Do You Want to Be a Stronger Christian?

Romans 5:1-8

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Do You Want to Be a Stronger Christian?

Back when I was in college, I worked on a dairy farm during the summer. I’d wake up at 3:00am to go milk the cows. That early morning milking was always tough. You’re barely awake. Half the time you’re bleary eyed and grumpy just for having to get out of your warm and cozy bed so early. The other half of the time it feels like the cows are grumpy; they refuse to go into the stall, they kick off the milking machine, they slap their manure-soaked tail across your face, which was always a special treat.

My boss was often in the parlour with me. He was a Christian too. He knew I was studying to be a pastor, so we’d talk about Jesus occasionally. On one of those days when the cows were extra-ornery, he just threw his hands up, turned around, looked at me with disgust in his eyes and asked,

“Pete, did you pray for patience today?!? ‘Cause you know the Lord’s gonna test you when you do!”

It was too early in the morning for me to fully understand what he was saying at the time. I get it now; it’s a lesson I carry with me to this day. His point was that people aren’t just born patient. You don’t just have patience one day and then you can put up with anything that happens to you for the rest of your life. Patience is born out of suffering. Patience is something you develop over time and with (often painful) experience.

It’s the same thing with anything you want to get better at. You want to play the guitar? Your fingertips are going to ache. But then you develop calluses and it doesn’t hurt so much anymore. You want to get better at math? You twist your brain into pretzels until you have a headache, but then you understand the formulas and algorithms. You want to get better at sports? You work out until you’re stiff and sore until you do it enough times that running a mile doesn’t make you want to die. You want to get promoted at work? You tackle progressively more difficult tasks. No one will just hand you the job if you don’t have any experience.

There are no shortcuts to progress or growth, and that holds doubly true for your faith.

Do you want to be a stronger Christian? Be careful what you wish for! There is one way to become a stronger Christian, and that’s to suffer. Paul said,

Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance [produces] character, and character [produces] hope. And hope does not put us to shame.[1]

Isn’t that what we’re all after? Isn’t that where we’d all like to be spiritually? Wouldn’t you want to be such a strong Christian that when you get that piece of bad news you don’t crumble and melt into a mess of tears and despair? Don’t you wish that you could just take adversity in stride and say, “I know that God will see me through, that he will use even this for my good, that even if the worst case scenario happens I can let it roll off my back like water off a duck because I have that much hope in the Lord”?

That’d be nice, wouldn’t it? But that’s not reality and that’s not where any of us start. In fact, when suffering comes, it’s often the opposite, isn’t it? My day is going just fine but then I hit the speedbump – I get bad news or something’s not working the way I wanted it to – and then I get irritable or impatient or discouraged.

Why does it have to be that way? I thought Paul said that suffering produces perseverance. I have plenty of suffering. Why don’t I feel like I’m persevering?

Luther had an interesting answer to that question:

Whatever tribulation finds in us, it develops more fully. If anyone is carnal, weak, blind, wicked, irascible, haughty, and so forth, tribulation will make him more carnal, weak, blind, wicked and irritable… Those speak foolishly who ascribe their anger or their impatience to such as offend them or to tribulation. Tribulation does not make people impatient, but proves that they are impatient. So everyone may learn from tribulation how his heart is constituted.[2]

That’s a blow to the ol’ ego, isn’t it? How many times have I blamed my impatience or irritability on my circumstances – too little sleep, too much stress, too little support? Too many times. Instead, Luther would suggest that we should use suffering – trials, tribulation, affliction, adversity, whatever word you want to use – we should use it kind of like a stethoscope to evaluate the condition of my heart. If I am irritable after adversity, it’s not that adversity made me irritable. It’s that I already was irritable; I just didn’t have occasion to show it. Adversity provided the occasion to demonstrate the weakness of my heart.

Ok. So if Luther says that suffering just amplifies and magnifies what is already inside of me, then that means that that I need to become spiritual, powerful, wise, gentle, humble, etc… to begin with. Then, when suffering comes, my wisdom and generosity and humility will shine through. It’s as simple as that!

There is some truth to that, but it begs the question, how do I become spiritual, powerful, wise, gentle, humble, i.e. a strong Christian…?

The Apostle Paul has an answer that takes all the credit and all the power out of your hands, and puts them where they rightly belong, in the Lord’s hands. Paul does this over and over again in the beginning of chapter 5. He says, “We have peace with God.”[3] Peace sounds nice. Where did that come from? How did we get it? “We have been justified… through our Lord Jesus Christ.”[4] We didn’t justify ourselves. We didn’t make peace with God. He made peace with us through Jesus.

Paul holds out all these appealing qualities that we’d all love to possess – perseverance, character, hope – but he makes it clear that they don’t come from us. We don’t pull perseverance out of thin air. We can’t pull ourselves up by our bootstraps to the hope of the glory of God in heaven. That’s something God accomplished for us and in us.

