Romans 5.1-8; Matthew 9.35-10.8
Fifty years ago I joined the British Army. I was given an ID card and this card allowed me access to most British military bases - there were some MOD buildings in London where I needed an extra ID card to gain access and there was the Ops room in my first regiment that held Top Secret documents which again needed further permission.
But mostly my ID card gave me access with a salute and welcome Sir.
This access did not happen over night - I had to pass interviews and a three day rigorous set of tests to prove my worth and then I had to train at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. It was not automatic. On the three day selection test only 4 of us out of 54 were accepted. So that ID card was like gold dust, a passport into secure military bases and of course into the Officer’s Mess. The rank gave one status and authority.
I wonder if you have ever had an ID card? When I visit hospitals there are always signs that say “Staff only”. And most public buildings have similar restrictions - I do not think National Westminster Bank will allow me into their vaults just to have a peak or Buckingham Palace would allow me into the private quarters of the King,
Yet we are allowed into the presence of The Father because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We are made holy by that sacrifice, cleansed and made whole, just by asking for and receiving his forgiveness. Jesus has done all that is necessary for us to be forgiven and in that forgiveness we are justified, made right with God. We are no longer in condemnation, no longer cast out, no longer separated from God. No, we are welcomed into the Holy of Holies, into the Father’s presence. No need for three day selection tests, no need for extensive interviews and grilling, no need for months of training. Very simply we just need to acknowledge our sins and receive forgiveness from Jesus.
And we are then given admission to the private chambers of the Father - welcomed like an honoured guest. What a privilege. It is no wonder that Paul the writer to the church in Rome said that we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. Yes, my friends, we can boast! Our Easter acclamation says it all: Alleluia, Christ is risen. He is risen indeed, Alleluia. Shout it out for all to hear! Share the good news.
But then Paul writes a disturbing phrase - we boast in our sufferings. I wonder if Jesus ever boasts in his sufferings. Yes he invited Thomas to place his finger in his nail holes, and in his side where the spear went in, but that was in response to Thomas’ desperate words the week before, I doubt very much that he invites us to do likewise, that he shows off the marks of his crucifixion like a trophy.
Yet we are called to boast in our sufferings, and this points to meaning. In our sufferings. Suffering can produce endurance, and endurance can produce character, and character can produce hope. When life is hard and we choose to keep going, to continue to trust, to keep believing that God is for us, and not against us, that He is standing with us, it produces an inner steel in us, a tenacity that builds up our spiritual resilience, that helps us to endure, to keep going despite the harshness of the struggles that we are contending with. This endurance shapes us and moulds us, and if we allow it, if we continually keep going back to Christ, seeking his grace, then it forms a deeper trust in Christ, a character reflecting the love of God, an inner assurance and complete trust that God has not deserted us. Julian of Norwich, who lived in the 14th century devoted her life to solitary prayer and meditation and a lot of her meditation was on human suffering. She herself was seriously ill for a while and saw many die from bubonic plague. Rather than seeing pain as meaningless, her visions led her to conclude that "suffering and love... are inseparable." Her core message was that God feels our pain with us, and she famously reassured that "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
She learnt that trust in Jesus leads into expectant hope. Hope that has its roots in the deep love of the Father. Hope that Jesus never deserts us that instead he is with us to the end of the age. Hope that the Holy Spirit is always working in our lives, revealing more and more of the mystery of God to us, and the enormity and extravagance of his love for us, in that while we were still sinners, miserable outsiders, cast out from the Father’s presence, Christ died for us. When we let it, suffering draws us deeper into that love. So we can boast that God loves us so much that he is allowing us to suffer so that we can understand and experience more of that love.
So my friends to recap - we are justified - not by our actions - but by the blood of Jesus. Each one of us can now enter the throne room of heaven. There are no signs saying “staff only”, no military guards asking to see an ID card. Instead we are welcomed into the Father’s presence.
So rejoice in this justification and if you are suffering then boast in your sufferings, for this is an opportunity by endurance, building of character and hope for you to enter more fully into the love of God,so that despite everything you can declare, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Amen