4-4-2020

 Good Morning All,

Romans 8: 38-39; “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything in else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

    For the last 3 to 4 weeks, I have probably heard or spoken the phrase, “uncharted waters” more than I have heard or spoken them in the previous years of my life.  You can watch any news broadcast or listen to any talking head pundit and they all say the same thing, “we don’t really know how to proceed.”  Of course, the irony is that they tell you how to proceed.  Yet no one knows.  You hear all kinds of ideas, thoughts and prognostications, how many will contract the virus, how many will die from the virus, how long we should self-quarantine, should it be mandatory, what will life look like when it is over, what if it never gets over, what will be the next one?

    These last few months should truly cement for a Christian the idea that you truly cannot trust princes of this world (Psalm 118).  You listen and then wonder if they know what they are talking about.  Are they honest, clueless or accurate?  We wonder and then we worry.  We consider and then we are concerned.  We listen and then we lose hope.  Yet what is truly amazing in this whole event is that it has always been this way and it always will be this way.  Earthly leaders know only what they know, and they know only by experience.  When we are in “uncharted waters”, it is only a guess.  It might be well-intentioned, it might be a “best effort”, it might even end up close to right; but it is a guess in a time of uncertainty.  So, we need to go where we can be certain; we need to go to Jesus.

     Our passage is the ending to what I think is one of the greatest passages in the Bible.  Different pastors will start you at different verses in this chapter.  Some want the whole chapter, some start at verse 12, some start at verse 18, some, including me, will start you at verse 31.  In these nine verses, Paul lays out a statement of faith that should encourage us all.  He begins with the rhetorical question, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  Then in verse 35, he moves to the question, “who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”  Paul lists, “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword.” We could list tribulation, distress, pandemic, shortages, economic upheaval and have this verse apply to us today.

    The glory is that Paul’s answer to the question, “who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”  is our answer as well.  Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  We can be certain of this, completely and totally confident of God’s love and mercy for us.  We may not know how it is being used, applied or what effect in this world we may experience it but we can be certain of God’s incredible love for us and our salvation in Jesus to give us peace in times of “uncharted waters”.

Father of all mercy, keep us ever fixed on you.  Guide us by your Spirit so that we may never fear or waver.  Keep us wise, keep us cautious, keep us prudent but always keep us from fear.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret