12th Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 12:12
August 31, 2025
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The text I’ve chosen for this morning’s sermon is Romans 12:12: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
As you well know, there was school shooting in Minneapolis this past week, and as with every tragedy, people couldn’t get to the microphones fast enough. Reporters, politicians, celebrities, political commentators, and athletes believe it’s their responsibility to give us their opinions. Some comments are appropriate, others less so, and some are downright appalling. And as with every tragedy, there’s the political mudslinging and the loud debates over who’s to blame. I have my own opinions, but that’s not what you’ve come to hear. Instead of debating gun free zones or whatnot, let’s learn how Christians respond to tragedies, school shootings or otherwise.
The first thing Paul tells us to do is to “rejoice in hope.” Rejoicing, though, seems a little out of place at a time of tragedy, right? Try this. Instead of focusing on the word rejoice, look at hope. What do we rejoice in? Hope. And not just any hope, Christian hope. Christian hope looks to Him whom we cannot see and knows that He is working. Christian hope sees the events in Minneapolis and elsewhere and believes that God is greater than what we see. You can have hope that trusts that no matter what happens or how bad things get, no matter how many Christian children are martyred or drown in raging floods, there is an end. And how do you know it will end? Jesus! That’s how you know! God gave you His Son, who carried your hurts, tears, and grief to the cross. He died bearing the pain of parents burying their children. He died bearing the pain of sin and death. He who died for you isn’t going to abandon you; that would make His death worthless. Catholic parents in Minneapolis, Christian parents in Texas, Lutheran parents in Sac County have the hope, the certainty, of seeing their children again on the day of resurrection. The author of Hebrews says: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Events may lead to hopelessness, but He who gives us hope is far more powerful than any earthly event or heartbreak or tragedy. And He has promised that you have a reason to hope. As Paul says, “Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). He is why we rejoice in hope.
If the events in Minneapolis, Texas, or Perry have taught us anything it’s that being a Christian doesn’t mean a trouble-free life. If Christians are being gunned down in churches from Minneapolis to Sutherland Springs and beheaded in the Congo, Christian martyrdom is a real possibility. The Lord says in Isaiah: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2). Does He say, “If you pass through the waters” or “If you walk through fire”? The word is when. Scripture clearly teaches that Christians aren’t immune to the consequences of Sin and the influence of Satan.
So how in the world can Paul say, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” When our health declines or tragedies hit home or evil appears to have the upper hand, we find it hard to be patient. When patience is hard to find or non-existent, there’s only one place to go. All you can do is to rest in the promises of Christ. When you weep for the dead, weep in hope and patience. When you’re broken down by cancer, depression, or addiction look to Jesus for strength and patience. You do not, will not, and cannot find patience in yourself, it only comes from God. To be patient is to know that the tribulations of life are only temporary and even if we don’t receive relief until we die, we will get it. Paul says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). When Paul prayed for relief from his misery, Jesus said no. But then He said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Jesus promised Paul, just as He promises you, that while sufferings won’t necessarily go away, Jesus will grant us strength and perseverance until the suffering no longer is an issue – in this life or the next. You will find patience in the promise of Jesus, the Son of God, your Savior: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
A common refrain to the grieving is that they’re in our “thoughts and prayers.” I’m not a fan of telling someone they’re in my thoughts; what good does that do? Does it help a grieving mother or a traumatized child know that you’re thinking about them? Probably not a lot. What does work, and works best of all, is when we tell them we’re praying for them and then do so. Christian prayer works! To pray is to take to our loving Father all that crushes us. Christian prayer laments our losses. It conveys our pain. It carries the hurts and needs of others to God. To tell the grief-stricken that you’re praying for them is the promise you’re interceding for them and that you’ll take their tribulations to the Lord as if they are your own. Prayer ascends to the only One who can do anything about it, the only One who grants healing, provision, comfort, and, if it is appropriate, vengeance.
Patient endurance is maintained by constant prayer, both our own and the prayers of others. Christian prayer is never ending because you can be certain that God hears your prayers. It’s true that not all prayers are answered the way we want them to be. God’s wisdom far exceeds our own. Our patient hope rests in our faith and trust in the promises of God. But let me ask you something. How do we know that prayer doesn’t work when it comes to school shootings? Two children sadly died, the parents’ prayers weren’t answered the way they want. But could God be sparing those two from something that’s going to happen in the future? Didn’t God bring them home where there is no sin or suffering. There were dozens of other children who weren’t hurt. Do you think they’re parents don’t pray for them? How do we know that prayer didn’t spare them. How can we say that prayer wasn’t responsible for bullets that went astray? How do we know that prayer hasn’t stopped an evil person from even putting their plan into action. We don’t! Only God sees what’s invisible. Only God knows what is incomprehensible. Only God knows the plans of our lives and since we don’t know, we pray.
Be constant in prayer because the believer’s life is sustained by constant communion with God who is the source of all light, and strength, and courage and hope and peace. To whom do Christians pray? Aren’t you praying to Jesus who overcame everything for you? Aren’t you praying to the one who prayed for you in the Garden of Gethsemane and from the Cross of Calvary? Aren’t you praying to the one who shattered the gloom of a Sunday morning forever changing it to Easter? You are! And He does listen to your prayers, and He does answer them. And if they’re not answered the way that you want, be constant in prayer for He sustains you through your tribulations.
The spiritually blind mock Christ, the Christian, and prayer. They always have and they always will. They can’t understand Christian hope which promises a glorious ending. They can’t comprehend how Christians remain patient in suffering. They can’t see the effect of prayer on the Christian and the world around them. As you confess your Christian faith in a world of shootings, dementia diagnoses, and raging floods and fires, let your faith shine. Show the world that without Jesus there is no hope, that faith won’t let you despair because you know that suffering leads to relief and death leads to life. Show the world that faith enables you to bear all things patiently, knowing that you never bear them alone for the burden is shared by Christ and your fellow Christians. Show the world that by continuing to pray you believe your prayers will be answered even if the answer is delayed. When faced with a delay the Christian doesn’t give up, they instead pray even more fervently to the loving and compassionate God, who alone is our source of hope, patience, and endurance. As long as we have cause to hope, let us be joyful; as long as we have cause of pain, let us be patient, and as long as the ears of God are open to us, let us constantly pray.
Amen
Now the peace which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen