“God is For Us!”
Romans 8:31

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
First Sunday in Lent—February 21, 2021

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The text for this morning’s message is from the Epistle Reading appointed for the First Sunday in Lent, a question posed by St. Paul in the eighth chapter of Romans: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

People who are paranoid suffer from the delusion that everyone is against them.  But, you don’t have to be paranoid to think that there may indeed be some people who are, in one way or another, against you.  Perhaps at work, at school, among your circle of acquaintances, in your community, perhaps even in your own family, there are some people who really are against you.

It’s bad enough to feel that your fellow man is against you, but much worse is the feeling, the fear, that maybe even God himself is against you.  When things go wrong, when tragedy strikes, in times of trouble, pain and suffering, we ask, “Why?”  Why this?  Why now?  Why me?  “Maybe,” we sometimes think, “maybe God is punishing me.”  Maybe God himself is against me.

There is one very important difference that separates Christianity from all other religions in the world.  The important difference is not that we gather for worship; that itself is not unique, for all religions have their own rituals and forms of worship.  The important difference is not that we have a holy book; that itself is not unique, for there are many other so-called holy books in the world.  The important difference is not that we have high moral standards; that itself is not unique, for many other religions also have strict morals.  The important difference is not that we follow a great religious teacher; that itself is not unique, for there have been many religious teachers in history.  What is it then that makes our faith unique?  What sets Christianity apart from all other religions in the world?

St. Paul expresses it four simple, but beautiful, words:  “God is for us!”  That is the key difference between Christianity and all the false, man-made religions of the world; that is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions in the world.

To those outside the Christian faith, the very idea that “God is for us” is a radical, revolutionary notion.  That’s because all other religions, except Christianity, teach not that God is for us, but the exact opposite; they teach that God is against us, that God is angry with us, that we must appease his wrath to avoid his punishment.  But, the Good News is, all those other religions are wrong.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  “God did not spare his only Son, but gave him up for us all.”  “God is for us!”

Jesus Christ is not just one of many religious teachers in history, he is the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself up for us; he is the Lamb of God, who by his sacrifice on the cross takes away the sin of the world.  He is your personal Savior, who was delivered over to death for your sins and raised to life for your justification.  Through faith in him you have peace with God.

God is not angry with you.  God is on your side; God is for you!  And, no matter what happens, God is not punishing you, because your punishment is already paid in full by your Savior Jesus Christ.  “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him.”

As St. Paul says in the beautiful words of today’s Epistle Reading: “If God is for us, who can be against us? . . .  Who shall separate us form the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . .  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors though him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

When things go wrong, when tragedy strikes, in times of trouble, pain and suffering, could it be that God himself is against us?  NO!  NEVER!  Because, “God is For Us!”