Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church
4th Sunday After Trinity 2020
“Romans viii. 18. I RECKON that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in us.”
Are suffering and glory
connected? Is suffering the lens through
which we view our hope of glory? If so,
how does suffering prepare us for the glory to come?
These are weighty questions. One commentator
says, “There is nothing like a believing view of the glory which shall be
revealed to support and bear up the spirit under all the sufferings of this
present time. The reproach of Christ appears riches to those who have respect
to the recompence of reward,”[i]
This view is also confirmed in Heb.
11:26, where the writer tells how Moses forsook the luxury of
the Egyptian court to share the sufferings of his people: ”[ii] Esteeming the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the
recompence of the reward.”
St. Paul certainly knew about suffering. As he recounts in 2 Corinthians 11:23-25: “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in
prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes
save one. 25 Thrice was I
beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a
day I have been in the deep;”
Yet, through it all, St. Paul never lost his hope of glory. He was
fortunate enough to have had a glimpse of glory, as he stated in 2
Corinthians 12:3-4 : “And I knew such a man, (whether in the
body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into
paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to
utter.”
Yet, even without this heavenly vision, one feels that Paul would have kept
his vision of glory to come, given by his unshakeable faith. After all, he had seen the risen Christ on
the Damascus Road, when he first received his commission.
Even that experience did not come without some suffering, as St. Paul spent
the next three days blind and fasting. God eventually sent the disciple Ananias
to lay hands on him. After this, he
received his sight. Imagine being given
that task! Ananias complained to God,
that this was the great persecutor of the church and he was being sent to
him? Thankfully, he obeyed, and Saul
(then Paul) received his physical and spiritual sight.
It’s been said (in the Book of Proverbs and Job) that wisdom does not come
without suffering. Most of us who have
some level of maturity would probably agree.
How about our hope of glory? Is
it sharpened by suffering? Or, is it
blunted? We think it depends on the gift
of faith one has. If one’s faith is deep
and rich, we think one can discount the “sufferings of this present time” because
of the “glory that will be revealed in us.”
On the other hand, if one’s faith is superficial, sufferings may cause
doubt or even a falling away from the faith.
If this be the case, let us pray for a rich and hearty faith!
Why? Because the scripture clearly
states (Romans 8:22) “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and
travaileth in pain together until now.” We need a strong faith to survive the vicissitudes of
life without buckling. I was musing on
this very passage the other day, thinking about the nature of nature itself,
how things must die for other things to survive. We humans, being at the top of
the food chain, constantly harvest and consume other creatures for our
survival. I frankly admit that I am a
carnivore, or better put, an omnivore who eats everything! Even our vegetarian and vegan friends do not
eat without sacrifice. Plants must be killed (harvested) for their nutrition,
too.
In the wild, animals must prey on other animals to survive. It’s a tough world at its very core. Thus,
St. Paul teaches us about the groaning of creation.
Yet, there is hope. “The glory that shall be revealed in us” refers to the
ultimate consummation of our existence, when we will be united with God in
glory everlasting. It also deals with the
cessation of pain for all Creation.
Someday, when Christ returns, all pain will cease for Creation, and for
those called to His Glory. Life will be
as it was meant to be originally.
This is why we have hope. It is why
those of us in the household of faith look forward to our coming life in Christ,
despite what comes our way here. None of
us should expect a perfect life here, for it does not exist. Life is
necessarily flawed and imperfect here, being only a faint reflection of our
life to come.
This is why we have hope. This is
why we have joy, now, despite our circumstances.
There is a far greater “weight of glory”
waiting for us, that certainly makes our current suffering look paltry and weak.
(2 Corinthians 4:17-18) “For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are
seen are temporal; but the things
which are not seen are eternal.”
We can do this because we have a Eternal Friend and Companion in the Holy
Ghost, who strengthens us and helps us through our difficult times. With His help, we can look through the
current burden of our times to the next phase of our existence, when we will
exist without time, without pain, and without sorrow.
This is our
eternal destiny. It is the reason we can “…reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” In
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.
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