Holy Trinity Ankeny

Promise; we make them, we work hard to keep them, we break them, we change them, and we forget them. Today we hear about promises as we continue our Series: “Good News: It’s What Grace Looks Like." Paul addresses the issue of will God keep God’s promises.

In times of chaos and trial we may wonder why God does not seem to be around. It was true for Elijah. It was true for Peter. Paul assures that God’s grace brings God much closer than we can imagine. Paul declares that salvation is as close as our lips and hearts… How is this possible?

Paul proclaims in language that soars, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.” (Romans 8) Really? What if we reject God? What about sinners? What about the people of Israel? Grace and the good news are hard for us because we forget who makes us God’s people. Paul knows. Clue? It isn’t you.

The pandemic has caused us to physically separate from those we love. Paul proclaims in Romans 8 the Good News about God's love and what it does to the power of sin that separates.

How do you know if you are “in Christ” or really have the faith that gives hope ? Are there rules to follow? Behaviors and habits to engage? Paul says that you are in Christ when Christ is in you, and it turns out that is pretty easy to know.

To be in Christ Jesus means that Christ’s death and resurrection is our death and resurrection. To be in Christ Jesus is not about having some right or privilege that makes us better than our neighbors, but rather about being empowered to live life to a higher standard.

We often make much out of God’s law. Mostly we believe that the Law is that which tells us what we can and cannot do. Paul would say, not so fast. Law and Gospel are deeply connected, one serving the other in offering us grace and new life.

Paul’s Letter to the Romans is filled with the Good News of God’s grace, which is Good News indeed. Now that we have received God’s grace, does sin even matter anymore. Can I just sin as much as I want and God will take care of it? Paul gives an emphatic “No.” Instead, God has given us new life in Christ. What does that mean for me? Hear what Paul teaches us about our identity in Christ and how this new identity changes everything.

It is not that we must be good enough or wise enough or obedient enough to gain God, it is that God has already gained us. That is good news. That is what grace looks like. And that is why the only adequate response for us who have been justified by faith is to work each and every day to extend that same radical grace to our deeply divided and suffering world. As Jesus charges the disciples in today’s gospel passage: you received without payment; give without payment.