Romans 8:31-39 “If God Is For Us. . . .”

This week has been a little bit crazy actually. And, it is nice after a crazy week to be assured that through it all, I experienced the love of God in my life. Nothing could separate me from the love of God. No matter what you are going through right now in your lives, remember that God loves you.

On Monday evening after dinner the phone rang. Guess what? It was my wife. I thought to myself, “Why is SHE calling me?” I thought she was in the living room. Turns out that she had loaded up all of our recycling after dinner and had driven our thirty-three year old Mitsubishi truck to the park to sort and throw away the recyclables. Well, the truck would not start. I got in the rescue wagon (also known as the church van) and drove off to save the wife. As it was, the starter motor was not engaging. Same like my preaching “not engaging” (hahahah). We push-started the truck and drove it home again. So that was just a little bit of trouble: just a dead starter. Nobody died–just the starter motor. I ordered a new starter.

On Tuesday morning right before Bible Study, the office computer just popped off to a black screen–what is called the “screen of death” in computer vernacular. At the same time the smell of burning electronics filled the room. Hitting the power button did nothing to get the machine up and working again. It was dead.

Now the happy thought at the moment was “Not even death can separate me from the love of God.” Of course the screen of death on the computer is not actual death, so I found great consolation that it was the computer that died and not me! It is the starter motor that died, not me.

The thought came to me that one day my trouble will be death. I just do not know when that will be. It could be as sudden as the computer and truck going bad. And, what will I be feeling in that moment then? The answer: “I will be feeling God’s LOVE over my life!”

Now, I said that I would be feeling God’s love over my life, but the Bible actually says that I will be feeling God’s love under my life. That first line of the text that says: “If God is for you, who can be against you,” is better translated “If God is lifting you up, who can be getting you down?” Life got you down? No worries, God is lifting you up. You know, really, Jesus can be very uplifting!

As this text was being read, I wonder if you all noticed something very special in the style of Paul’s discourse? He is asking a lot of questions. This is the place in the Bible where Paul shines through as someone who does not have all the answers but at least knows the right questions to ask! For a moment, we get the sense that he himself is searching for some answers in his life. As strong as his faith is, not everything is absolutely certain for him. Oh good, I am not the only one with questions! I am not the only one who searches for answers.

When I was a student going to school in Germany, at the very front of our class sat a girl named “Karde.” This is an unusual name, and she was an unusual girl. Every class period, her hand would go up to ask a question of the teacher. Without fail, at least once every hour, Karde would have a question to ask.

The rest of the students in the class would moan when her hand went up even before she asked the question. They would put down their heads and shake them in disbelief that once again Karde was interrupting the session. To be sure, German students are more or less trained just to be lectured at in class. The teachers themselves would grimace, seeing Karde’s hand going up to ask her obligatory question.

I never told Karde this ( I suppose I should have), but I loved her inquisitive nature. I thought her questions were profound and needed to be asked. I am glad that she just did not sit there accepting everything the teachers told us. Some of the things that the teachers told us were in fact wrong. I remember being told over and over again that the United States had 52 states. That error was taught in every German class. Nobody ever seemed to want to stop to count.

As Christians, we need to be a questioning people. Do not take what I say as infallible. Always ask the questions. You should NOT care what others might think. If you have a question, then ask it! After all, God gave us brains so that they may be used, right? If I were to tell you that there were fourteen Disciples rather than ten, you should all raise your hands with a question—oh, yeah, there were twelve!

The question that Paul asks is this: “If God is lifting us up, who can put us down?” Who CAN be against us? When I hear this, in my own mind I start thinking about all those people who have been against me in my life. Don’t you do the same? I think about the bullies that would beat me up. I think about the teachers who seemed to have it out for me. I think about those who were cruel towards me and my family. I think you get the picture.

In regards to all those who may have stood against me in my life, they have in a way done me a great kindness. Because of the spite I felt for them, I have pushed myself to do things I would maybe otherwise never consider. You see, it is human nature that when we are told that we cannot do something that we will go and do those exact things to show those who stood against us that they were wrong.

However, as Christians we should not go out and do things out of spite but rather out of our wanting to show the might of God to lift up our lives. Yes, we do miracles in freedom and love because God loves us. God lifts us up.

Paul goes on to say that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Please note that Paul does not say that nothing can separate us from God. The separation from God is how Christians define sin. We can easily be separated from God when we do things that are not pleasing to God and cause us to move away from God.

In this last week I have heard from three different people that they used to believe in God when they were younger. They used to attend church with their families. They were involved in Sunday School. Yet, somehow today all three have now taken that stance that they no longer believe in the Almighty God.

That to me is very hard to take. The only way that I can make sense of this is that they never really knew God to start. After all as it is the same with people that we have met in our lives, we can say that we are no longer in touch with someone, but how should we deny that person exists all together? Okay, maybe some folks have lost touch with God, but they do not need to deny that God exists. They should simply say that they have lost touch with God.

So many people in our lives whom we have loved will leave us one day one way or another. Children move away from home. Parents die. Friends move away. That should not mean that they never existed or mattered in our lives. The Apostle Paul states clearly that nothing will ever separate us from the love that we have felt for these. Paul knows that Jesus has ascended up to heaven. He and the church and all of us today are waiting for his return. Meanwhile, nothing can separate us from that love.

My mother died not long after we arrived here in Waimea. It was very hard for my family being so far away at that time. We flew back to Los Angeles for services. Still, although my mother is no longer on this planet, I feel her kiss on my cheek as when I was a boy. She would come into my room at bedtime to tuck my brother and me into bed. She would lean over and ever so gently kiss my cheek. Don’t we all still feel our mother’s love? Nothing can separate us from that love.

That is what Paul is saying to us this morning. I wonder about those three people who told me that they do not believe in God anymore. Have they forgotten their mother’s kiss? Do they not understand that God still loves them? Do they not feel in their hearts the love that God has for them? I am deeply saddened that God’s love for them is unrequited, but that love is still there for them!

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. That is because of God, not because of us. In this fact, Paul goes on to state that we are “more than conquerors.” That is an amazing statement that needs to be lifted out and up for all. When I hear myself saying it, immediately images of certain modern television evangelists come to mind. You know the ones—they always close their sermons with the words, “If you have faith in Jesus, then your life will be a life of victory.”

That is not what Paul is saying here. He first says that we are all like sheep led to the slaughter. Does that sound victorious in the common sense? Does that sound like a victorious life to you? Paul says that we are to be “MORE than conquerors.” The word in the Greek here is υπερνικωμεν, or “hyper-victorious.” AS God is “over” Our victory is “over” us, and God is under us lifting us up in HIs love. Nothing can put us down.

We will all know the victory that God has already over our lives and over this world. It has nothing to do with “victorious living” such as driving a fancy car or owning several homes. It is about being loved by God, knowing that one day all this world will be gone, and all that will be left of any importance is the love of Jesus.

Amen.