What do I think Romans 8:28 means for us?
I think that the verse means that every
follower of Christ has a role to play in the redemption of the world—of people
and of creation itself. When Jesus lived incarnationally—pouring himself out
for the world that he loved, thinking of others and not himself, and loving and
serving those who he encountered in his life—he met opposition. We meet most of
our opposition in the faith because we are trying to push our agendas on people
who don’t want them—especially in the world in which we now live. We face
opposition because we want to put nativity scenes in front of city hall like we
once did. We face opposition because we fight Planned Parenthood and gay
marriage. We do not face opposition because we love those in need, serve other
sacrificially, fight for the cause of the oppressed in society, or even witness
to our neighbors about the love of Jesus. (This is not a political statement or
a statement about my opinions on these issues.) If Jesus faced opposition, we
will, too. In fact, in John 17, Jesus said that we would.
I think that this
verse tells us that when we face opposition to our faith, when the struggles of
this life slap in the face, or when we fall to the ground and can step no
further, our lives in Christ and our service for Jesus and world are not in
vain. They serve to move this world a step closer to God’s ultimate goal—the
redemption of souls and the renewal of all creation (which we see at the end of
the Bible). We have a role to play, and nothing can stop God’s purposes, no
matter what appears in front of us. We will overcome, even if I do not! Did you
hear me? I said, “We will overcome, even if I do
not!” This may sound silly, but let me make a conclusion on
this thought.
We have in our culture a “cult of self.” Everything is about the individual.
While human tendency has always been to care about the self first, this cult of
self is not always the driving force. For example, reading about those living in Israel in 1948,
you can see a sense of purpose that transcended the individual. Everyone had a
role to play, even if they could not see it. And even if people died, their role did not end, and “the good” for them would come when victory was won at
the end of the war. We have missed that sense of community today, because we read this verse as
speaking about me. We think it means that if I love God enough and follow his
plan for my life, then I am guaranteed of God giving me “the good” (which we
typically translate into happiness and prosperity—we can hardly do anything
else in our culture!), even if it may take a while to get here. This is
sometimes true. But this vision is much too small!
We are part of a huge story—a story that began in a garden in Genesis, ran
through Abraham and Moses and David, and then culminated with the work and
teachings of Jesus, then moved on through Paul, James, and Peter, through Clement, Jerome, Aquinas, Wyclif, Luther, Calvin, and Wesley. What a grand mission we have, in God’s kingdom. Can you see
it? Our work is important, if only you and I can move beyond the pettiness of self! The pettiness of self keeps our vision far too small, when God wants us to be a part of this amazing, enormous, grand narrative of history! We must be counter-cultural to the cult of self and serve God's kingdom!
Can we today pray with Jesus that his
Kingdom would come and that we could live that kingdom? Yes, we can, if we will
open our eyes to the work that God is already doing and the work that we have been
called to do. Will you make that your prayer today—to be a part of God’s huge
vision for his Kingdom?
