Romans 5: The Difficulty of Love
Monday, June 5, 2023
A Favorite from August 10, 2010.
It is in this chapter of Romans that we receive our greatest challenge of all challenges: Only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps even for a good person one might even find the courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
We read today one of the great paradoxes of Christian living – that we receive the gifts of faith, hope, love, grace, peace and life eternal when we are willing to die to self with Christ, so that we might rise again in new life. We are reminded that none of our transgressions can turn God away. Our creator is always waiting to comfort us, save us and free us from all that makes us unhappy. It is we who forget this as Paul reminds us in his letter to the Philippians 4:6-7: Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Commentary tells us that here we see the law and sin in proper relationship to one another – only through the sacrifice of Jesus. We may well wonder how we view our own transgressions against God, self and neighbor in light of this good news. Do we shrink from examining our conscience, afraid of what we might find to confess? Do we eagerly give ourselves over to recollection and self-questioning in order that we more fully understand our proper relationship with God through his Spirit? If the former, we take consolation from today’s Noontime that reassures us that no human can surprise God with sin. If the latter, we do not hesitate to quiet ourselves within so that we might fully understand and believe that God wants nothing more than to love us and be loved in return.
The difficulty with genuine and authentic love is this, that it imitates Christ. It is willing to die to self even for enemies, because genuine and authentic love knows that through Christ there is always the opportunity to transform. Through Christ we are each called to rise and live again. In this way through Christ, our hearts and minds are guarded in Christ Jesus. We can find no better champion than Christ. We can find no better protector than Christ. We can find no better lover than Christ. For it is Christ who makes all difficult things possible, through his abundant and difficult love.
Image from: https://www.gracecommunity.org/sermons/series/authentic-love
The Noontimes 