Romans 5:1-11 - May 14, 2023

Last week, we dipped our toes into Paul’s letter to the Romans by looking at chapter one. It was an introduction - both to himself and to his message. He gave us a summary of the entire book, talking about God’s faithfulness and how through God’s faithfulness in Jesus, we have salvation. God’s faithfulness ensures relationship with us.

In the chapters between last week and this week, Paul expands on what that faithfulness looks like, driving home the point that our dependence on anything aside from God’s grace is pointless. God’s grace shown in Jesus Christ is where we place our trust and our faith - not in ourselves, not in works, not in the Law. 

And here, Paul starts to summarize where he’s been in order to move the conversation forward. “Therefore,” Paul starts out, showing he is summing up what he’s been saying for the past four chapters: even though we all fall short of God’s glory, we “are justified by faithfulness;” God makes us right. We have peace with God through Jesus Christ. We boast in our hope with God.

So far, so good. 

But then Paul takes his next step, saying that we also boast in our sufferings. Really? It seems like that came out of nowhere.
And suffering leads to endurance… endurance so you can suffer longer?
All that builds character. Isn’t “character” what you got as a kid by doing the things you hated: camping in the rain, eating vegetables, cleaning your room? Do something you hate; being miserable builds character!

But if I stop being such a pessimist for a bit and actually think about what Paul is saying, he’s speaking a truth here. Even a life of grace isn’t immune to suffering - suffering which we sometimes endure, endure, and endure. That endurance shapes us. It can wear us out, but it can also build character and, more important, help us realize that God is our only hope, not ourselves.

Furthermore, Paul reminds us that even our suffering doesn’t separate us from God. God is present, even in the bad. In times of turmoil and transition, when it seems we may be lost, God pulls us through. God works through us, through people stepping up to fill roles, through the gifts of this community. I see God with us and working, even now. 

God knows we will have hard times, uncertain times, times when we suffer. Yet that doesn’t separate us from God. 

And God has a way of raising up positives in the midst of the negative because God’s love has been poured out. This “love poured out” is seen in the cross of Christ. God’s love, present even in suffering, has the ability to change the outcome, change us, and change the world. God’s love changes things; it brings hope - hope that does not disappoint us. 

To elaborate on this, Paul tells us that God’s love is poured into our hearts. God proves that love to us. God reconciles us.
While we still were sinners, Christ died for us.
While we were weak, Christ died for us.
While we were enemies, Christ died for us. 

It is a relationship we failed to keep. We didn’t do a thing to get on God’s good side. In fact, we as humanity did the opposite. We weren’t even neutral in the matter! We were unfaithful, we were broken, we were separated, we were enemies! 

And yet, through God’s faithfulness, we are saved. God came to us, yanked us out of wrath, and saved us. 

This is so astonishing to Paul that he kind of ponders out loud about it: it’s possible to imagine someone dying for a good person, or for someone who has worth to them - family, friends, people within their bubble. One might even sacrifice oneself for duty to country or colleague - and those are good things. There are many kinds of sacrifices we would say are honorable and selfless. 

But Jesus didn’t sacrifice himself for reasons or people like that. Christ did not give himself for the “righteous” or the “good.” Instead, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Paul wants us to see that Jesus’ death doesn’t make sense like our notion of sacrificing does. From a human point of view, Jesus died for the entirely wrong people. 

But this is what Divine love does. God’s love is one that would die for sinners. God’s love reaches out to those who turned from God. God’s love is shaped by action and self-sacrifice. 

God saves us through God’s faithfulness to us. Even before we had faith, God did something to justify us, save us, and reconcile us. God doesn't wait for us before saving us. God doesn't wait for us to believe, say a prayer, or cry out for help. Before we even know what we need, God has already done it. God reconciled us and made everything okay. This can only be seen as grace - undeserved, unmerited, unearned grace. Jesus laying down his life is a gift we don't deserve.

It's kind of like this:
Imagine a mother ape playing in the jungle with her baby ape. They're doing ape-y things like picking up sticks and leaves. Suddenly, the mommy ape hears a noise - danger! They've got to get out! So what happens? The baby ape runs to the mother ape and jumps up, clinging to her chest. The mother ape runs away with the baby ape holding on tight. This is "Ape Grace." The mother ape does the major work of escaping and rescuing, but the baby ape needs to hold on tight to be rescued.

Now, imagine a mother cat in the same scenario. What does a mommy cat do when her kitten is in danger? She yanks that kitten up by the scruff of the neck and quickly gets out of there. The kitten barely knows what happened. That's "Cat Grace."

Paul is telling us that God has “Cat Grace.” Before we even know that we should cling to God, God snatches us away from danger, yanks us out of wrath, and places us squarely in God's good graces. This is how faithful God is to us. The Gospel is not earned. While we were weak, sinners, enemies, God was still faithful enough to love us and to die for us. We have a faithful God who is willing to go to any length to reconcile us.

It's hard to believe it happens like that. Often, we don't believe it. Sometimes we even resist it. Surely, we have to do something before God will save us, rescue us, love us, right? We have to run to God first and cling tight to God to be saved, right? But if we cling, we have reason to boast in ourselves. "See how clingy I am? I'm super clingy!" That's the sinner in us popping up. We want to get at least some of the credit for saving ourselves.

But Paul repeatedly reminds us that we should not boast, except in Christ. We do not boast about ourselves, our actions, or our accomplishments. Instead, we boast about God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We boast about the hope we have, what God does amidst our suffering, danger, and unfaithfulness. 

Knowing that we have been rescued by God and placed safely in God’s good graces, we cling close to God at every opportunity. We do this not to be saved, but to experience and live in that salvation now. We cling to boast in God’s glory, not ourselves, and to see our suffering transformed into hope. 

In the following chapters, Paul will elaborate on why we cling to God, but for now, he wants to get something through our heads: God proves his love for us, in that while we still were sinners, Christ died for us. 

God has Cat Grace.
God has an immeasurable love for us.
And because of that we have hope.
And hope does not disappoint us.