Third Sunday in Lent March 7-8, 2026
“Can There Ever Be Peace?” Romans 5:1-8
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
There are four words no child likes to hear. Those four words are usually spoken by a parent or someone in authority over them. You’ve probably either used them or heard them yourself. What four words am I referring to here? They’re words all of us in this sanctuary know. The words? “Because I said so.”
Why should I eat my vegetables? “Because I said so.” Why do I have to wear this seatbelt? “Because I said so.” Why do I have to clean up my room? Why? “Because I said so.” A parent’s vocabulary only needs to know those four words – Because I said so.
Usually when we say those words, or we have those words spoken to us, it carries with it a negative meaning. But I would like us to see this in a positive and wonderful way today. We are going to ask the question, “Can there ever be peace?” And we are going to listen to the great answer that God gives. God has His own way of saying, “Because I said so…”
Can there ever be peace? I don’t know. Every week there seems to be a new hotspot. The Middle East is just frightening. Israel, Gaza, Iran. Mexico. Minneapolis. Recently one of our mothers asked for prayers for her son, he is being deployed to one of the regions that is contentious. At times the problem isn’t between nations, the conflict is much closer. The conflict is in our kitchens and homes. Sometimes it is between neighbors, co-workers, brothers and sisters, parents and kids. “Why can’t we just get along?” Can there ever be peace?
Yes, there can be peace. And here is where that “Because I said so” is a wonderful word. God says that there will be peace, because He is the one who brings it.
The peace that He brings begins in the heart, deep in our soul. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) Before you can be a giver of peace, before you become a person of peace, you must be a receiver of peace. And the one that will give you peace is God himself. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Peace is more than a feeling. It is not just the absence of war or of trouble. It is God’s “shalom” as the Jewish faith calls it. Everything is right. Everything is complete. And why is it complete and right? Because God has taken the action to make it so. In our reading from Romans 5 it tells us how this peace was won, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8) Why is it certain that you will have peace in your soul? Do you know what God’s answer is? “Because I said so.”
My folks were faithful subscribers of The Reader’s Digest for decades. There was an article in there about a man named Bill who had donated 100 pints of blood. He did a good thing, and many people owe their lives to his kindness. But this is what Bill said, “When the final whistle blows and St. Peter asks, “What did you do?” I’ll just say, “Well, I gave 100 pints of blood.” Bill then says with a laugh, “That ought to get me in.” A writer by the name of Joe McKeever made this comment about Bill. “Bill was probably joking. But if he was serious…if Bill is counting on 100 pints of blood to get him into heaven, he is trusting in the wrong blood.”
The Scriptures say, “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (I John 1:7) Tell me, why would that work, when nothing else does? Why? Because God gives His answer, “Because I said so.”
Faith in Jesus brings peace. I guess that is a no-brainer for anyone who knows the work and sacrifice and victory of Jesus. True peace, not just a momentary smile, comes through Him. But what Paul says next is quite interesting, he says that peace is ours when life can be the hardest. He says, “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Notice what he now adds, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:2-5)
That doesn’t make sense to most of us. We would do anything not to suffer. Suffering is hard. It makes us sweat. We wonder, at the first moment of going through a difficulty, when will this be over? James begins his letter, his epistle, with these words, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4) Scripture pounds on this thought again: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (I Peter 1:6-7)
Can there ever be peace, especially when there is no peace in the situation or the predicament? Yes. God is at work. He is developing our faith in Him. We understand that the time of trial can be the most maturing moment for our faith.
Can there ever be peace? No, there can’t be – that is unless you know a truth on which every other truth about God is built. God loves you. We have heard that so much, and so often, that it has become a yawner to some of us. “Sure, God loves me.” “I’ve heard that since I was a kid in Sunday School.” “Big deal.” We take it for granted. Don’t. God’s love is meant to shock you and surprise you. Listen to these words again, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Who are you in this picture? You are the ungodly. I am the ungodly. Who are we? “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Ungodly? Sinners? That is not just a definition, it is a judgment. You were far from God. You were His enemy. Yet He says that He loves you. You better get surprised. Your jaw is supposed to drop. It is shocking.
And then it is not shocking. Why? Those 4 words. God, in great promise, with deep love, assures us, “Because I said so.” We are declared holy and right through Jesus and His death and resurrection. We find every confidence, true peace, because of what God speaks. “This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (I John 4:10) You are truly loved by God. He washed all your stench away in Holy Baptism. He speaks words of life to you in every promise made in the Scriptures. When you come to receive the Lord’s Supper this is what Jesus says to you, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)
God’s love is certain and it is sure. By His love we are covered in God’s peace.
How is your soul? How is your mind? Contentious? Worried? In conflict? Why? “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” If God has said it, we can believe it. Amen!!
