Title: Perspective
v18 (read)
When we read this verse, we must remember the author, and the author’s tendencies. Paul is not an author given to hyperbole, or exaggeration. He does use vivid language from time to time, but is quite pragmatic in his approach to outlining sound doctrine, most especially in the book of Romans.
With that having been said, consider with me for a moment what Paul says in verse 18. He doesn’t say, “Saints, take heart! Persevere! For what you are going through now will be worth it when you are glorified before the Almighty!”
In fact, what Paul says is: “It isn’t even worth it to compare what you may be experiencing in trial and tribulation on this earth, with what awaits you in heaven.” To put these two things in the same sentence is utter foolishness.
If I were to say to Andy Mills: “Jim, I’d like you to come over to my house this afternoon and cut my lawn. I’ll supply the lawnmower and the gas. It will take you about an hour. For your time and trouble I’ll give you $10.”
What would Andy’s reaction be? Most likely he’d say to himself, “Well, the $10 isn’t really worth an hour of my time on a Sunday afternoon. I’d rather go home and sit in my chair and watch the Browns lose by 30…again….”
Now, imagine I make the same proposition to Andy, but my final sentence instead it, “For your time I will pay you $1000.”
Andy’s motivation to make sacrifices on a Sunday afternoon are a bit altered, are they not. Suddenly, the sacrifice that Andy has to make doesn’t seem so great in the face of the profit that stands to be made by giving up an hour on his Sunday afternoon.
Now, let’s assume I change the last sentence of the proposition to: “And for you time, Andy, I will pay you one million dollars.”
My assumption is, there would be a puff of smoke and Andy would be gone, heading for my home at break-neck speed, with dreams of building a huge Log cabin on 500 acres later that day. Again, when set amidst the backdrop of what stands to be gained, the sacrifice of giving up a measly hour on a Sunday afternoon becomes very small in light of what can be gained in that hour.
I think our perspective of endurance is flawed because we don’t have the proper backdrop of our sacrifice to Jesus Christ.
Christ says, “Give up your life, follow me, and you will have everlasting life.” Andy’s one million dollars will only last his lifetime. Then he dies. And it doesn’t matter if I paid him $10 or one million.
Here another thing to consider: I love cutting lawns. It’s something I enjoy. Andy may too. And while he’s cutting my lawn for one million dollars he may be thinking, “I’d have cut it for half a million.”
The longer a mature believer is walking the believer’s path, the more they find enjoyment and fulfillment in that path. It doesn’t have to be painful, it can be quite enjoyable.
So here’s the proposition laid on the table by Paul: What is awaiting us isn’t worth comparing to the sufferings of this world. The two things are so far apart, it isn’t even worth putting them in the same conversation.
So how does this powerful verse effect us today, believes in Ashland, in late November of 2017?
Do you and I suffer? That depends on what you consider suffering. Do we suffer the way that Paul is most likely meaning in the first century of the early church? Most likely not. The people Paul was talking to were under constant real threat of physical harm just for being Christians. Many were tortured. Many were imprisoned. Many were put to death.
Do you and I suffer like that? Not here in Ashland. But some of brothers and sisters do. Some are called to parts of the world, namely the Pacific Rim and the Middle East where such persecution does exist. For them, being a Christian is a much different sacrifice that what we endure.
So does this verse apply to us. I think so. Being a Christian, particularly in Ashland, is so easy, that our suffering our struggle is much more often internal. It is what Paul talks about in Chapter seven with the warring between his flesh and spirit.
My suffering is to not be prideful. My suffering is to be more patient with others. My suffering is to learn to be a Christian with joy, not with only discipline. My suffering is to admit when I’m being selfish. My suffering is not just do what is required, but what would please my master. My suffering is to honor my wife above all other women, in thought and in deed. My suffering is to be a faithful, approachable, humble pastor.
And I suffer because I fail. Over, and over, and over again.
The Holy Spirit breaks my heart each time I fall short, and at times I just want my life to end, so that this struggle will be over, and I will be in a place then where there is no temptation, where there is no sin. No jealously, no lust, no pride, no ranks, no awkwardness, no ignorance.
I read this verse and I draw two conclusions from it.
First, that I, you, we should be encouraged. Paul tells us there is something waiting for us that is so worth our sacrifice, that it’s not even worth mentioning in the same sentence as our sacrifice and toil.
If I did pay Andy one million dollars to cut my lawn, do you think he’d ever say, “Wow, I got the million, but it was quite a sacrifice, and I don’t think I could do it again…”
Do you think we’ll be in heaven, recalling our earthly lives and saying, “Man, heaven sure is nice, but I paid the price to get here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s worth it, but I had to fight for it, I had to earn it.”
Scriptures tell us that the angles themselves circle the throne of the Almighty saying, “Holy! Holy! Holy is the Lamb!” Why? Because that’s all they can say. I don’t think we’ll even recall our lives here. We will be too consumed with God’s glory, and as strikingly amazing as Paul puts it in this verse: Glory that will be revealed in us.
The second thing I draw from this verse is that my personal perspective is flawed. I focus so much, so often on the “what” that I am engaged in, that I often forget and neglect the “why.”
I say, “What do I have to do to prepare this week’s sermon?”
I should say, “Why am I preparing a sermon at all?”
I ask “What is for dinner tonight?”
I should ask, “Why am I eating?”
I ask, “What do I have to do to be a better Christian?”
I should ask, “Why do I need to be a better Christian?”
The answer to the correct question is always the same: To glorify God. I read this verse and I am face to face with the fact that my life is entirely too much about me. And not nearly enough about the Almighty.