Second Sunday in Lent February 24-25, 2024
“Keep The Faith” Romans 5:1-11
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
“Keep the faith!!” Have you ever said it? Has someone ever spoken that to you? That phrase can be quite generic. It can mean “Keep your chin up.” “Don’t give up!” “Things will get better.” Keep the faith – you just have to believe.
Your business is struggling and your business partner looks at you and says, “Keep the faith – this thing will turn around.” Maybe Andy Reid, the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, looked at his team when they trailed at halftime in each of their playoff games this year and said to his team, “Keep the faith – we’ll come out on top.” “Keep the faith” – you’ve said it. Others have said it to you.
When I went away to college I was assigned a faculty advisor. After the first few weeks of school I met with him for the first time. Maybe they did that with all freshmen students. I was 18, away from home for the first time, and maybe he wondered how this transition was going. When we shook hands at the end of our talk, Professor Saleska said to me, “Keep the faith.”
That is good advice to anyone. Keeping strong, enduring difficulties, is not so easy. We are tempted to just give up. Jesus told a parable that I think applies here. In Matthew 13 we have the Parable of the Sower recorded. Jesus spoke, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Verses 3-8)
What was the parable about? A portion of it was about keeping the faith. Jesus gave the explanation of the parable a few verses later, “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Verses 18-23)
Keeping the faith didn’t work out too well for a number of folks who were exposed to the word of God. Hard soil. Shallow soil. Soil that was just infested with weeds – like the bind weed we grow in Colorado. And they don’t make it.
I bet the “Keep the faith” spoken to me by my advisor was a type of a warning. 18 years old, away from home, no one to remind me of the rules every day. I bet more than one 18-year-old didn’t keep the faith very well that first year of college. That first year could have been an extended Mardi Gras!!
St. Paul gives a clear picture of human nature in Romans 5. Here is the description: “Powerless” (Verse 6), “Ungodly” (Verse 6), “Sinners” (Verse 8), “God’s enemies” (Verse 10).
There is nothing pretty in this picture. God’s enemies? Aren’t we on His side? Standing for the things that are right and holy and good? No. In this flesh we oppose God. It is clear that our sin is a horrible messy business.
Keeping the faith is not so easy. Our flesh is opposed to God. The devil is opposed to us. The world in which we live teaches us ways that would lead us away from the will of God.
But this faith that we profess is not built on how well we keep the rules. It is not built on us. It is built on Him. It is built on Christ. In that great hymn, Amazing Grace, the first verse reads, “Amazing grace – how sweet the sound – that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see!” (LSB 744) Christ didn’t die for good people. He didn’t die for innocent people. He only died for sinners.
Romans 5 is a great chapter about the confidence that we have in Jesus. Listen to these words: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Verse 1) “You see, at the 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.” (Verses 6-8) “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life.” (Verse 10)
Keep the faith!! Stand in Christ!! He alone is your salvation. He has given his life for you. If you trust in Jesus you will live forever.
Many years ago there was an article in Reader’s Digest about a man named Bill who had been a blood donor for years and had donated 100 pints of his blood. In the article Bill said, “When that final whistle blows and St. Peter asks, ‘What did you do?’ I’ll just say, “Well, I gave 100 pints of blood. That ought to get me in.’” A writer named Joe McKeever made this comment about Bill and that article, “If Bill is counting on the giving of 100 pints of blood to get him into heaven, he is trusting in the wrong blood.”
Paul addresses why some struggle with keeping the faith. For some life sucks. Problems are too much. They are overwhelmed by everything they are now asked to shoulder. Paul would say this about keeping the faith when life has disappointed us, “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 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)
Some people run from the faith, not toward the faith, when life becomes too hard. When they determine that God is not interested in listening to them, loving them, or coming to their side, faith is forgotten. God is eliminated from the answer. If you are at that point in your life now, or you’ve been there, or if you find that time of hopelessness in your life sometime, I want to tell you what someone told me long ago – keep the faith. Paul even adds this perspective about suffering, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)
It is at that moment that you need Him. This is what Hebrews 12 says, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1b-2) Our reading says that God does great things at the right time, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
I plead with you – Keep the faith. Don’t let it die. With every obstacle that comes, realize that God called you for a good reason. You were given Baptismal seed so that a great harvest would be seen in your life. Keep the faith that you have been given – peace with God through our Lord Jesus. Keep the faith even when you have a life that has too much suffering, even then God is molding you, refining you and growing you into His own child.
Keep the faith. Amen!!
Pastor John – thank you for always posting your sermons. When I need to review key points, I can pull up the text. If I miss a service, I can still “attend” and hear the Word. This week’s service was especially good! Thank you!