That’s why Paul is careful to explain:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.[5]

God looked at you, and he saw a hopeless mess. He saw someone who would crumble and melt – whose knees would buckle – at the first piece of bad news. God looked at you and he saw someone whose default reaction to adversity is irritability and impatience or despair and fear. God looked at you when you were powerless and sinful, and he loved you. There were no redeeming qualities about you, but in love God decided to redeem you anyway.

And it was that incredibly rare, unique, once in a lifetime sacrifice that Jesus made – not for a righteous or even a good person, but for you, a sinner – it was that sacrifice that gives you peace. That’s where peace comes from. That’s how we got it. God gave it to you, though Jesus.

And it’s a peace unlike anything in this world. It’s not a peace between people. It’s not even necessarily a feeling of peacefulness or calmness in your life. It’s a peace with God and that is so much better. When we were powerless, when we were still in sin, we were at war with God. There was no peace, no hope, no way to persevere or pull through. There was only death and condemnation to look forward to. But now, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we have peace with God. Our sins are forgiven. We have access into this grace in which we now stand.

This peace is not a fleeting feeling that we only experience when everything is just right. It is a present reality that doesn’t depend on you or the circumstances of life around you. It is a peace that is guaranteed to you by grace through faith in Jesus. This peace is a gift from the God who loves you, so that even if the sky starts to fall and you are losing your mind in fear or worry or guilt and shame you can at least hold on to God’s love and know that that will never change.

And the good news is that the longer you hold onto that love and the more storms you weather in life, the more Christian character you will develop as God pulls you through adversity and suffering. The longer you hold onto that love and the more storms you weather in life, the more confident your hope will be and the stronger you will be in your faith.

Do you want to be a stronger Christian? Be careful what you wish for! Buckle up, because you will face adversity. But if you remember the peace you have with God – this peace that comes from Jesus that no circumstance in life can change – if you remember that peace, then you can be sure that you can stand up under whatever adversity you face, because you do not face it alone. You have the unconditional love of God that sacrificed his Son for you and continues to pour out his Spirit into your heart to fill you with perseverance, character and hope in him.

Be gracious, O Lord, when we waver in our faith, and bring us again to embrace the unchangeable truth of your Word with penitent hearts and steadfast faith. Amen.

[1] Romans 5:3-5

[2] Martin Luther’s Commentary on Romans, pp. 90,91

[3] Romans 5:1

[4] Romans 5:1

[5] Romans 5:6-8

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Are You Afraid of Jesus?

John 3:1-17

1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

Are You Afraid of Jesus?

Fear is an interesting thing. It’s so subjective. Yesterday during breakfast I read an article about a guy in Australia who had to run to his car to grab something out of his glovebox and hanging from the visor were a pair of huntsman spiders. I don’t know if you know anything about huntsman spiders, but their average size is a little smaller than my hand. Now, they’re not deadly to a guy my size, but I wouldn’t care. I’d be out of that garage before you could say, “Peter Parker.” I’d be on a flight back to Canada where we might have 9 months of winter, but at least we don’t have spiders like that. I don’t know how anyone lives there. My arachnophobia wouldn’t allow it.

Just for kicks, I looked at a list of the most common phobias, or fears. Do you know any of these? Coming in at #1 was glossophobia – the fear of public speaking. #2 was thanatophobia – the fear of death or dying. #3 was acrophobia – the fear of heights. Other phobias include arachnophobia, claustrophobia, thalassophobia. I looked at several other lists of fears, including some of the silly ones, like hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (the fear of long words) or arachibutyrophbia (the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth).

There are all kinds of fears, and it’s amazing how many of them have names. But no matter how long I looked at these lists, there was one fear that we read about in our gospel for today, that didn’t appear anywhere. I’ll call it mathetephobia, and ask, “Are you afraid of Jesus?”

Nicodemus was. That’s why when John records his visit, he is careful to say that Nicodemus came to Jesus under cover of darkness. You see, Nicodemus was a Pharisee and he was afraid to be seen with Jesus. As a rule Pharisees hated Jesus. He threatened their power and exposed their hypocrisy. Pretty much from the moment that Jesus popped onto the scene, the Pharisees were plotting to discredit Jesus, to destroy his reputation and, ultimately, to plot his murder. 

You can understand, then, why it was risky for Nicodemus to pay Jesus a visit and why, when he did, he made that visit at night. If anyone saw him, his reputation would have been ruined. He could have lost his job and career just for talking with Jesus. Nicodemus was afraid of associating with Jesus. 

Are you? Are you afraid of associating with Jesus? There are plenty of times that I dread that moment when my faith comes up in a conversation because I’ve seen it too many times. I say I’m a Christian, a pastor, I talk about going to church, and the person opposite me clams up and the conversation is basically over. It’s uncomfortable. It’s discouraging.

What would your teammates think if you couldn’t make Sunday morning rink time or the weekend tournament because you were at church? Would you lose your spot on the team or the respect of your coach? What about when you’re out with friends and someone brings up a touchy subject, that touches on your faith? Are you afraid of what people will think about you, so you speak shallowly and skirt the issue, just hoping to survive the conversation? Then you’re no better than Nicodemus was, slinking off to meet Jesus at night so that no one would know. 

