Trinity 4 A DIRECTION TO RUSH IN Romans 8:18-23

One of the most unforgettable characters of all literature is that elderly gentleman who went around wearing ill-fitting armor, jousting with windmills, attacking armies of sheep, and wearing the kerchief of a prostitute as a lady's favor. That's right, we're talking about Don Quixote de la Mancha, always indulging his fantasies, so that, we are told, whenever he heard of trouble, he "rode off in at least two directions at once." Now the dear old church has reached her senior years. She has not aged gracefully. Her ill-fitting armor looks ridiculous as she attacks all sorts of social problems, rushing around in the latest direction to respond to the squeaky wheel of the week, yet ignoring the spiritual mission which her Lord said was the most important.

This does not have to be. If we take God's approach, instead of Don Quixote's, we can get our act together and rush in the right direction. God certainly wants evil to be overcome. In this part of the Letter to the Romans He gives us hope. God has a wonderful future in store for the whole creation. He has in mind completely overcoming all the troubles of this world. The world is looking for this hope. Like children who are waiting to see a parade, the world is pushing and shoving as it strains forward to see what's coming along. It's present condition is terrible. It yearns for what is not yet. The Fall has corrupted all the physical and the spiritual entities of earth. Yes, we belong to Christ by faith, but we live out this life under the conditions of sin and death. Every time we hear a funeral bell, indeed, every time we listen to the news, we are reminded again that we are physically unredeemed.

The irrational creation also knows that something is wrong. It looks for hope. And what does it see? It sees us. St. Paul call us the firstfruits of the Spirit. That makes the church the vanguard of the parade. As the people look for what's coming, they see us first. So they ask us, "Do you see more than we see? Do you have hope? Is there an end to the misery? Will the wolf lie down with the lamb?

Since we do not know, we pass the questions on to God. I am not suggesting that we storm the heavenly gates demanding to know what God is going to do about it. God has nothing to be sorry about. None of this is His fault. When we ask Him "What are you going to do about it?" He asks us, "What do you think of the Christ?" While some Christians have become accustomed to saying that God put us here to make it right, that is not true. He put Jesus here to make it right, to die and rise again, to redeem us body and soul, to be our King. As subjects of this King, we hear Him say, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." But the Father sent first. All that was necessary for salvation was done first.

Even so, we don't really like to hear that He is sending us anywhere. We might respond like Moses, "Who? Me?" Or we might respond like Don Quixote, rushing off in several directions. When we see violence, hunger, sickness, poverty, we try on the armor of the church's by-gone prestige and ride off to fight these monsters. Don't even think that! You could never get past the Lord of the Mirrors. Take a good look at yourself and you will see that you are not worthy to solve the problems of life. Nor have you the means. Even if you never stopped to rest for a century you could not begin to fill mankind's material needs. Material welfare is like saltwater. The more you drink the thirstier you get. Even your own personal material needs are beyond your means. Today you may think you want a better job, a house in the suburbs, a long vacation -- suppose you got them, wouldn't you want more? Solomon thought such things would make him happy. Eventually he called it all vanity. This immensely rich, powerful old man was utterly bored with life. All he does is complain. Nothing under the sun can satisfy human longing.

There is a reason for this. We were not made for anything under the sun. God made us to seek His face. Until we rest in His arms, all the rest is a drink of saltwater. No social action, no boycotting, no editorializing can bring us any closer to God. The good news is God drew close to us. God became one of us to place Himself where we could seek His face. And as the moon reflects the light of the sun, so the church reflects the light of her Lord. Everyone can seek God's face by seeking His church.

The world continues to importune the church for bigger and bigger drinks of saltwater. Satan rages about, shouting vanities which he claims the church owes to the world. My friends, we owe the world nothing. Our mission is not to the society, but to those whom our Lord calls by our Gospel. We need not rush off in the world's directions. Jesus is the living water. In Him we have the one new thing under the sun, the one thing that is not vanity. Behold the inexplicable love of God! Behold the measure He took to restore the fellowship that was broken by sin. He bore our sins on the cross, died and rose again, and now stands as the Conqueror of death and Satan. His cross breaks the ties that bind us to sin and death. His precious Gospel and Holy Sacraments present us with the peace that passes understanding. He shows us His face in the church. He gives us a direction to rush in, the direction of the future He has proclaimed, the resurrection and eternal life.

We are still the vanguard of the parade. As our fellow citizens look at us, we want to show them forgiveness, comfort, the hope of heaven, the peace which the world cannot give. That is the direction to rush in. We are witnesses to the future which we have not seen and yet believe. It began with Jesus, it continues as God turns sorrow into joy, and finally God will fully restore His fallen creation. Never settle for less. AMEN.