Summer Preaching Series August 9-10, 2025
“God In Control” Romans 8:28
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
What a verse. When life is too hard this is the verse to put into your soul and mind. In all things God works for the good… The person who suggested this verse wrote, “It might be too late for suggested scripture sermon topics, but verses that I have held on to over the years are Romans 8:26-29, especially verse 28.”
This is a comforting promise made from our God, who cannot lie. But this text is a hard text. It raises many questions. Are all the things that happen to us the will and way of God? Are all the things that happen in the world the will and the way of God? NO!! There is too much evil and there is too much darkness.
William Barclay, a Scottish theologian from some 50 years ago and a prolific writer titled this section, “All is of God”. I disagree. All things are not from God. If you watch the news, or read the papers, or keep up with current events, your heart has to suffer with pain. Russia-Ukraine. Israel-Gaza. The violence against Christians in Africa. Morals and values that are opposed to the ways of God. As Jesus says of our enemy, the devil, “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.” (John 10:10)
A highlight of the trip our youth took to New Orleans was a visit to the World War II Museum. A movie took you through the beginning of the war to the end of it. And toward the end of the movie we saw troops entering Concentration Camps and finding the skeletons and those who were close to death. The scene brought horror to all of us who saw those pictures. The Holocaust is the great sin against the Jewish people. “All is of God?” No. Too evil. Too dark.
In the Old Testament the account of Joseph commands 14 chapters in the book of Genesis. Joseph was the 11th of the 12 sons of Jacob, and his father’s favorite, was his brother’s enemy. They planned to kill him and have their problem solved. But they didn’t kill him quickly. They decided to kill him slowly. They sold him as a slave – guaranteeing a life that would be miserable, with all types of evil done to him. No longer would he parade in front of them in his coat of many colors.
But God’s hand on his life protected him, even though the path was not easy. Eventually he ends up in Egypt. He receives the place of responsibility of providing for others during the years of drought, in Egypt and all over the world. Eventually his brothers arrive in Egypt and stand before him begging for food. He knows them. They don’t recognize him. But eventually he says to them, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.” (Genesis 45:4)
That wasn’t good news to them. What would he do? Would he get even? Would he make them into slaves? Later in the book he looks at all that had happened and says, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20)
This text, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”, is a hard one. This text does not say that all things that happen to us and in this world are the will of God. Another question that has to be answered is this: “What is the definition of good?”
For instance, life has become hard. Your body is failing you. You are not what you once were. You live with limitations that didn’t even enter your mind a few years ago. For your life the definition of “good” is for all of that to change. Health would be restored. Or maybe you face challenges with employment or underemployment and the struggle that puts on you economically. “God works for the good” should then mean that such daily struggles would change.
Maybe God will do that. Many times we have seen sick people made better. We have seen our ways of making a living improve and we can finally meet our financial concerns.
But sometimes God has a different definition for “good” than ours. Do you remember Isaiah 55? “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
“Good” for God might be more than an immediate fix. It may be a fuller and a deeper answer than we even know. St. Paul had what he called, “A thorn in the flesh.” I don’t know if it was something physical – partial blindness for instance, or spiritual – an ongoing temptation – or something relational – a person who made his life miserable. But I know God’s answer for the good that He wanted to bring Paul was not immediate. This is from II Corinthians 12, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassing great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” (II Corinthians 12:7-9)
What is the good that God wants to bring you – all of you who love Him, trust in Him, seek Him, who have been called in your Holy Baptism to be His own child?
Larry and Amy Boeding and their daughters, Brooke and Ashley, were great blessings to this congregation for more than 10 years. They now are blessing Renewal Church in Denver with that same grace. Amy spoke to Renewal Church, on the old Emmaus Lutheran Church campus, by a video clip that was shown on Easter this year. Larry sent me the clip. If you’d like to see it, it is on our website (www.alutheran.org).
On April 19 in 2024 Amy went in for a regular check-up and found out that she had an aggressive form of breast cancer that had moved to her lymph nodes. Her oncologist said that treatment had to begin soon. For 5 months she received chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and then an additional month of radiation. She said it was brutal. She often was nauseous. She lost all of her beautiful hair.
During all of this Amy prayed for healing. She asked God for the necessary courage and strength for all that she would face. Amy, in that video clip, said that the cancer was used for her good. She said it was during that year that God cultivated necessary changes in her. She said that she grew in empathy and compassion. She was able to develop a greater humility as she received help from family and friends. Amy said that God gave her a fresh start in life.
On Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, Amy boasted to the people at Renewal Church in Denver, “I am cancer free.”
God works for good in all things. Maybe not how we would do it. Maybe not when we would have Him do it. But He does it. In Peter’s first sermon on Pentecost Sunday, he spoke about evil and redemption, about God’s timing and work. “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazaeth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Acts 2:22-24) Peter’s sermon goes on, and this was the response of the people, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’” (Acts 2:37-39) God worked for the good!!
Isn’t that something? In an evil world where many things are outside of the will and ways of God, God has intervened in Jesus to bring full life through faith in Him. We trust in His death and resurrection, we are confident in His timing and hand. The Scriptures say,
Oh, The depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing about! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)
God’s word is true: For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Amen!!