“But at least Nicodemus went!” you might say. “At least I’m here at church today!” or, “I did talk to my friends about Jesus at lunch the other day!” That may be true – and kudos to Nicodemus for taking that risk; kudos to you for when you risk associating with Jesus too – but for Nicodemus (and I think for us too) the fear of being associated with Jesus wasn’t even half as bad as his fear of what being a disciple of Jesus would mean.

Nicodemus was willing to admit that Jesus was special. No one else could turn water into wine or walk on water. Nicodemus was willing to acknowledge Jesus as a gifted teacher, but he wasn’t ready to admit that Jesus was his Saviour. To admit that Jesus was his Saviour would be to admit that Nicodemus was sinner who needed to be saved, whose life needed to be changed.

Think about how especially galling that would be for a Pharisee who prided himself on being a good person and a rule follower. Think about how galling that would be for a Pharisee who looked at the immoral world around him and considered himself a light in the comparative darkness.

Nicodemus wasn’t just afraid of associating with Jesus. He was afraid that Jesus might actually be who he claimed to be, because if Jesus really was his Saviour, then Nicodemus was a sinner who needed salvation, who needed to change his sinful way of life.

What about you? Are you afraid of who Jesus really is and what that would mean for you and your life?  I think a lot of people are, even those of us who call ourselves Christian. We’d rather have Jesus be a teacher than a Savior, because a teacher is working with students who can learn and grow. A Savior, on the other hand, is only needed by the helpless and the hopeless. We don’t just need a push in the right direction; we need salvation! That’s scary. 

And as if that weren’t enough, if we accept that Jesus is our Savior, then that means that we are sinners and that there are parts of our lives that are sinful and need to change. Maybe for you the thing that needs to change is the thing that keeps you from hearing God’s Word with God’s people on Sunday mornings – your favourite weekend getaway, a hobby, sport, habit or career that takes you out of town or out of commission on Sunday mornings. Maybe the thing that needs to change is the company you keep – people who don’t support you spiritually or who put stumbling blocks in the way of your faith. Maybe the thing that needs to change is no deeper than your heart – a pharisaical heart, like Nicodemus’, that allows itself to think better of itself than it should, that plays (and thinks it wins) the comparison game with other “lesser” hearts who make bad decisions when we make good ones.

Mathetephobia is real and, I think, the most undiagnosed fear among Christians. We are afraid to be seen with Jesus; we are afraid to need him; we are afraid to give up our sinful lifestyles for him. 

What a sad state we’d be in if Jesus, in any way, felt the same way about us! What good news to know that he doesn’t!

Jesus was not afraid to associate with you or to change his life for you. He made the biggest lifestyle change in all human history because he loves you. He gave up his throne in heaven and exchanged it for a humble human body to become just like you. Jesus wasn’t afraid to associate with you. He became your brother so that he could become your Saviour.

We were lost in sin and damned for it. But Jesus came, not to teach us how to be better or how to rise above our sin, not to modify our behaviour so that we could earn our place in heaven. No, Jesus came to be our Saviour – to associate himself with us so thoroughly that his life could serve as a substitute for ours, that his death could count for all of our sins, that he could give the universal promise that so many Christians have committed to memory, and for good reason:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.[1]

That’s how much God loves you: to associate himself with you and to change – to give – his life for you, so that you could live with him forever in heaven, without fear or guilt or shame.

Do you know the next time we hear about Nicodemus in the Bible? It’s not until after Jesus’ crucifixion. Apparently what Jesus said to him here had an impact on him, because when it became obvious that Jesus was dead and that it would be appropriate to bury his body, Nicodemus bravely approached Pontius Pilate. He wasn’t afraid anymore who might see him with Jesus. He just loved Jesus and wanted to show that love for his Saviour no matter how many people saw it, no matter what it might cost him.

What about you? How is the knowledge of Jesus’ love for you going to change your life? Are you going to give up your embarrassment at being a Christian and look for opportunities to talk about your Saviour? You should read the newest Mission Blog from our synod. One pastor even created an opportunity to talk about Jesus while he was getting his teeth cleaned. Imagine that! How many opportunities do we miss because we think it’s inconvenient or the wrong place or time? How many opportunities does God give you everyday to share the good news of John 3:16?

Which parts of your life are you going to change – which sinful habits are you willing to break – to show your thanks to him? What hobby, sport, or career changes could you make so that your spiritual life can flourish even more than your social life?

Whatever it is, know that your God loves you. Your salvation does not depend on the changes you make or the opportunities you take. You will see the kingdom of heaven because he sent his Son from heaven to earth for you, not to judge you, but to save you, to associate himself with you and to give you eternal life. Now use the life he has given you here to associate with him and rejoice in his salvation. Amen.

[1] John 3:16

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