What Are We Waiting For?
Scripture - Romans 8:11-5
Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan
In Paul’s letters, we hear lots about how we should behave in this life, especially advice about living together as a congregation. Things like: do not argue; treat each other with respect; live following the Spirit. But he also writes about God’s future, the promise of holy life beyond this life, when God’s full Realm will be manifest in completeness. He tells us to get ready for glory! Because we who have pledged to follow Jesus are heirs, children of God, beneficiaries of a future beyond our imagining, where all will be redeemed. So take time to read Romans 8:11-25.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Lots of you have probably watched the movie, Fantasia, with its many memorable scenes accompanied by wonderful music. One piece in the movie you may have trouble remembering is Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” There is a line of nondescript people, holding little lights in front of them, floating by a lake, then through the woods, on and on, then through a darker part, and finally the scene opens onto about 3 seconds of an idyllic sunrise. Not much excitement there. Lovely music, but sort of forgettable scenery. Maybe the scene is forgettable, because you believe eternal glory will come, but like Disney’s artists, you have trouble picturing it.
On the other hand, no one forgets the energetic excitement of “Night on Bald Mountain.” The mountain comes alive with piercing, glowing eyes, calling skeletal phantasms up from the graveyards to dance or writhe in flames. The whole scene is quite disturbing. The ominous threat of an infernal night touches something deep within. Everyone yearns for peaceful reconciliation, but you are often more familiar with something unsettling.
Earthly life has troubles. The world is not an easy place to maneuver. Crises can explode anywhere, changing everything. Think of the woman whose life was so difficult, she went to her pastor to ask what she was doing wrong, since God was clearly punishing her for something. The pastor said he would explain it to her after worship in his office, but the woman needed to bring someone from the congregation with her who never knew heartache. Of course, the woman could not find anyone. God wasn’t punishing her. Everyone experiences hardships in life. Granted some lives are harder than others; some pains last longer, but everyone has them.
Think what is going on in Ukraine. It’s not enough that their whole society has been cracked open with war. No one is certain where bombs will explode next, but they do know civilians are not safe anywhere. People survived a fierce winter without heat; and now a grueling summer. Food is a constant worry. Then Russian refuses to allow shipments of grain from Ukraine to ports around the world, which means hunger is spreading, effecting more and more people. The situation is horribly dangerous, every day for a year and half, with no sense of an ending to the violence and uncertainty. Every Ukrainian person who is trying to survive has a name, a family; they may be trying to carry on a job. And every one of them matters.
Which is not to downplay how grim life can be in Sarasota. Our unhoused neighbors have little opportunity to get out of our dangerous heat these days, while those living in their cars have to keep finding gas if they are going to run their air conditioning.
And within our congregation, we know people have painful adversities. Some of us wake up every morning facing ongoing pain and uncertainty from some health issue. Others wake up in pain every day of a non-physical type – like emotional pain resulting from a crushing loss, a family squabble that blew out of control, or an embarrassing turn of events that just can’t be fixed. All around, people are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Having difficulties is part of being human. The world is not easy.
But here’s the great news. God’s Realm will come. In time, God will set all creation free from bondage to decay. St. Paul is talking about the full Reign of God, what we used to call the Kingdom of God. Christians believe the Realm of God was made present as Jesus walked on Earth. Wherever he went, God’s Realm broke in, although in part. But one day! One day, the world will experience a full consummation of God’s Realm. The power of God which raised Jesus from the dead is already active among us. Scripture promises nothing can thwart God’s planned future; the new era has already begun. The power of God, through the Holy Spirit, is like a promissory note, claiming God’s powerful love will one day bring to fruition the perfection of existence for which we all yearn. The life we now share is not the final word. Eventually God will have God’s full way with reality.
We can’t know what God’s future will be exactly. It may be setting right the world as we know it, moving everything into what it should be. Or maybe God’s future is a completely new reality which we can no more envision than a baby in the womb could imagine their next reality as a place of air and light. If all we know is our mother’s fluid and darkness, how can we guess what air and light are? What we can be assured of, what our faith teaches us is, we are promised a coming fullness, a glorious life in the Divine Spirit. One scholar pictures the consummation of God’s Realm this way: “The salvation humanity seeks – paradise, heaven, eternal life – is not the peace and quiet of a retirement center. It is the final ecstasy of life, a vital movement beyond every stasis… The final Christian hope, on the ground of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is to be finally reconciled to God with all things...”[1] In other words, everything, everything, will be redeemed, set right, resolved. A coming rapturous perfection. God’s Realm is coming in its fullness.
However, we get hints of glory now. Every now and then, we get little glimpses of a reality that can’t be anything else but a moment of God’s blessed future. Most of the time we sort of imagine what God’s future might be, but we can’t quite see it. But then something comes along and seems so perfect, so right, that we realize that moment is a glimpse (a foretaste) of God’s Realm.
It's like when we can’t quite remember a tune, but we have little pieces of it that keep circling (duh duh duh). But then that evening we are strolling through Macy’s and someone opens a music box and.. there’s the piece. Of course, it’s Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” Now granted, hearing the “Ode to Joy” on a music box is nothing like hearing the whole of Beethoven’s glorious, heart-stopping, 9th Symphony, yet even on a music box, we hear a hint of the whole marvelous thing. A preview, we might say.
Just so, there are moments in life when we catch a preview of God’s future. The Indianapolis business, Recycle Force, not only recycles discarded electronics, but it also offers training and paying jobs to persons entering the workforce after being incarcerated. Everyone who works there is one of those returning neighbors. A couple of years ago, one of the men had some sort of paperwork error and police officers showed up at his work at Recycle Force, put him in handcuffs, and began to walk him towards a squad car. Suddenly all the workers were lined up to support him, calling out, “Don’t worry Ralph. It’ll be okay.” And his supervisor called out, “Your job will be here when you get back.” The police officer admitted in his entire career, no one had ever gotten support like that as they were being led away in handcuffs, and no one ever was promised their job would be held. But that sense of loving support, respect, of wanting the best for each person, especially the ones society has neglected – those are characteristics of God’s Realm, and when we experience them, we realize we’ve caught sight of the Realm to come. Those treasured moments are our glimpses of glory now. That’s what we’re waiting for.
We hate how difficult life is sometimes. We want God to solve all the problems and heartaches, right now. But when something holy happens, like when someone wakes up from a difficult surgery, or when others step in to help rebuild after a crisis, or some amazing healing happens between people, then we know we have experienced a foretaste of the coming Realm. We who have tasted what Paul calls the first fruits of God’s Realm have had our appetites whetted for the full banquet, which we can be assured is coming. We are confident eventually all will be set right. Our adoption as children of God will be complete. Our cups will run over with joyous abundance, and all will be redeemed. Until then, we wait in confident hope.
[1] Carl Braaten, “The Kingdom of God and Life Everlasting,” in Hodgson and King ed., Christian Theology (Fortress, 1982), 351.