Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Romans 8,26-30. Exaudi

Saturday, June 4, 2022

Romans 8,26-30. Exaudi

Romans 8,26-30 3022

Exaudi 43

Cyrillus, boy, Martyr 250/60

Fall of Constantinople and Hagia Sophia 1453

29. Mai 2022

1. ℣ Hear, O Yahweh, when I cry with my voice: Hallelujah!

℟ Hide not Your face from me. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! (Psalms 27,7).

O Lord, give us, we pray, who steadfastly believe, Your gifts charitable, so that we may live holy, then die blessedly, that we may live with You forever. Amen. (Heiliger Geist, du Tröster mein elkg 478,6-7 2021 Martin Moller 1584).

2. »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. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of is Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.«

3. We certainly have experienced weakness these past few years: the Covid pandemic, natural disasters, lack of basic groceries, angry words exchanged between groups of people, destruction of property, lawlessness, senseless murders and now the slaughter of more innocent children. Man’s inhumanity to man is always on full display, but the past few years it seems to have intensified.

4. Jean-Paul Satre paraphrased Dostoevsky with the phrase: Without God all things are permitted (Being and Nothingness). What Dostoevsky actually wrote was: “‘But what will become of men then?’ I asked him, ‘Without God and immortal life? All things are lawful then, they can do what they like?’ ‘Didn’t you know?’ He said laughing, ‘A clever man can do what he likes.’ He said” (The Brothers Karamazov 1051).

5. Like it or not, we are all cursed with Nietzsche’s nihilist philosophy. Gott ist tot! [God is dead!] is the famous phrase you probably know from Nietzsche. He believed that God does not exist. We have made God irrelevant in our lives or that He does not exist. If this is true, then all beliefs are off and our own wills are what we should satisfy, invent our own values and live life with ourselves as the center and number one. Some wills are stronger than others, and the weaker wills will have to defer to them in the larger scene.

6. When human depravity grabs ahold of this philosophic thought, then you wind up with Stalin and Pol Pot with human carnage and depravity on a large scale, and the Buffalo and Uvalde shooters on a smaller scale. It all goes back to Cain: my will triumphs over God’s will, over Abel’s will, and thus Cain has no qualms about killing his brother Abel. Why is there heartache, violence and death in this world? Our will that desires to triumph over all others no matter the cost is why evil exists and thrives on this earth.

7. Then comes the bewildered cry: Why doesn’t God do anything about this? Part of the Biblical answer makes people uncomfortable: God does do something about it; He works good from evil. Jesus on the cross is where God works good from evil and in His crucifixion Jesus triumphs over sin and all the wicked fruit born by, and from, our sin. As by Adam we all have fallen, so by Christ we are justified by grace. Jesus has paid for our sin and redeemed us from the curse of death.

8. Until Christ returns, all creation still groans under the curse and longs for the last day when it will be freed. After Jesus had ascended, 2 angels stood by the disciples and assured them: »This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come again in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven« (Acts 1,11). When Jesus returns, He will make all things new. Jesus will dwell with us. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes; death shall be no more; there will be no mourning, crying or pain, for the former things will have passed away (Revelation 21,5.3-4).

9. All things work together for good for those who love God. Jesus has justified and glorified us. This gospel is the remedy for the nihilism that infests our culture. God did indeed die, and He rose from the dead. God is not dead, but He is alive. Christ’s resurrection gives purpose to our lives. God does care about us, life is precious and respect for the neighbor uplifted. There is no need to exert our will over against God’s will. The guilty conscience with its mental suffering is absolved by the proclamation that Jesus died and rose again for us and in doing so He has purchased our forgiveness.

10. The Priest

11. Since Christ has full atonement made

And brought to us salvation,

Each Christian therefore may be glad

And build on this foundation.

Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,

Your death is now my life indeed,

For You have paid my ransom. (Salvation Unto Us Has Come Paul Speratus 1484-1551 lsb 555,6 )

This is most certainly true.

13. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippines 4,7). Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, You gave Your only Son to die for our sins and rise again for our justification. Renew us by Your Holy Spirit that through the power of Christ’s resurrection we may dwell with Him forever. Amen. (Wilhelm Löhe, Agende 1853, Easter, first part from Austria 1571, tlh 8, sbh 88; Stratman 44).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Saturday, June 4, 2022

Romans 8,26-30. Exaudi

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