don’t know. Oh, that groaning is included, but it’s much more than that. There’s the groaning of nature, where animals live by the blood of their neighbors. Life brings life only through death. The weak feed the strong. Survival of the fittest, as Darwin coined the phrase. There’s the groaning in cities that have been wiped flat from tornados. The groaning of children who starve to death because their governments won’t distribute food. The groaning of mother’s whose children don’t return from the battlefield. There’s the groaning you hear in your own joints as age creeps in and makes work and play harder and harder. Betty Davis said, "Old age is no place for sissies."  There’s the groaning you still hear inside yourself from your child, mother, spouse, daughter, brother, sister’s death. There’s the groaning that comes from hard work and little pay. There’s the groaning of the empty house that used to be filled with little footsteps that have grown and moved out… out of town, out of the county, out of the state. The groaning waiting for them to call. The groaning of the gas pump. The groaning of credit card debt. The groaning of lost friends. The groaning… well I think you get the picture. It’s the picture St. Paul paints for us today in this reading.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8:22 ESV)

Groaning together… he says. We groan because things aren’t the way they should be. The world doesn’t work the way we know it should work. Nature doesn’t live together the way we know it should live together. Our bodies don’t last the way we know they should last. We die. So, we say the lie we know is untrue, that death is a natural part of life. But there is the desire to live forever. That desire comes from a knowledge that it all should be permanent. That lie is in the face of the groaning we all know. The whole creation groans together… we groan together… because we live in a world that is difficult and broken and cursed to death and suffering.

But there is worse news yet. The creation out their groans because it was subjected to a curse. But it was curse not from its own fault but from ours. When God created the world, he created it for human beings to live in. It was all perfect and good. When our first parents choose to disobey God, when they wanted to be god for themselves, they destroyed their perfect relationship to God. Corrupt and sinful humans couldn’t live in a perfect world, so it was “subject to futility.”  You see, every time things don’t work in the world, every time a tsunami destroys a city, every time an animal dies to feed another, every time a child starves, every time a bone breaks, every time age creeps into our joints, it’s our fault. It’s your fault. It’s my fault.

I know that seems harsh. But that is what the groaning is all about. Adam’s sin brought it all about.

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19 ESV)

Now here’s the thing. You might want to blame Adam for this mess, but if you were him, you’d have done the same thing. You don’t keep God’s law either. We’ve talked a lot about our broken relationship with God and our broken relationship with other people. That’s all a part of that groaning. Simply stepping through the commandments and realizing that they are not only talking about doing or not doing but they are talking about the heart, our desires and thoughts. All this shows us very clearly that we are sinful. We are sinful. We see it effects in the broken relationships. We see the effects in our lack of desire to help others. We see it in our lack of care and concern for the world that God has given us. Sin is the cause of all that groaning out there. That’s what St. Paul is confessing to us today.

But notice that St. Paul doesn’t end with the groaning…  Listen again to the verse where he talks about it.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21 ESV)

The creation was subjected to this groaning in hope… even in our groaning we groan in hope…  That’s the whole point of what St. Paul is saying.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18 ESV)

He’s saying that what we are headed for, the glory, is so much greater than the suffering we are undergoing now. He puts that in terms you can understand too.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8:22 ESV)

Any woman will tell you about the pain of childbirth. God didn’t give this curse to men because he knew that we couldn’t handle it. Women suffer that pain. But it evaporates as soon as the child is in their arms. They understand the idea of no pain no gain. Many women even do it more than once. So great is the joy the pain is forgotten. That’s what Paul wants us to see. The groaning it temporary, the groaning is part of the process, the groaning will be over, and the joy will come, and the groaning will be forgotten.

That childbirth, which groaning inwardly, attests to the good news that is here. We groan because we look forward to the redemption of our bodies. That too is what the groaning of Jesus was all about. He came not only to win our way to heaven, but to restore the world to its pre-groaning state. He came not just to redeem you and me, not only to rescue you and me from hell, but to rescue us to, and for a perfect world. The creation groans in eager expectation because it has been released from the curse of human sin placed on it. Jesus groaned on the tree, like that Good Friday hymn says:

Tell me ye who hear him groaning, Was there ever grief like His? (LSB 451.2)

Jesus’ pain and suffering on the cross is to release you and me, and the whole creation from the bondage to sin. Jesus knows about your groaning, he groans too. He comes to fix it. He comes to end it. He comes to restore a perfect world for you and me to live in, in perfect bodies for all eternity. It is all finished. The new world, our new bodies are on the way. That’s Jesus promise through not only His death but through His resurrection from death. That’s His promise that you will be raised from death, too.

In the meantime, what about all that groaning? Well, it’s not really going to stop. Right now, things don’t work the way we want them to. Right now, there’s trouble, pain, and sorrow. Right now, we sin and or sin affects our relationships. Right now, death stalks us. Right now, nature seems to be out to get us. So, we groan wanting it all to come to an end. And Jesus knows what that groaning is like. He lived it too. He walked on sore feet. He was hungry when it was time to eat. He wept when His friends died. There’s nothing that happens to you that Jesus doesn’t understand. He is a human being. He groaned upon the earth. He knows what you need to overcome your troubles. And He delivers. He can because He is not just a human being, but God, too.

And look how the passage ends.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27 ESV)

So, when your troubles leave you groaning, and you don’t know where to turn. The Holy Spirit God’s gift to you in Holy Baptism is right there in the middle of your groaning, changing it into a prayer. And not just any prayer, but a prayer for just what you need. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.