The hope of glory
"I consider the sufferings
of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be
revealed to us".
These verses speak of reality, of
hope, of prayer and of glory
1. We live in a world of
suffering.
Yesterday I was in hospital with someone
who was dying. It was not easy. They were in pain and distress; they were
angry. They wanted longer. And they were in a general ward: it was hot and dark
with the curtain around the bed, and busy. There was no space in the palliative
wards.
That is not having a go at the
hospital or the staff. People die in pain, in their own homes and on their own
- and I am not sure that is any better.
I am simply saying this because
we live in a world in which there is much suffering.
The verses speak of 'the bondage
to decay'.
I suppose there is a scientific
echo of that in entropy: the tendency to disorder.
Some of you may know the second
law of thermodynamics, as summed up in the great song by Flanders and Swann:
"Heat won't pass from a cooler to a hotter
Heat won’t pass from a cooler to a hotter
You can try it if you'd like, but you'd far better not-er"
But yes, 'Change and decay in all
around we see".
And we know it in our bodies. In
the aching back or legs.
It is not just us, but also the
whole of creation. All things will eventually crumble and die.
And at times it all seems so
pointless.
Or, in the words of Romans 8, futile.
2. Into this world of suffering
comes hope.
These verses say something
remarkable.
They say that the principal of
decay, that the futility of this world is a gift from God - because alongside
it, God has given us the gift of hope. The futility of this world, the
suffering in this world leads us to long for something more.
Of course, when we experience or see
the suffering and the pain, we long for something to take the pain away, for
relief, for something that is different.
But it is not just through
pain.
I don't think that I am unusual
in this, but there are times, when the weather is so beautiful, perhaps in the
cool of a still evening after a hot day, especially in a place that is so beautiful,
when I find that I ache.
Yes, I am part of it, but I long
for something more - for freedom, for the ability to seize the beauty, to be
seized by it, and become fully part of it. And perhaps it is an ache for
eternity, for beauty and an ache for God.
And it is hope which gives us that
longing, that ache.
And this passage says that it is
not just humans who ache for this something, but the whole of creation does.
It longs to be set free from the
principle of decay.
Everything fights for life.
Everything fights to reproduce itself. Why? If it is all so futile?
3. This passage speaks of the prayer
of longing
The groaning, the longing, the
aching to be set free from the principle of decay and death can itself be a
prayer.
Creation groans; we groan.
We hear those groans in the Psalms, as the psalmist cries out for God, 'How
long?’ (Those words are used in that
context at least ten times in the Psalms)
And Paul describes those groans
as 'labour pains'. Some of you will know first hand about that. The pain
giving way to relief and joy.
And alongside this groaning,
through the groaning and the longing, we learn patience. Creation waits ‘with
eager longing’. We wait. We wait for it ‘with patience’. We wait for creation
to be set free, for our bodies to be set free. We wait for the resurrection
body and the resurrection world.
4. These verses speak of glory
The glory of God is the radiance,
beauty, harmony and joy of God.
These verses speak first of the glory
of the children of God, when those who have put their trust in Jesus, who have simply
received his love and his gift of forgiveness and friendship, who are seeking
to live with him as their Lord, will be transfigured. Our bodies will be set
free from death, from sIn (the compulsion to I) - so that we can reflect the
glory of God.
And I notice that the creation
waits for the revealing of the children of God. Because when the children of
God are revealed, the creation will also be set free to bask in and reflect the
glory of God.
Yesterday I was able to pray with
the person I was with. I’m not sure how much they were able to take in. But I prayed
that the anger would give way to peace, for a quick death (and God granted
that), that they could entrust their family into God’s hands and – they were a
believer – that in their suffering they would have the courage to wait, for
just a little longer, for the promise of glory.
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